Much of the thrust of the rhetoric emanating from the recent Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit meeting in Malaysia was on the need for moderation in the Muslim world.

Even the Malaysian prime minister's speech - despite its jarring attack on Jews that diverted attention from its sober intent - was a call for the revival of tolerance and rationality in Islam. But unfortunately, while our leaders are strong on pontificating on the importance of moderation, they are not prepared to take the difficult steps required to translate their intentions into reality.

Heading this category of leaders who can talk the talk but can't walk the walk is our very own General Musharraf. In January last year, he made a brave speech, promising to rein in Islamic extremists and exercise a degree of control over the madrassahs that were producing battalions of foot-soldiers for jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Nearly 20 months and hundreds of sectarian killings later, we must sadly conclude that the general just does not have the stomach for the fight against religious intolerance and extremism.

The result is the string of Shia-Sunni murders that have tarnished the name of the country across the world. One reason why there have been fewer attacks against westerners in the recent past is that there are very few of them willing to risk their lives by visiting Pakistan. Virtually every western government has warned its nationals against travelling to our shores, and insurance companies do not offer coverage to those hardy souls willing to put their lives on the line by flying to Pakistan. Those hoping for foreign investment here should not hold their breath.

While the government takes great pride in arresting so many Al Qaeda suspects, it should ask itself what all these people are doing in Pakistan. Clearly, they view us as supportive of their violent brand of Islam and rely on a large network of sympathizers to shelter them, as well as to provide them with recruits and funds.

But what factors have encouraged the meteoric rise of religious intolerance and hatred in Pakistan? First and foremost is the backdrop of outward religiosity brought in by Ziaul Haq in the late seventies. This was paralleled by the government's patronage of the most backward elements in Afghanistan in that country's war of liberation against Soviet forces in the eighties, and its spill-over effects in Pakistan.

During the same period, funds poured in from governments and charities in the Middle East to establish and run thousands of madrassahs in Pakistan many of which taught the most retrograde versions of Islam to impressionable children. Zia also completely changed the syllabi in government schools to make them more retrogressive and jingoistic.

Soon after the Soviets were driven out and civil war broke out in Afghanistan, the Taliban, an obscure movement in the most backward part of Southern Afghanistan, gave Pakistan an opportunity to put all its eggs in the extremist basket. Basking in the early victories by this rag-tag collection of holy warriors and graduates of Pakistani madrassahs, we cheered them on all the way to Kabul. Soon thousands of unemployed young Pakistanis and Afghans flocked to their banner and started imposing their extremist views.

And when the Kashmiri uprising began in 1989, it did not lack Pakistani volunteers who found it possible to cross the Line of Control to wage their version of jihad. So much so that Pakistan-based groups often seem to be running the Kashmiri freedom movement. In the aftermath of 9/11 and General Musharraf's famous disavowal of the Taliban, Kashmir became a magnet for jihadis. The problem is that they have kept four Indian army divisions tied down in Kashmir so there is little incentive for our government to rein them in despite its many promises.

Two other factors have played a crucial role in the spread of hatred and intolerance: the high population growth rate and the failure of the economy to generate the employment necessary to absorb young men entering the job market. For thousands of these aimless, frustrated youngsters, jihadi outfits offer them not only sustenance, but a purpose in life. Money raised from charities both here and abroad is used to train and arm them, and all they know is how to fight and kill.

In reality, these outfits are a state within a state. When General Musharraf promised a major reform of madrassahs in his famous speech, he was immediately faced with a refusal from the religious parties running these institutions to allow the government any say in their operations. And since many of these parties are active in the Kashmir 'jihad', they have deep connections with intelligence agencies that give them a degree of protection.

But another element that also gives them a measure of legitimacy is the harshness of Indian rule: those Indians who believe that the uprising is fuelled entirely by Pakistani jihadi groups forget the thousands of recorded cases of human rights violations over the years.

Abroad, real and perceived wrongs against Muslims keep alive a sense of grievance that furnishes fertile soil for hatred against everything western. From Chechnya to the Philippines, Muslims feel oppressed and wronged. The atrocities in Serbia and Kosovo were keenly felt across the Muslim world despite the fact that ultimately, it was the West, led by America that came to the rescue of the Muslims.

But it is Palestine that has come to be the focus for much rancour and bitterness across the Islamic world. The repeated defeats of the Arabs at the hands of a small Zionist state have underlined the enfeebled state of the Muslim world, and have provided uncounted numbers of sympathizers and recruits for violent movements in and out of the region. More recently, the American war against Iraq has refreshed the strong sense of grievance that underlines relations between Islam and the West.

How to break out of this cycle of violence and terror must be a major priority for members of the OIC. In Pakistan, the government must monitor and control the madrassahs and ensure that messages of hate are no longer drummed into the heads of youngsters compelled by circumstances to study there. If some kind of vocational training is not imparted together with religious instruction, graduates will remain unemployed and unemployable and easy targets for extremist recruiters.

But above all, we must resolve the Kashmir issue or at least agree to put it on the back burner so that it stops being a magnet for extremists.