On the delusion of disobedience amid coloniality: location Pakistan

Abstract

In this paper, I explore how the pervasive coloniality of mind in the Global South deludes popular aspirations to disobey Western systems and hegemony. Coloniality of mind includes binary thinking, instrumental thinking and seduction of the West that trap development and educational visions of Southern countries. Focusing on the case of contemporary Pakistan, I examine two education initiatives of the former Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) government that aimed to challenge and change the prevailing education structures in the country: Al Qadir University, which promises to integrate religious and secular instruction in the realm of higher education; and the Single National Curriculum that was intended to eliminate education apartheid in the country. Drawing on the speeches of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team members, and key policy documents, I try to make sense of the educational vision of the PTI government. I discuss how these apparently disobedient discourses are rooted in the very colonial knowledge and system that they aim to defy. I term this specific dilemma of the Southern countries the coloniality of disobedience. I emphasise that the struggles of epistemic disobedience in formerly colonised spaces must avoid the trap of coloniality to be able to enact independent decolonial futures.

Keywords:

• Disobedience
• binary thinking
• decoloniality
• education vision
• Pakistan
• Imran Khan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The political party founded by Imran Khan is called Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), meaning ‘Pakistan movement for Justice’.

2 This paper was originally penned in January 2022, when the PTI government was in power. The political scenario in Pakistan has changed dramatically since then, as Imran Khan’s government was ousted in April 2022, through a vote of no confidence. The rhetoric of disobedience adopted by Imran Khan, however, becomes more relevant after his ouster, as he runs a popular campaign against what he calls the US conspiracy behind his ouster because he refused to provide the US military bases in Pakistan (for operations in Afghanistan). ‘Absolutely Not’ – Imran Khan’s answer to an interviewer’s query about offering military bases to the US in Pakistan – has become a popular slogan of his current political campaign (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWfXs6HQo3I). The party vows to bring Haqiqi Azadi (Genuine Freedom) to Pakistan, referring to an independent foreign policy devoid of traditional US influence in the country. Hence, it is pertinent to closely examine the discourse of disobedience of PTI as it shapes popular politics in Pakistan. The education initiatives of the PTI government examined in this paper represent their vision for the country. It should be noted that the critique of PTI education initiatives in this paper aims to point towards decolonial alternatives in education. It does not, in any way, imply taking part or position in the polarised political debates in Pakistan.

3 See (1) PM Imran Khan Complete Speech at Al-Qadir University Inauguration | 05 May 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBWFxKhP8Zk, accessed January 28, 2022; (2) Prime Minster Imran Khan Speech at Inauguration Ceremony of Al-Qadir Academic Building in Jhelum. November 29, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp9rQvkJfgo, accessed July 9, 2022; (3) PM Imran Khan speech Today: Al Qadir University Sohawa. https://www.pakshows.pk/current-affairs/pm-imran-khan-speech-today-or-al-qadir-university-sohawa, accessed July 9, 2022.

4 See https://alqadir.edu.pk/, accessed 16 January 2022.

5 See https://www.hec.gov.pk/english/HECAnnouncements/Documents/Announcement/HEC-Vision-2025.pdf, accessed 16 January 2022.

6 https://www.pc.gov.pk/uploads/vision2025/Pakistan-Vision-2025.pdf, accessed 16 January 2022.

7 https://www.pc.gov.pk/uploads/report/NCF.pdf.

8 https://pmo.gov.pk/documents/manifesto-pti.pdf, accessed 16 January 2022.

9 See http://www.mofept.gov.pk/Detail/YzJiNGVjODgtNjIwOC00YzRiLThmNmUtNjJjYWIwYmJkMWY2, accessed 16 January 2022.

10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rsSmLsbNHU, accessed 16 Jan 2022.

11 Translated from Urdu; see PM Imran Khan’s historic speech with students at Al Qadir University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9pPNdZ8W5A, accessed July 7, 2022.

12 Haqiqi azadi ( genuine freedom) is the popular PTI slogan since it lost power in the centre in April 2022.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fatima Waqi Sajjad

Fatima Waqi Sajjad is Director of the Centre for Critical Peace Studies; Associate Professor at the University of Management and Technology Lahore; Author of Rethinking Education to Counter Violent Extremism: A Critical Review of Policy and Practice (2022), Education and Radicalisation in Pakistan: A Post-Colonial Perspective (2021), ‘Lagging Behind Others? An Exploration of Muslims’ Educational Outlook in Modern Times’ (2021), Countering Radicalisation through Education: Global Policy Trends and the Case of Pakistan (2019), De-radicalizing Pakistani Society: The Receptivity of Youth to a Liberal Religious Worldview (2017), Countering Extremists’ Narratives in Pakistan (2015), and Reforming Madrasa Education in Pakistan: Post 9/11 Perspectives (2013); and Co-Author of Revisiting Arms Race between India and Pakistan: A Case of Asymmetrical Causal Relationship of Military Expenditures (2019).