At present Pakistan is dominated by intolerance, violence, injustice and many forms of extremism. How long the country can survive with such pathetic conditions? When fundamentalists, obscurantists, extremists, and terrorists have made it their goal to spread hatred and impose their agenda by force, there is almost no chance to have democracy and equal rights for all the public. These self-righteous people have penetrated in every institution of the country. Religious radicalisation has been fostered by the civilian as well as military rulers for such a long time that it is not possible to put the country on the path of progress without abandoning the slogan of Pakistan is the fortress of Islam.
If we are serious in making Pakistan a progressive and modern state, the government must cut down its expenditures and make available more funds for education and social justice. As educated citizens are the real assets of any civilised advanced country, education can play an important role in our country as well. Instead of promoting the religion, Pakistani nationalism should be promoted. For the last 30 years, thousands of innocent citizens have been murdered in the name of faith. These innocent people are killed because one religious group believes it has the true version of Islam and the rest are heretics.
S T HUSSAIN
Lahore
