Creeping religiosity.

IT is not by accident that the dark forces of bigotry and obscurantism have become stronger than ever in Pakistan. The phenomenon is all too visibly rooted in the government's acts of omission and commission.

The regularisation of madressahs and the reform of their curricula were given top priority in the National Action Plan of 24. While that plan remains unimplemented due to the obduracy of the religious lobby, some school textbooks will not be published unless they are approved and cleared by a religious body. Where is the sanction for this extraordinary decision?

It sounds strange that even after 4 years of effort by Ziaul Haq and his successors to impose their version of Islam on the people, a law has to be enacted and executive orders issued to persuade young people to study the Quran Sharif. All Muslims try to study the Holy Book as best as their resources permit. If there are any hearts in which the fear of God should be planted, many of them are likely to be found among the rulers of Pakistan, such as ministers and law-enforcement personnel.

Islam is a totally voluntary religion. Where does the Punjab government get the idea about punishing students who fail to study the Quran? A Punjab act of 28, providing for compulsory study of the Quran by students of all educational institutions in the province, is already in force. What was the need for the Punjab governor to issue a notification this month to the effect that those failing to study the Holy Book would not be awarded degrees? The ulema may well examine the question of whether the Punjab notification is in accord with the fundamental Islamic principle of la ikraha fid deen (there is no compulsion in religion)

Any demand or action can be put beyond discussion in Pakistan by wrapping it in a religious standard.

The most unfortunate reality is that any demand or action can be put beyond discussion in Pakistan by wrapping it in a religious standard.

Prof Arfana Mallah, one of the country's most widely esteemed teachers and a champion of humanitarian causes, was harassed by religious zealots and threatened with murder to the extent that she was driven to offering regrets for an offence she had not committed. Can anything more offensive and humiliating to a sensitive person be imagined?

She was accused of pointing out flaws in a man-made law and not a divine revelation. Since when has any criticism of a provision in the Penal Code become an offence? The Federal Shariat Court, that...