Call them brutes, fanatics, bigots, murderers, terrorists, religious militants - call them what you will. The killing of Daniel Pearl was an act perpetrated by deranged, unreasonable, mindless men.

In coming to Pakistan, Pearl took an occupational risk; danger was always on the cards. All that we can say is that we are extremely sorry that we harbour among us such cruel people.

Yet, as we sorrowfully must admit, all societies of this world have always harboured a section of people who will maim and kill at will, and for as long as mankind exists so will it be. The sole check, though never its elimination, on this natural phenomenon is the enforcement of law and order. At the risk of repeating myself ad nauseam, I revert to the founder of our country, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who before the birth of Pakistan clearly told his future legislators what it was he expected of them.

On August 11, 1947 he said: "The first observation that I would like to make is this: you will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state." His emphasis was on 'first'. He knew his onions. None can doubt that he was our sole statesman.

Now, take the case of a recent horrific murder in Britain. A front-page story in The Times (London) on February 21 related how a slightly built Asian boy, initially thought to be aged between 12 and 16, was brutally beaten to death in a park in the London suburb of Kingsbury, stripped naked, and his body set alight by an accelerant.

So savage was the beating to his face and upper body that he was unrecognizable. The body was found by a passer-by, less than 50 yards away from a busy main road. Kingsbury near Wembley, said the police, has no record of racial tension. After a week of investigations covering racial, sexual and drug-linked motives, a further news item reported that the boy had still not been identified, which in Britain is unusual, and that extensive forensic examinations had revealed that he could even have been an adult in his mid -20s of mixed-race. Police are now hoping that a rare congenital tooth abnormality will help in identifying the murdered boy.

One week may have passed with no clues, but eventually - it may take months - the murderers will be tracked down, arrested, taken to court and if the evidence holds good, they will be duly punished under the law. The deterrent of punishment works. Such acts in a country which operates under its laws are few and far between. In countries bereft of law and order they are everyday occurrences that pass unremarked.

The criminal investigation system in Pakistan is both ineffective and completely useless to society. On the odd occasion when culprits (or suspected culprits) are found, the judges of our criminal courts, in the event that the crime relates to religion, are too afraid to convict. Fear is their guide, not the application of the law. In all cases relating to the blasphemy law, Section 295-C PPC, when a judge sentences an accused blasphemer to a long term of imprisonment or even to death it is for the preservation of his own skin. He dare not do otherwise.

There is something so radically wrong with our judicial system, as radically wrong as there is with the mindset of the faithful adherents to the various sects of the religion of this country, and until the latter is changed the former is doomed.

Since President General Pervez Musharraf's much-lauded speech of January 12, when he declared his intention to crack down on the extremists of Pakistan and banned a couple of the more murderous religious political parties, the SSP being one, the following are incidents of Shia slaying and maiming as reported in the press.

Karachi, February 11: A shopkeeper was shot dead and two others injured in an armed attack on a shop in Saddar. Two unidentified assailants, riding a motorcycle, came to Pak-Iranian Tea Company shop on Shahrah-i-Iraq and sprayed those inside the shop with bullets. The shopkeeper, Mohammed Ramazan, aged 55, and his employee Ehsan Ali, aged 20, and Firdaus, aged 50, who owned a cabin near the Iranian Tea Company shop, were injured. They were rushed to Jinnah Hospital where doctors pronounced Ramazan dead on arrival. Ehsan and Firdaus were admitted to the hospital. Firdaus was stated to be in a serious condition.

Karachi, February 11: A Pakistan Steel Mills Security officer, Syed Adil Hussain, 45, was stabbed to death and his body dumped on a main road in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. He was killed after being kidnapped. He had left home in New Karachi on Sunday evening but did not return. Three daughters survive him.

Karachi, February 10: A pan shop owner, Syed Azad Hussain Zaidi, was shot dead in Sector F-E, New Karachi, by two motorcycle riders.

Karachi, February 8: A bus carrying a pharmaceutical company's worker from its Korangi factory to a Karsaz mosque was fired upon near Shaheed-i-Millat Expressway, injuring three Shias.

Rawalpindi, February 6: Prominent educationist and a central leader of the Muslim League (QA), Professor Maqsood Jaffery, was injured in a terrorist attack.

Karachi, February 6: Superior College's principal, Azhar Zaidi, and his son Professor Ashar Zaidi were seriously injured in Jaffar-i-Tayyar Society, as they were going from home to the college. Mr Ashar lies in a critical condition.

Larkana, February 5: Mohammad Hassan, 60, custodian of Jadal Shah Imambara, was killed in a terrorist attack.

Karachi, February 4: Dr Fayyaz Karim was killed in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri. He was a skin specialist working at the Civil Hospital.

Karachi, February 3: Two terrorists on a motorcycle killed Sadiq Ali Hamshiri in Kharadar in his bakery. He was a trustee of Hussainian Iranian, Kharadar.

Karachi, January 30: Dr Syed Mujawar Ali, 45, was seriously injured by two terrorists on a motorcycle in Model Colony.

Karachi, January 29: Mr Jawwad Rizwi, 65, was shot dead and his friend seriously injured by two terrorists on motorcycles near Sea View Apartments. Mr Rizwi was a retired insurance executive and a trustee of a mosque/imambara in Defence.

After the horrific attack on the mosque in Rawalpindi in which the Shia death toll is 11, a petition is doing the rounds gathering the signatures of Shias, Sunnis, Ismailis, all other sects of Islam, Christians, Hindus, Parsis and Buddhists, which will soon be sent to President General Pervez Musharraf. Excerpts read:

"Caliph Umar is quoted as having said that if a dog went hungry for one night on the distant bank of the river Euphrates in his realm, the caliph could not sleep in peace. We ask you General Musharraf: are you able to sleep in peace surrounded by this ever-widening pool of blood of Shia Pakistanis that is being spilt by fanatic terrorists in the name of Islam, the latest act right in the capital city?

"This petition is being written on 27th February 2002. In the six weeks since your speech of 12th January there have been one dozen attacks on Shia Muslims of Pakistan in which at least 21 Shi'as have been martyred. Those attacked include doctors, business executives, educationists and now even those offering prayers to Allah. According to press reports, Rawalpindi's senior superintendent of police in whose area 10 Shia prayer-goers were brutally slain last night, is quite certain that it is beyond the ability of the police to adequately protect the citizens' lives.

"If this is the level of 'ability' of the country's security apparatus to enforce the government's writ, then whom should Shia Muslims of Pakistan be looking to for protection of their lives in this land for gaining which they contributed a lot under the leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah? We are proud of the swift action our government is taking against those who kidnapped and killed Daniel Pearl. At the same time, however, we wonder if the one-sided killing of Pakistani Shias doesn't deserve the same, if not greater, level of attention and more importantly, action, from our government. Or shall being killed continue to remain an 'occupational hazard' of being a Shia in Pakistan?

"Dear General Musharraf, we were saddened to see the trite, and by now cruel-sounding, statement issued on your behalf promising for the umpteenth time that 'no stone will be left unturned to track down the culprits' and 'the criminals would be dealt with iron hands'. We implore your military government to start acting like a military government, and to actually take very strong and decisive action immediately (involving the army, if need be) to rid the country of this menace, so as to provide a sense of protection to the country's Shia population."

A Pakistani, whether Shia or Sunni, is a citizen of this country and his life must be protected. That is what the government owes to him. If necessary, our military government should use military protection and force to ensure that law and order prevails, particularly during Muharram, and that no more innocent lives are lost in the name of religion. No religion says 'Kill'.