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217 11 Making the Invisibles Visible: Special Education in Pakistan Mah Nazir Riaz Pakistan came into existence on August 14, 1947, after a struggle for independence from British rule led by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The two Muslim majority wings in the eastern and northwestern regions of the Indo-Pak subcontinent are made up of East Pakistan and West Pakistan, separated by 1,600 kilometers of Indian territory and incompatible linguistic and cultural differences. Since gaining independence, Pakistan’s history has been characterized by periods of military rule, political instability, and armed conflicts with neighboring India. Moreover, economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan led to violent political tension and military action to restore peace in the region that escalated into a civil war. After 9 months of guerrilla warfare between the Pakistan army and the Indian-backed Bengali militia, Indian intervention led to the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971 and ultimately to the cessation of East Pakistan as an independent state that instead became Bangladesh. Pakistan is a federation of four provinces, a capital territory, and a group of federally administered tribal areas. The government of Pakistan exercises de facto jurisdiction over the western parts of the disputed Kashmir region, organized as two separate political entities: Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. There are currently 113 districts in Pakistan proper, each with several tehsils (administrative divisions) and union councils. The tribal areas comprise seven tribal agencies and six small frontier regions detached from neighboring districts. Azad Kashmir comprises ten and Gilgit-Baltistan seven districts, respectively. With a population of more than 170 million, Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world. Pakistan is rated as a low-income country—it ranks 65th among 102 developing nations. The Human Development Index (HDI), which was 0.34 in 1975, increased to 0.539 in 2006. However, this improvement has been quite slow, and most of Pakistan’s social and development indicators appear to be quite low compared to other similar developing countries. Pakistan was ranked 134 in the year 2006. Despite Pakistan’s slow growth, its gross domestic product (GDP) has increased. But public spending in the social sector as a whole is less than 0.5% of the GDP. Little funding is allocated for health, education, housing, water supply, sanitation, and gender equality. Over the past decade, the structure of Pakistan’s economy has changed from a mainly agricultural base to a strong service base. At present, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the GDP, whereas the service sector accounts for 53%. Also, significant foreign investments have been made in areas such as telecommunications, real estate, and energy. International Practices.indb 217 International Practices.indb 217 10/14/11 5:45 PM 10/14/11 5:45 PM 218 Mah Nazir Riaz Other important industries include food processing, iron and steel, and apparel and textiles, which account for approximately 60% of exports. THE SOCIA L FA BRIC Pakistan is a democratic, parliamentary, federal republic with Islam as the state religion. Thus, the social and political role of Islam is of fundamental importance in Pakistan. It exercises a very strong influence on shaping not only our social and religious values but also Muslims’ cultural traditions, including social institutions, beliefs, and ceremonials (Baluch, 1965). It was indeed the religion of Islam that provided the basis for the creation of an independent Muslim state, which enabled Muslims to ordain their lives freely on the tenets of Islam (Ahmad, 1982). Islam has a pervasive influence not only on daily activities such as diet, marriage, customs, education, and the celebration of festivals but also on the formulation and implementation of the policies of the government. According to Islamic principles, education is compulsory for every man and woman. Almost every religion preaches nondiscrimination on the basis of color, sex, economic and social status, and physical disability (Qureshi, 2003). Islam also emphasizes universal kinship and the quality of humankind. The prejudice against education, especially as expressed by the Taliban in Swat and other parts of Khyber Pukhtoon Khawa, is erroneously attributed to Islam. Moreover, contrary to Western propaganda, Islam has given equal status to men and women. Islam allows women economic independence and the right to get an education, to participate in social life, and to work outside the home. Women have the right to approve their spouse, to seek divorce, and to remarry if divorced or widowed. The Holy Quran (the Divine Book of Muslims) says the following: O mankind! We have...

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