Copyright by Yvette Claire Rosser 2003 The Dissertation Committee for Yvette Claire Rosser Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh Committee: O. L. David, Jr. Supervisor Sherry Field Zena Moore Gail Minault Rodney Moag Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh by Yvette Claire Rosser, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2003 Dedication With gratitude and respect to the two women who gave me life and continue to nurture me with love and wisdom: My Dearest Mother, Janine Smets Randal, Ph.D., from Brussles, Belgium & Beloved Shrimati Siddhi Ma-ji, from Kainchi Dham, Nainital, India. And also to my sister, who supported me through the travails of graduate school : Danielle Rosser, DVM And especially to my three children who bore the brunt of this long academic journey with patience and love: Krystina Shakti Jai Hanuman Amar Josef I would also like to mention Florence Klein and Frank Hutton, Raman Srinivasan, Susan Raja-Rao, my best friends, who have given me strength and determination and the closeness of family. Finally, from my deepest heart I thank and honor: Param Pujaya 1008 Shri Shri Shri Neem Karoli Baba Maharaj-ji, who in 1973 advised me to go to graduate school Acknowledgements I have many people to thank. I thank Gail Minault for her friendship and for her numerous letters of recommendation as well as her copious comments about this dissertation. I thank Robert Hardgrave who also wrote many letters on my behalf and who was an inspiration to me. Rodney Moag has been a source of wisdom and support and I am grateful. The chair of my dissertation committee, O. L. Davis, Jr. counseled me, wrote letters of recommendation, and nominated me for funding that allowed me to continue my work. He has been supportive and concerned, patient and understanding. Zena Moore and Sherry Field have been enthusiastic and kind and I am grateful that they were on my committee. I would also like to mention in loving memory, JoAnn Sweeney, who took me under her wing at a crucial time. I hope part of JoAnn’s great spirit lives on in me. Many people in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India helped me: In Pakistan, I am particularly indebted to: Arifa Sayida, who is my heart, and Mubarak Ali and Rabina Saigol. I respect Dr. Inayatullah, Tariq Rahman and Rehanna and their two wonderful children. Thanks also to Bilal Farooq. Special thanks to my “Punjabi Devi” Rukiya Jaffrey and her daughter Zahar, who translated the Urdu textbooks. Fond remembrances for Nafisa Hoodbhoy and Javed Bhutto. Sheemeen Abbass, now my friend in Austin, helped me in Pakistan. In Sindh, where a little bit of my heart always remains, I have a list of brothers and sisters whom I must mention. Inayat Magsi, my true brother and his wife Shaheeda. Lal Gurubaxani, thank you. Rakhsandar Mahar, sisters forever. Saghir Shaikh and my family in Karachi, Fayaz and Samina, et al. Thanks also to Jamal Sheikh and Mars, Alta Md. Bhambhro, Jam Saqi, Rahim Bux Jaffri, Noor- Light-of-My-Life-u-Nisa Ghanghro and her dear Mir, and Imdad Chandio—who turned me on to Sindh. v In Bangladesh I would like to thank my friend and teacher Dr. Annisuzzama, everyone’s favorite professor. Very special thanks to Iftekhar Iqbal “Shefa’ my very sincere translator. And best wishes to Dr. Ratan Lal Chakraborty. Thanks to Dr. K.M. Mohisin, for all his help. Thanks also to Sona Bari and Shahid. And especially to Chandan Ikram Ahmed and his mom, Hamida Banu, and family-- Sajeeda, Faraida and Nurul Haq, Farooq and Ratna and Chanchal. And at the CDRB, Mr. Md. Enayat Karim, Dr. Shelly, his brother “Sher-e-Dhaka”, and especially Sarwar, my dear. And thanks to Kishwar Kamal for sustaining me… and so many others. Joy Bangla! In India, which is like home to me, I have many people to thank, along with Purnima at the AIIS off in Delhi. First of all Arjun Dev and Indira Arjun Dev, who are my friends, though we don’t necessarily agree about all the issues, I appreciate them and am in their debt. And to Krishna Kumar who counseled me to whom I provided textbooks from Pakistan. To K.S. Lal for several informative and inspiring interviews, may he rest in peace and may his books finally, posthumously be added to university reading lists. Love to Madhu Kishwar who is a great human being and a friend. First and foremost dunda pranam and love to Bhaiya Narottam Das Kapoor in Benares. And in Delhi, Mrs. Sharma and family. Remembrances to my family in Kainchi Dham, Nainital, also Vinod Joshi who brings light to my soul. For showing me “alternative” ways to see India, thanks to Devindra Svaroop-ji and Sandhya and Meenakshi Jain. I also owe a great deal to Stanley Berly for inspiration and also Vijay Ganapa. I am very grateful to Mr. Rishi Kumar Mishra of the Observer Research Foundation, and his wife Renuka for understanding and supporting me. The last person I need to thank is the most important, my true dost, Raman Srinivasan. vi Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh Publication No._____________ Yvette Claire Rosser, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2003 Supervisor: O. L. Davis, Jr. This dissertation investigates the political, social, and religious influences on curriculum policy and social studies textbooks. It highlight the importance of historiography in the creation and transmission of national ideologies. This study focuses on three nations of the Indian Subcontinent, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which share thousands of years of history, but who after 1947 have entertained distinct, often opposing visions of the past. In this context, historical interpretations, often characterized by omission, elision, and embellishment, may become standardized narratives used as justification for ethnic violence and military brinkmanship. The civic imperative to create patriotic citizens finds a malleable, teleological tool in the social studies. This study seeks to understand the sources of contentiousness which characterize the relationships between these vii often hostile nations where textbooks may be used as a site for negatively “othering” their neighbors. The first section deals with the history of education in the Subcontinent and background information about the research. The second section looks at the three countries in the Subcontinent, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. A brief conclusion attempts to tie them all together. History textbooks are narrated with the intent of developing students into patriotic, productive citizens. Examples from state-sponsored textbooks can illustrate the appropriation of history to reinforce national ideologies. When history is seen as a tool to mold a nation's youth, interpretations of historical events are often manipulated in response to current events, as heroes become villains across the borders of neighboring countries, and opposing political parties within nations vie to control the grand narrative of the nation state. viii Table of Contents Introduction........................................................................................................... 1 Nationalism: Something to Die For.................................................................. 3 The Sub-Continental Divide .......................................................................... 5 Chapter One: Historical Revisionism in Global Perspective..............................12 History Textbooks ‘R US....................................................................................14 History Wars and the Paparazzi.........................................................................19 Chapter Two: Research Assumptions and Caveats.............................................31 Background Discussion and Transferability of Concepts ...................................34 “History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.”.................................36 Colonial Precedent: The Communalization of Textbook Narratives...................38 Uprooting the “Beautiful Tree”..........................................................................44 "Learn English and lose your humanity."........................................................................................55 Chapter Three: The Islamization of Pakistani Social Studies............................68 Pak Studies: Propaganda of a ‘Failed State’.......................................................68 Light of God/Love of Plunder Schism: Dichotomies of Discourse.......................74 Eliding and Ellipsing: Victim or Villain..........................................................................................78 The Akbar Aurangzeb Axis ...............................................................................................................84 Whose History? Whose Nation?.......................................................................................................95 Stitching Caps and Staging Coups .................................................................... 106 Hegemonic Hindustan: Pakistan’s Significant Other..................................................................110 The Goal: Complete Islamization..................................................................... 116 Kashmir: A Vehicle for the