The DNA of Social Studies

I would like to share a few things from the workshop which I am conducting these days at Educational Resource Development Centre (ERDC), Karachi. It is called Breaking the Code: the DNA of Social Studies.

The concept is that just as DNA is a basic code encompassing the entire range of development the organism may potentially achieve, so there are a few basic truths about an area of study which yield an overall plan into which new developments may easily fit as the learner goes along.

The workshop consists of seven sessions:

1. Ancient Civilizations
2. Modern History
3. Iqbal
4. An Overview of Geography
5. Civics: a Mind Map for Pakistani Learners
6. Pakistan: understanding the idea and the reality
7. Recap and Conclusions

A shorter version conducted for teachers last month became quite popular, so this is a longer version for students as well as teachers. Personally, for me, its a nice experience to be addressing "house full" sessions once again (the current round has 35 participants, which is the maximum capacity of the venue).

Workshop about Iqbal

I conducted a workshop with Social Studies teachers and trainers in Lahore on Saturday, May 29. The following is a report of that workshop by Manzoor Malik in Dawn (published on May 31, 2010).

THE Association for Social Studies Educators and Teachers (ASSET) in collaboration with Iqbal Academy on last Saturday organised a “Movie and workshop session on Allama Iqbal” at the Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi main office.

Facilitated by Iqbal Academy Pakistan’s research consultant Khurram Ali Shafique, the session included Iqbal’s concept of Pakistan and a few tips for looking at history and Pakistan Studies in the light of his ideas.

Iqbal’s greatest work ‘Javidnama’ was also introduced at the session and the participants were enlightened with seven stages of personal development, found through the works of Iqbal.

At the session, excerpts from the Allahabad address: Iqbal’s concept of Pakistan and Iqbal’s poems for children were also discussed.

Controversial Facebook Page is Back

The controversial Facebook page is back since Saturday, although some users in India have found it difficult to access it somehow. According to PC World, “the Facebook users who created the page put it back up.” On Saturday it had 108,000 fans and over 11,700 photos posted on it (you can read additional reporting on Pro Pakistani).

So it isn’t over yet. Muslims who think that the whole issue is childish and beneath the dignity of response, and therefore should be ignored may have a point but they also need to address that overwhelming majority who thinks otherwise.

Quit Facebook Day: May 31

“Facebook page that led to Pakistani ban removed,” said the latest from Associated Press (read it at Yahoo! News) this morning. If through some hurriedly viewed news on TV you got the impression that Facebook took down the page, apologized or retracted, then please be corrected: “Facebook said Friday it has not taken any action on the page,” the Associated Press tells us. "So it was possible the creator took it down Friday because the page had served its purpose.”

This may not be the end of troubles for Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook. May 31 has already been declared "Quit Facebook Day". No, not by Jamaat-i-Islami (nor by Imran Khan neither). Quite unrelated to the recent controversy over the hate festival, a website has been set up to explain why Facebook may be risky not only for you personally but also for the future of humanity:

"For us it comes down to two things: fair choices and best intentions. In our view, Facebook doesn't do a good job in either department... For a lot of people, quitting Facebook revolves around privacy... but we also think the privacy issue is just the symptom of a larger set of issues. The cumulative effects of what Facebook does now will not play out well in the future, and we care deeply about the future of the web as an open, safe and human place. We just can't see Facebook's current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we're leaving.”

12,677 people have joined the Quit Facebook Day Campaign by "committing" to quit it on May 31 on the website (there were 12,666 when I started writing this post about 15 minutes ago, so the number is increasing by the minute).

This is not even among the bigger troubles that have started surrounding the CEO of Facebook during the recent weeks. Here are some randomly selected headlines to give you an idea (embedded links take you to details):

1. Facebook CEO’s latest woe: accusations of securities fraud
2. The Social Network Depicts Facebook CEO As 'Sex Maniac'
3. Facebook Could Predict When Your Relationship Will End
4. Facebook Privacy Issues Spark Internal Disagreement, Challenges To CEO
5. Facebook Alternatives: Other Secure Social Networks You Could Switch To
6. As Facebook Takes a Beating, a Brutal Movie Is Set to Make Things Much Worse”
7. 'Social Network' script: A meaner take on Facebook

Some of these things are tough. Nick Summers on the blog of Newsweek (listed as #6 here) describes a recent Q&A session between a Facebook VP and readers at nytimes.com as "insincere at best and Orwellian at worst" and foresees even worse consequences when the movie gets released on October 1, portraying Zuckerberg as "a borderline autistic, entirely ruthless conniver." Other problems faced by him since April 21 and listed in this article include “a letter of concern from four U.S. senators, a filing with the Federal Trade Commission by 15 privacy groups, grave op-eds from the influential people at TechPresident, Wired, Thomas Baekdal, GigaOM, and elsewhere, helpful information to make sense of Facebook's evolution, including a timeline from the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a clever infographic from an IBM researcher, and the launch of an idealistic NYU startup, Diaspora.”

Arguably, the role of Facebook in the recent controversial cartoon campaign was also different from YouTube and Wikipedia — and hence the general resentment among Muslims is mainly directed against Facebook and not so much against the other two websites that got banned in Pakistan in this context. 

If the conclusion on which Muslim users of Facebook have arrived is similar to what the webmasters of Quit Facebook Day are stating on their website (“We also don't think Facebook has much respect for you...”), one wonders how it would seem if millions of these Muslims also join the campaign and unanimously quit Facebook on May 31 — especially if they seal their lips about the offensive cartoons, blasphemy and all other matters at least until then and unanimously start chanting, “Just like the webmasters of Quite Facebook Day, we just can't see Facebook's current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we're leaving. Nothing more to say (at least till May 31)!”

Such a thing would require extraordinary self-control, discipline and goodwill. Faith has produced such qualities on certain occasions but even if Muslims miss the opportunity, other problems surrounding Mr. Mark Zuckerberg are not pointing towards a very bright future either. Remember what James Bond says to the bad guy in The Living Daylights? “If the Russians don't get you, the Americans will!”

The latest from the Facebook

As reported in Herald Sun (Australia), "Facebook is disappointed at being blocked in Pakistan over a contest that encourages users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and may make the offending page inaccessible to users there."

Either it has been reported that way or it is really so lame. "We are very disappointed with the Pakistani courts' decision to block Facebook without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way," Facebook said according to the news report. Maybe some users feel that way but most I know are appluading the ban (a good place to get an idea of general reaction is one of the recent posts on Teethmaestro Blog).

I also happily accepted the ban at least till May 31 but there is something about this recent statement from Facebook which makes me feel I can go along with a permanent ban. The Facebook representative is reported to have said, "We will take appropriate action, which may include making this content inaccessible to users in Pakistan."

Wow! So it is wrong if my own government prevents me and it is right when Facebook does the same! If it's going to be someone else's decision how I access the Internet then I prefer it to be my government rather than Facebook.

Facebook still did not agree to remove that "offensive page". It is simply offering, oh so graciously, to make the page invisible for Pakistani users. Worse than having that page in the first place, actually, because it means that the page stays there but only Pakistani users become unable to notice it. That is a huge concession Facebook people are asking for themselves and yet making it sound as if they are offering a favor.

Something else in the Facebook statement is even more dubious. Reportedly the statement from the Palo Alto, California-based social network said, "We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others..." (Sounds like Ms. Anne Patterson announcing before the world that the US authorities have "no definitive knowledge" about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's children). The statement goes on to say, "We don't typically take down content, groups or pages that speak out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas."

But sometimes they do. Not very long ago they took down the page of People's Resistance, a broad-based Pakistani group working for the restoration of judiciary in Pakistan. Facebook removed that page (not just making it inaccessible in Pakistan). It also sent warnings to the group. (Read about this on Teeth Maestro).

So, Facebook does not "typically" do that but "a-typically" it removed a page that was calling for peaceful restoration of judiciary in Pakistan. That stupid contest of May 20 is a big deal but restoration of judiciary in Pakistan is a trivial matter that Facebook team did not even mention it while making these blanket statements?

Facebook might be disappointed with the Pakistani courts' decision but many Pakistani users were disappointed with Facebook already, and after reading this statement I feel: social media network, my foot! Is this the kind of people I would like to trust for my social media networking?