Some home truths that maybe difficult for some to accept i.e. especially those who have used Islam for their own expedient political aims in Pakistan, but a sentiment which I believe resonates amongst the majority of people in Pakistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2003/06/09/top1.htm
Musharraf says people against theocratic state
In an obvious reference to the passage of the Shariat bill by the MMA government in the NWFP, President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Sunday spoke strongly against the attempts at Talibanization of society and called for thwarting them. Speaking at a reception arranged by the Lahore Bar Association, he said the people wanted a progressive, enlightened and dynamic Islamic state of Pakistan in line with the “vision of the founding fathers”. It was the first gathering organized by a bar where President Gen Musharraf was invited." The people of Pakistan do not want a theocratic state and are strongly opposed to Talibanization of society. The attempts being made at imposing a particular dress code, defacing the billboards and uprooting the circuses must be discouraged, and thwarted. The people need to play their role to prevent these attempts. The law enforcing agencies and the judiciary should also act against such minor irritants and ward off these conflicts (from getting out of hands)," he said.
“Personal liberties and freedoms should be respected,” the president said, and added: “Nobody has any right by virtue of his being in power to tell others who is a good Muslim and who is not. Imposition of a particular dress code as Islamic and defacing of the billboards is quite a weird thing. It’s for people to prioritize the issues. The minority can’t be allowed to hold the majority a hostage.” Speaking about the government-opposition talks on the issue of the Legal Framework Order (LFO), he said: “They (the MMA) had not shown willingness to reach any agreement on the issue in spite of a flexible attitude of the government. Now they have come up with their 17-point Islamization demands. From their demands, it seems as if we live in an un-Islamic state although the constitution of the country clearly says that no law repugnant to Islam will stay on the statutes.” Gen Musharraf, who received a standing ovation by lawyers when he arrived there in his military uniform, insisted that “all such acts were tarnishing Pakistan’s image around the globe”. He added that Pakistan was perceived by other nations as an “intolerant society and a land of terrorists and fundamentalists”.
The president said: “Pakistan cannot make economic progress in a vacuum. It’s part of the global village and needs to interact with other nations if we wish to develop and prosper. We must try to grasp the regional and international situation, and behave accordingly if we wish to move forward.” He said the Ummat could not move ahead by choosing the path of confrontation (with the West). “It needs to work on a two-pronged strategy to move forward: emancipate the Ummat (from economic and technological dominance of the West) and try to convince the West that all the (global) political disputes must be settled, as those encourage extremism.” He said Pakistan was an important member of the Muslim world and must play a “lead role in steering the Ummat out of the present crisis”.