What is the "obscene" content in class 6th science textbook in Lahore?

by Salman Hameed

There is an emergency in Lahore. An elite school in Lahore has the gall to introduce a class on comparative religion. Noooo! You cannot teach a class that necessitates a respect for other religions. But thankfully a special departmental committee has worked overtime to quickly come up with a report on this dangerous situation:

"The department said the introduction of religious studies “is tantamount to mislead and confuse the young generation with complexity of topics like comparative study of religions at such a lower level”.

And the Chief Minister of Punjab has the constitution behind him:

“Article 25 of the Constitution of Pakistan is quite clear about the provision that no Pakistani citizen should be taught a religion other than his own religion”, the minister added.

Yup - the state always knows what it best for you. Oh - wait. What Article of the constitution? A helpful commentator on the article pointed the link - and here is Article 25 (thanks to one of the commentators on Express Tribune for providing the link):

25	Equality of citizens. (1) All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law. (2) There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex  32[] 32. (3) Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the protection of women and children.

25A.	Right to education: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by law.

I'm sure the Chief Minister is doing all he can to make sure that all children between 5 and 16 are getting compulsory education...

But this is not what got me to this story. This did:

The Punjab Education Department has issued orders to confiscate the science book of class six of Lahore Grammar School (LGS) which the department says has obscene material which is provocative for youth.

Well what? They didn't say what the objectionable material was. I hope it didn't say that human beings of all religions share the same basic biology!! Eewww. I guess it is obscene to think that we may be made up of the same material - when it is clear that Punjab Chief Minister is made up of a rare and special material.

Since I don't know what are they referring to, can someone please find out about the nature of the objectionable material in the 6th grade science textbook? Thanks.

Here is the original story.