Prejudice and Pride: School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakistan (Paperback)  | Released: 01 Jan 2003

School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakistan. Though India and Pakistan have a common past, the story of the freedom struggle is recounted in their school textbooks in vastly differing ways. In Prejudice and Pride, Krishna Kumar explains how the history texts of both countries selectively narrate their histories for various ideological and cultural reasons. To show how widely the two perceptions vary, the author compares the textbooks currently used in Indian and Pakistani schools. He examines the representation of major episodes???like the 1857 rebellion, Independence and Partition???and the portrayal of personalities like Gandhi, Jinnah and Iqbal. In the last part of the book, the author analyses essays written on Partition by Indian and Pakistani schoolchildren. Not blighted by stock responses, the essays, vibrant and spontaneous, touch on diverse topics like Kashmir, the futility of war and cricket.By focusing on education and the young, Prejudice and Pride holds out hope of reconciliation between India and Pakistan. Original, objective and full of surprising insights, the book will appeal to academicians and laymen alike.