LAHORE – The Beaconhouse School System has called out to federal investigators by filing a complaint against a malicious online campaign, calling it ‘propaganda’.
Since October 1, #BoycottBeaconHouse hashtag has been circulating on social media, with users calling the educational institution an ‘Enemy of the State’ for its alleged “ideological and religious subversion”.
The Beaconhouse, in a statement on Thursday, said it has filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Circle to identify the people behind the recent online “engineered hate campaign” against the institution.
The statement adds that the campaign against the school was first launched by an ex-employee of The Educators — a school system running parallel to Beaconhouse.
“What is 100% clear, however, is that this hate campaign is not organic. It is fully engineered and sponsored, and we have lodged another strong application with the FIA Cybercrime Circle to identify and take action against these miscreants,” the statement reads.
Statement from Beaconhouse-2.pdf
“The spirit of patriotism and commitment to our beloved land is deeply embedded in all Beaconhouse students, employees, and owners. Our students demonstrate pride in their national identity, even as their achievements take them to global platforms. Moreover, many of our schools have been operating in army cantonments for decades and we feel privileged to be a school of choice for the defenders of our country,” it adds.
According to the statement, “The core issue in this campaign pertains to the highly regrettable but inadvertent misrepresentation of the Pakistan map in the textbooks of The Educators. The Educators has in the past acknowledged this human error and apologised to its parent body.
“Attempts have been underway to rectify it since 2015 when this was first brought to light […] Many of these maps have since been corrected, but unfortunately not all mistakes were identified on time, resulting in further misprints in 2016. All textbooks of The Educators have once again been proofread and the proposed drafts submitted to the Punjab Curriculum & Textbook Board (PCTB) in May 2018 for their official approval, which is now awaited.”
The statement also highlighted Beaconhouse’s unwavering patriotism by coming forward “during national emergencies such as the 2005 earthquake, 2010 & 2014 floods, and 2014 IDP crisis by providing emergency food and medical assistance, rebuilding 6 government schools and 21 computer labs, and donating generously to the government’s disaster relief funds of the time.”
Over 14,000 students study on scholarship and financial aid at Beaconhouse alone, not including The Educators, according to the institution.
Beaconhouse also claims to be one of the largest taxpayers in Pakistan – as well as one of the largest employers of women in the private sector.
The statement also raises concern over “objectionable images” of children’s extra- and co-curricular activities from Beaconhouse Schools being highlighted in the online campaign, adding that these activities are “similar to activities at all good private schools that aim to provide a holistic education”.
