Islam is Pakistan’s official religion, and around 96% of the population is Muslim. Most are Sunni, with a smaller Shia population. Alongside them live Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis, Sikhs and Zoroastrians, some of whose faiths were practised in this region long before Islam arrived. They have helped build the country and made it more diverse. But sharing a country is not the same as understanding one another. If these communities have lived side by side for so long, why is religious harmony still so hard to achieve? I think the answer has less to do with the differences between religions and more to do with how people learn about each other, how often they actually meet, and what they assume about those who believe differently.

Education is a good place to start. When USCIRF reviewed Pakistani school textbooks, it found that religious minorities were either barely mentioned or missing entirely. There was little about what these religions are, what rights their followers have, or what they have contributed to Pakistan. Students grow up knowing very little about their non-Muslim neighbours, and that gap gets filled with stereotypes. If schools taught diversity properly, young people would be less likely to form opinions from rumours or from whatever they happen to hear around them.

The second problem is that many people........

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