Daily Times: Dr. Haider Shah.
Our national discourse is increasingly being controlled by religious leaders who run a network of seminaries. While the state-run educational institutions are hardly any better, the religious seminaries (madaaris) do not even acknowledge the formal control of the state. The students of these madaaris serve as a convenient readymade material for any procession or protest meeting organised by religious leaders of various organisations. The effect of radicalism can, however, be seen in almost all walks of life.
………The month of Moharram is hardly a few days old and already all provinces of Pakistan have been rocked by bomb blasts. Every passing day without a major incident is counted as a blessing by the officers entrusted with the job of maintaining peace in the first month of the Islamic calendar. Even if peace is ensured after sealing all major cities and paralysing social life, there is no guarantee that the lull will last long.