It’s been a decade less than two centuries since the British decided to colonize India through medium of education. The decision was brought about through English Education Act 1835 of which Lord Macaulay was the chief architect.
A disaster has hit us hard, and more is expected in the coming years with far more intensity than what we witnessed today. It is now time to sober up and get off with our national obsession with defining religious morals through education. We needed a science-orientated education instead, that could have given us the capacity to deal with calamities that we are today facing. Perhaps it is still not too late to wake up; perhaps a sincere resolve to reform our education in light of current realities can save Pakistan from major disasters in future.
It is not a “western agenda” when the people of Pakistan call for a local solution to inspire more solidarity with our persecuted fellow citizens. The least that Pakistan could do here was make the age of the girl-child uniform across all the boards and implement existing laws against “forced marriages” more realistically. At present, a girl aged 16 is legally treated as an adult whereas a boy under 18 is still a child. The parallel Shariah law further complicates the matter where it states that a girl becomes of marriageable age as soon as she hits her puberty.