Article Critique# 1

Iqtidar ul Hassan
LEAD 8002-001
Dr. Steven Leonice Nelson
University of Memphis
9/29/2016

Afzal, M. (2016). Education and Attitudes in Pakistan, Understanding Perception of

Terrorism. Washington DC, USIP.
Madiha Afzal is Assistant Professor of Public Policy at University of Maryland.
Her research focuses on the radicalization in Pakistan and the role of education. Afzal,
2016 has tried to understand radicalization in Pakistani society. She has explored the
roots of intolerance, radical attitudes, including anti-Americanism, hostility toward India,
hatred for minorities and the misguided notions of enemy. Afzal, 2016 has tried to
understand the role of education in countering the existing problematic narratives in
society. For this research Afzal, 2016 has conducted curriculum review and undertaken
fieldwork, observing classrooms and interviewing students and teachers in focus groups.
According to Afzal, 2016, Pakistan Studies books forge national identity based on
Islam and at the same time antagonistic toward out-groups. America is usually portrayed
to have betrayed Pakistan. The author has found during her research that common
narratives that the teachers and the students expressed on various subjects are: a religious
identity of Pakistan, India is a perennial enemy, blame America for terrorism based on
conspiracy theories, and the cause of terrorists is purely religious. Afzal, 2016 has
confirmed that Pakistani schools do not nurture a critical thinking among students.
Secondly, the education system of Pakistan does not equip students to counter the
prevailing problematic narratives, nevertheless, it promotes those narratives.
Overall the author has conducted a comprehensive research on the role of
education to counter the problematic narratives. Afzal, 2016 has concluded that Pakistan
Studies books promote anti-Americanism, but she did not support this assertion with
textbooks contents. The author did not consider the comparative role of other media in

nurturing the problematic narratives. Afzal, 2016 has confirmed that terrorists struggle is
considered purely religious, but she did not mention whether it was justified and
supported by interviewees.