Produced by an independent US government commission, the report into Pakistani textbooks and teaching practices also found that 80 percent of public school teachers viewed non-Muslims as "enemies of Islam" in one way or another.
"This study -- the first-ever study of its kind -- documents how Pakistan's public schools and privately-run madrassas are not teaching tolerance but are
exacerbating religious differences," said Leonard Leo, chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
"Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security."
Researched in collaboration with a Pakistani think-tank, the 139-page report called for modernized textbooks, better teacher training and renewed progress on curricular reforms set out in 2006 but never fully implemented.
"Education is part of the problem, and part of the solution," Knox Thames, director of policy and research at the commission, told AFP.
But the report warned that any effort to combat religious discrimination in Pakistan, especially in education, "will likely face strong opposition."
The report -- co-written with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad -- comes amid tension between Pakistan and the United States over how to combat Islamic extremism.
"It is our hope that this study will help Pakistan to enable its educational system to provide effective education for its youth," said Azhar Hussain of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy in Washington, which also participated in the report.
Overall, the report said, "Hindus are repeatedly described as extremists and eternal enemies of Islam whose culture and society is based on injustice and cruelty, while Islam delivers a message of peace and brotherhood."
"Muslims treated Hindus in (a) very good manner despite that Hindus used to main(tain) deep animosity against Muslims," it quoted a fourth-grade social sciences textbook as saying.
"Hindus were against the creation of Pakistan," said a 10th grade book, added the report. "Despite their utmost opposition, when Pakistan was created, they used all means to weaken and harm Pakistan."
Textbooks also drew a link between the defense of Pakistan with the defense of Islam, said the study based on more than 100 textbooks as well as interviews with teachers and students at 37 public schools and 19 madrassas.
"The anti-Islamic forces are always trying to finish the Islamic domination of the world," said another textbook quoted in the report.
"This can cause danger for the very existence of Islam. Today, the defense of Pakistan and Islam is very much in need."
Interviews with public school teachers revealed that all of them "believed the concept of jihad to refer to violent struggle," and that upwards of 80 percent of them regarded non-Muslims as "enemies of Islam."
Teachers in madrassas held a broader view of jihad that included the concept of "internal jihad" or personal self-struggle -- and they were far more likely than their public school counterparts to correctly identify religious minorities as citizens of Pakistan. (AFP)
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