If you are lucky enough to have an educated mother and the means to go to a decent school, you learn that you must not prevaricate and you must never (to use that neat term coined by a British politician) be economical with the truth.

Our temporary prime minister, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, was quoted in the press last week as having said that he had agreed to head the government for an interim period in view of the situation, that he had never wanted to be prime minister of the country as he was of the firm belief that two members of a family should not hold the offices of prime and chief minister simultaneously, but that "elders and friends suggested that I should take this responsibility in the interest of the country, so I did" - a somewhat stomach-churning statement, but not at all surprising. Did his inarticulate 'inner voice' come to the fore to advise otherwise than did that of Sonia Gandhi?

He has asserted that during his limited tenure he will legislate, naturally in the larger national interest. He has managed one piece of legislation, the PPO Bill, rushed through both Houses, with all rules suspended. But that was in the larger interest of the politicians and their parties. Any legislation that has taken place in our shabby string of parliaments usually has nothing to do with the nation at large and all to do with the power or pockets of our legislators.

Now, the PPP in opposition, led ably by articulate Cambridge Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, last week presented a bill which truly is in the national interest (whether it would have done so if he was in government is quite another matter). The bill calls for amendments in the criminal laws which will prevent the condoning of murder in the name of Islam and do away with the horrible and barbarous practice of karo-kari murder under the guise of honour, usually of those who marry against their families' wishes, or of those suspected of having committed adultery, with the perpetrators getting away scot free by bargaining for a pardon. Women are the major sufferers; it is they who are dishonoured.

The feudals of Chaudhry Shujaat's party, duly supported by the mullah element, all ignorant of the fact that there is no honour at all in killing and that karo-kari is pure and simple premeditated murder, were vicious in their support of the practice. If the Gujrat Chaudhry can bring into line the more rabid of the misogynists in his party, rein in the Salim Jan Mazaris, support the bill, suspend the rules, and rush it through parliament, his name will not merely be a footnote in the history of Pakistan. Similarly, but most unlikely, he should deal with the matter of the equally horrific and discriminatory Hadood Ordinances under which women are literally bludgeoned.

If he cannot, then his ordained successor, waiting in the wings, should put the matter of Ziaul Haq's obnoxious ordinances near the top of his list of priorities. Hopefully, when sworn-in, he will forsake his present mania for visiting shrines and pirs aiming to prove his Muslim credentials to his detractors, and sit and do some smart legislating.

Taking a tip from his president, General Pervez Musharraf, in-waiting Shaukat Aziz, when he finally arrives, might open his priority list with the two vital factors which are conjoined - education and population control, both of which need the other if they are to be implemented. Unusually, in an interview he gave earlier this month to the Turkish publication 'Hurriyat,' the general spoke up for education. When questioned on his 'struggle against Al Qaeda', he was clear: "The long-term strategic perspective covers political consensus, education, and the fight against poverty...... If we do not target the brains behind terror we will not be able to exterminate terrorism....".

When the US Senate committee on foreign relations met in Washington on July 14, Musharraf was chastized for having not delivered on his promise to shut down the more radical of the madressahs and to ensure that those that remain are registered and their curricula reformed and regulated. The committee chairman, Senator Richard Luger, referred to an agreement signed in 2002 whereby USAID would provide a five-year $ 100 million grant to the government of Pakistan towards the reform of the public education system. Early childhood and teacher education were the main targets.

According to his figures, only 42 per cent of children in Pakistan between the ages of five and nine go to school and less than half last for five years. What he termed "the failing public education system in Pakistan" is the reason many parents opt to send their children to madressahs, and "some of these schools incite violence and serve as a breeding ground for terrorists." (A comment reiterated in the 9/11 commission report.) The message is that the General's government needs to stop dithering and act.

Dithering seems to be second nature to our education minister, who was in place long before this government came into being. So on the back foot is minister Zubeda Jalal, that when recently attacked by fellow parliamentary members of the bearded brigade and accused of not being staunchly 'Islamic', she pronounced herself to be 'a fundamentalist' - a poor reaction, particularly in this day and age. Over the years, she has let the matter of the national curricula slide, never being able to put her foot down. The textbook boards, from which government schools must obtain their text books, are a disgrace, if going by the board in Sindh which is representative of the whole country. Schools in Sindh open up with just no textbooks supplied, let alone revised and amended textbooks.

Minister Jalal now has a great chance of redeeming herself. Reportedly, she announced in the National Assembly on Monday that the government was considering embodying in the national curricula the creed of the country's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, as delivered by him in his speech to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947. This, of course, is something that should have been done fifty-six years ago. It is unlikely that the suggestion will be opposed - none would dare. The government must stop considering and just do it, for the sake of the nation and the generations to come.

It should be made compulsory for children to commit to memory passages from the speech, so that they know what their leaders and governments are meant to deliver, as per the wishes of their country's maker. They will realize that the first duty of their government "is to maintain law and order so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state." They will learn, in Jinnah's words, that everyone of them "no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges and obligations," that "you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the state."

They will learn that the fundamental principle is "that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one state." They will learn that Jinnah's intention was that "in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state."

What better way can there be to usher in an era of 'enlightened moderation'?