Dawn.com: by Kaiser Bengali.
TWO events in recent weeks have shaken the country and — fortunately, for a change — led to intense soul-searching. The first event was the response to the anti-Islam film in the US and the second the shooting of 14-year old schoolgirl and anti-Taliban blogger Malala Yousufzai in Swat.
The heinous attempt on Malala’s life has been carried out by a group that has brazenly vowed to use terror to achieve its obscurantist objectives. Their views, unfortunately, are held and supported by a significant proportion of Pakistanis. This section of the population possesses a mindset that does not subscribe to the right to express one’s views. Anyone who crosses the line drawn by them is liable to be punished without mercy — by flogging and/or death by shooting, stoning, beheading, or bomb blasts.