Dr. Tariq Rahman

MILITANCY AND TOLERANCE AMONG

Students and Teachers of Pakistani Schools: Gender-wise Breakdown

In December 2002 and January 2003 I carried out a survey of the opinions of students at the 10th class level of Urdu-medium schools, English-medium schools and madrassas. The same questionnaires were also given to teachers in these institutions. The overall results of the survey have been described earlier (Dawn 23 February). This article presents the gender-wise breakdown of the survey. As the female students and teachers of madrassas were not available for the survey, only the responses of the students of English and Urdu-medium schools are tabulated below:

The number of students and teachers are as follows:

Box –1 ENGLISH MEDIUM ELITIST SCHOOLS
	Students	Teachers
Males	62	18
Females	52	47
Total	115	65

Box-2 URDU MEDIUM SCHOOLS
	Students	Teachers
Males	123	42
Females	107	58
Total	230	100

There were questions pertaining to giving equal rights (i.e. the same rights as Pakistani Muslims have) to non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan as far as jobs and other things are concerned. They was also one question about giving equal rights to men and women. The students were told that by ‘equal rights’ one meant rights as defined as being equal in Western countries. The responses of the students are as follows:

Box-3
Tolerance Among Students of English Medium Schools N=116 (M=62; F=52) (In percentages)
Q-4. Give equal rights to Ahmedis in all jobs etc?
		Males		Females
	Yes	67.74		63.46
	No	8.06		11.54
	Don’t know	24.19		25.00
Q-5. Give equal rights to Pakistani Hindus in all jobs etc?
	Yes	75.81	80.77
	No	14.52	13.46
	Don’t know	9.68	5.77
Q-6. Give equal rights to Pakistani Christians in all jobs etc?
	Yes	87.09	78.85
	No	4.84	13.46
	Don’t know	8.06	7.69
Q-7. Give equal rights to men and women as in western countries?
	Yes	85.48	96.15
	No	8.06	3.85
	Don’t know	6.45	Nil
Analysis: Boys are slightly more tolerant of Ahmedis and Christians than girls. As expected, girls favour equal rights for men and women.

They responses of students to Militant policies about Kashmir are tabulated below:

Box-4
Militancy Among Students of English-Medium Schools. N=116 (M=62; F=52)
What should be Pakistan’s priorities? Q-1 Take Kashmir away from India by an open war?
	Males	Females
Yes	24.02	28.08
No	69.04	59.06
Don’t know	6.05	11.05
Q-2 Take Kashmir away from India by supporting Jihadi groups to fight with the Indian army?
Yes	22.58	23.07
No	72.58	44.23
Don’t know	4.84	32.69
Q-3 Support Kashmir cause through peaceful means only (i.e. no open war or sending Jihadi groups across the line of control?
Yes	67.74	76.92
No	24.19	13.46
Don’t know	8.06	9.62
Analysis: Girls have a greater desire than boys for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem. However, they are confused about sending fighter across the LOC. As some students ticked Q.3 as well as Q.1 or/and Q.2, the results are uncertain.

The response of the teachers of English-medium schools to the same questions is as follows:

Box-5
Militancy Among English-Medium School Teachers N=65 (M=18, F=47) (In percentages)
		Males	Females
Q-1 Kashmir War	Yes	22.22	27.66
	No	72.22	61.70
	Don’t know	5.55	10.64
Q-2 Kashmir Jihad	Yes	38.88	38.29
	No	50.00	51.06
	Don’t know	11.11	10.64
Q-3 Kashmir Peace	Yes	61.11	59.57
	No	22.22	38.29
	Don’t know	16.66	2.13
Analysis: Female teachers appear to favour militant policies in Kashmir slightly more than their male colleagues.

Box-6
Tolerance Among English-Medium School Teachers N=65 (M=18, F=47) (In percentages)
		Males	Females
Ahmedis	Yes	38.88	59.57
	No	22.22	38.29
	Don’t know	16.66	2.13
Hindus	Yes	88.88	51.06
	No	Nil	36.17
	Don’t know	11.11	12.76
Christians	Yes	88.88	78.72
	No	Nil	14.89
	Don’t know	11.11	6.38
Women	Yes	66.66	82.98
	No	22.22	10.64
	Don’t know	11.11	6.38
Analysis: Female teachers are less tolerant than their male colleagues for Hindus and Christians. However, they support equal rights for Ahmedis more than males. As expected, they are much more supportive of equal rights for males and females than men.

Most of the students of Pakistan attend Urdu-medium schools which are administered by the provincial governments and, in some cases, by the federal government. Their opinions are given below:

Box-7
Militancy Among Urdu-Medium Students N=230 out of which M=123 and F=107 (In percentages)
		Males	Females
Kashmir War	Yes	45.53	32.71
	No	49.59	57.01
	Don’t know	4.88	10.28
Kashmir Jihad	Yes	38.21	26.17
	No	39.02	57.01
	Don’t know	21.95	10.28
Kashmir Peace	Yes	68.29	84.11
	No	23.57	12.15
	Don’t know	21.95	3.74
Analysis: Male students are more supportive of militant policies about Kashmir than females. Results for Q.3 are confused because students ticked ‘Yes’ in response to Q.1 and/or Q.2 while also ticking ‘Yes’ in Q.3.

As tolerance for religious minorities is crucial for maintaining peace in the country the opinions given below are very significant.

Box-8
Tolerance Among Urdu-Medium School Students N=230 (M=123 and F=107) (In percentages)
		Males	Females
1. Ahmedis	Yes	44.71	49.53
	No	39.02	34.58
	Don’t know	16.26	15.89
2. Hindus	Yes	51.22	42.99
	No	39.84	44.86
	Don’t know	8.13	12.15
3. Christians	Yes	64.23	67.29
	No	27.64	25.23
	Don’t know	7.32	7.84
4. Women	Yes	67.48	84.11
	No	21.95	12.15
	Don’t Know	9.76	3.74
Analysis: Females are somewhat more tolerant of religious minorities than males. However, in the case of Hindus the males tend to be more tolerant. As for equal rights for men and women, girls favour them significantly more than boys.

The following are the opinions of Urdu-medium students about the policy to be followed in respect of Kashmir.

Box-9
Militancy Among Urdu-Medium N=100 (M=42 and F=58) (In percentages)
		Males	Females
1. Kashmir War	Yes	30.95	12.06
	No	57.14	79.31
	Don’t know	11.90	8.63
2. Kashmir Jihad	Yes	30.95	10.34
	No	50.00	81.03
	Don’t know	19.05	8.62
3. Kashmir Peace	Yes	76.19	91.38
	No	14.29	6.89
	Don’t know	9.52	1.72
Analysis: Males support militant policies regarding Kashmir far more than females.

When the same questions were asked from the teachers of Urdu-medium schools they responded as follows:

Box-10
Tolerance Among Urdu-Medium School Teachers N=100 (M=42 and F=58) (In percentages)
		Males	Females
1. Ahmedis	Yes	26.19	27.59
	No	66.66	63.79
	Don’t know	7.14	8.62
2. Hindus	Yes	40.48	34.48
	No	54.76	60.34
	Don’t know	4.76	5.17
3. Christians	Yes	45.24	56.87
	No	47.62	37.93
	Don’t know	7.14	5.17
4. Women	Yes	35.71	79.31
	No	54.76	17.24
	Don’t Know	9.52	3.45
Analysis: Females are somewhat more tolerant of religious minorities than men. However, in the case of Hindus they are more intolerant than the latter. As for equality of the rights of men and women, men oppose it while women support it vehemently.

Conclusion

Overall English medium school students are less militant and more tolerant of minorities and women than Urdu-medium school ones. Females favour a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem while males tend to be militant. Females seem to show less tolerance for Hindus than their male counterparts. This may be because males are more exposed to discourses outside homes and classrooms which dilute the anti-Hindu discourses prevalent in these two domains. As expected, females are highly supportive of equal rights for men and women while males tend to view them with some suspicion though students tend to be more tolerant than teachers. The fact that teachers, especially in elitist schools, are less tolerant than their students may be because the students come from a higher socio-economic class in which liberal ideas are more prevalent.

Dr. Tariq Rahman