The historians on the conclusion of History and Historiography of South Asia has demanded from the provincial governments that courses should be made rational and objective, and all the biases should be removed from the syllabi of the schools and colleges.
In a resolution passed in an international conference on history organised by Punjab University on Wednesday the participants demanded that subject of history should be given its right place in the overall scheme of education. The historians requested the governments of the South Asian countries to remove the visa restrictions and other impediments which cause difficulty for the faculty members and researchers to travel from one to another country.
"We specially bring to the notice of all the provincial governments and the federal government of Pakistan that many archaeological and historical sights of the country need their urgent attention. The museums are also in bad shape while some of the monuments are about to deplete totally.
This is our historical heritage and a nation that does not care for its heritage, shows in fact its reluctance towards its future ideals," the resolution read. For the historians, it said, one message that comes out from this conference very clearly, is that there are a number of areas in which researches are either non-existent or quite minimal. It said for the development of the discipline of history as a whole it is important that all these areas should be identified and addressed. It said we in particular wish to highlight the importance of social history, people's history and the history of the marginalized. The resolution said that since for the research on the medieval period, knowledge of Persian is unavoidable, therefore, we ask the universities in Pakistan, in particular, to take steps to establish the departments of Persian and to improve the existing ones. Within Pakistan, the historians strongly recommended inter-university faculty exchange programs. They resolved that these programs should also be available for the researchers pursuing their M. Phil & Ph. D. projects. They also recommended inter-university joint conferences and moots on history. The resolution paid thanks to Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran, Department of History and Pakistan Studies and its Chairman, Dr Muhammad Iqbal Chawla, Pakistan Historical Society and its President, Mohtarma Sadia Rashid, Secretary of the Pakistan Historical Society, Dr Ansar Zahid Khan, Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab, and others who have contributed to the holding of this conference. It also especially thanked the students for being so actively involved in the conference which is quite encouraging.