FOR the past month, we’ve been hearing iterations of ‘sher aya’ (here comes the lion), referring to the return of Nawaz Sharif, but I’m here to write about another sher. In this case, a real person, a zoology professor at Government Postgraduate Degree College in KPnamed Sher Ali, who last week gave a three-page undertaking, reportedly under pressure from clerics, denouncing Darwin’s theory of evolution. That he did this in the district commissioner’s office, which, as a representative of the state, has to protect all citizens, is most infuriating. But it’s easy for me to say this from the comfort of my home, because I have not had to face threats for my teaching material.

And yet.

In 2020, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan released a statement warning of the grave threats posed to academic freedom. They expressed fears of “recurring attacks on academic freedom of expression through use of the country’s controversial blasphemy or sedition laws that could carry a death sentence”.

But Sher Ali wasn’t teaching his opinion. I understand the theory of evolution is a prickly subject among a lot of faiths, but as a science teacher, Sher Ali was following approved course material and doing his job. He also wrote on Facebook — where he has a following of 21,000 — how he seeks his students’ consent before teaching Darwin’s theories. However, it seems clerics took exception to a speech he made earlier this month about women’s rights in relation to purdah. And apparently, the only way to resolve the issue, which had been brewing for a fortnight, was for Sher Ali to denounce Darwinism and mixed gatherings, as well as accept women’s inferiority to men. He also renounced his speeches and social media posts saying they were “contrary to teachings of Islam”, as reported by this paper, and absolved the clerics of Bannu if something untoward happens to him.

Clerics claiming that women are the inferior sex must be challenged.

Science and religion have often been portrayed as enemies at war. But religious leaders have come a long way since Galileo was charged with heresy in 1633 for teaching that the Earth orbits the sun. Because people’s lives are at serious risk in Pakistan, where anything they say can be labelled as anti-religion, perhaps a compromise can be reached: maybe some lessons do not fall under science’s domain, but those that do should be taught by the experts.

Thankfully, science and religion are clear on gender: women are not the inferior sex. Some clerics saying otherwise do not make it so. This must be challenged.

Muslim leaders have run into trouble for embracing Darwinism elsewhere. Dr Usama Hasan, an imam and science lecturer in the UK, was suspended from his mosque in 2011 following backlash to his saying that religious belief and the theory of evolution were not incompatible. He also said the requirement for hijab was cultural in origin. He received death threats for both views. I am sure I can find several other examples from across the world to show that we are not alone in being bullied by hard-line clerics.

However, we are alone in our social indicators. Pakistan has the world’s second highest out-of-school children according to Unicef. The World Health Organisation recommends the health budget be enhanced to six per cent of GDP. It was under 1pc in the last budget. The poverty rate has risen from 34.2pc to 39.4pc in just one year.

The World Bank in May listed Pakistan’s Human Capital Index as 0.41. This means “a baby born in Pakistan today will only be 41pc as productive as they could be if they enjoyed complete education and full health”.

The report said “it is a human capital crisis that is profound, silent and with far-reaching negative effects on the potential of the country and its people.”

I believe Sher Ali represents the potential of this country, as do so many teachers that work hard because they want to make a difference in children’s lives. Children deserve a shot at the future, but the odds are stacked against them.

To the sher planning his family’s return to power, I ask them to protect all the Sher Alis of this country. To let them do their jobs safe in the knowledge that if a student or outsider accuses them of heresy, the state’s pillars will act in accordance with the law. I ask them to imagine the education and health sectors as the big development projects they love, and prioritise them over motorways. Demolish these dismal statistics that keep this country poor. Pakistan is owed courageous leadership that must make tough decisions for the betterment of its poor and marginalised citizens. Their future should be the one being negotiated in deals. Is this lion up to the task?

The writer is an instructor in journalism.

X (formerly Twitter): @LedeingLady

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2023