A Pakistani lawmaker’s scathing speech drawing a stark contrast between India and Pakistan’s education systems has gone viral on social media. During his address in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) party and member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Syed Mustafa Kamal lamented the dire state of education in Pakistan, especially in Karachi.
Kamal said, “Whenever we have talked to Asif Ali Zardari sahab, we have found him positive, receptive and interested in solving the problems. I want to inform him that the world is going to the moon, while in Karachi, a child is dying after falling into an open gutter. On the same screen, on one hand, while there were news about India landing on the moon, on the other, there were news about a child dying after falling in an open gutter in Karachi. This is the news every third day. I am requesting this to the head of Pakistan, to the party’s chairman…”
Kamal bemoaned that while India’s IT exports stand at a staggering $270 billion, Pakistan’s IT exports amount to a mere $7 billion. “Today, if India is booming, it is because they taught what was needed to be taught,” he said.
Highlighting the alarming levels of illiteracy in Pakistan, the lawmaker said there are 70 lakh children in Karachi and over 2.6 crore children across the country who are unable to attend school. “If we just focus on this (lack of education), the leaders of the country shouldn’t get any sleep,” he added.
“We have a total of 48,000 schools, but a new report says that out of these, 11,000 are ‘ghost schools.’ As many as 70 lakh children in Sindh and 2.62 crore in the country are not going to school. That should not let our leaders get proper sleep,” Kamal said.
The MQM-P leader contrasted this with India’s progress, stating, “Our neighboring India – 30 years ago, it taught its citizens those things which the world needed. Today, Indians are CEOs of 25 top Global Companies…Today, there are loads of global investments in India.”
Kamal also took a swipe at the Pakistan’s dwindling foreign reserves, saying, “We have total reserves, which we can’t even spend because we have taken loans, at $8-9 billion…sometimes it is $6 billion. India’s reserve is $607 billion…”
He was referring to the successful touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module near the south pole of the Moon on August 23, 2023, juxtaposed with Pakistan’s lack of basic amenities.
Kamal’s remarks come days after senior politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman, pointed out the economic disparities between India and Pakistan, saying that “India is dreaming of becoming a superpower, and we are begging to avoid bankruptcy.”