Belatedly General Musharraf has moved to finally redeem the promise he made the world in his widely welcomed speech on January 12, 2002.

Nearly two years ago, he had pledged to crack down on religious extremists and regulate the seminaries that are widely viewed as breeding grounds for zealots who terrorize Pakistanis as well as our neighbours. By banning a number of religious parties and groups as well as some madressahs, Musharraf has signalled a stiffening of the backbone.

His many detractors have criticized him for taking these steps because of American pressure. Frankly, his motivation doesn't matter as long as he sticks to his stated policy of not allowing extremists the free rein they have enjoyed for so long.

Whether his crackdown is a result of prodding from Washington or a much delayed realization that fundamentalism is destroying this country, what is important is that it is effective in marginalizing this danger and the people who pose it.

This poison was first injected into Pakistan's body politic by Ziaul Haq who encouraged both ethnic and sectarian groups to establish themselves and flourish. His reasoning was that their presence would provide a counterweight to the PPP which he saw as his only threat. By patronizing the MQM in Sindh and groups like the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in Punjab, he sought support from groups beholden to him for their existence.

Over time these groups have mutated and multiplied. Mercifully, the MQM has retained its secular character and is being gradually absorbed into the mainstream. But the sectarian parties have morphed into Hydra-headed monsters that grow new heads as soon as one is hacked off.

Each time the government screws up its courage to ban a certain outfit, it promptly acquires a new identity. But the faces behind these changed names are the same, and are very familiar to our security agencies which have extensive files on them and their activities.

This government has a very poor track record of restraining extremist groups, despite Musharraf's early promises. Time and again, it has arrested leaders and activists of gangs like the Lashkar-i-Taiba and the Jaish-i-Mohammed, only to release them.

Azam Tariq was even permitted to run in the last general elections despite the scores of terrorism charges against him. Even now, there is talk of releasing activists on bonds and guarantees of good behaviour. This is the path to madness: if they refused to obey the law of the land earlier, why should a bond ensure civilized conduct now?

It appears that once again, the government's spine is wobbling. Instead of grasping the horns of extremism firmly, Musharraf is paying heed to cowardly counsel. No doubt his political advisers are warning him of the hostility his crackdown will earn him from the MMA religious alliance. Meanwhile, his army colleagues are probably reminding him of the Indian divisions tied down in Kashmir by militant action, and that many of these holy warriors are financed and armed by some of the groups banned recently.

But one group that probably does not have Musharraf's ear is the business community. If they did, they would have told him that the activities of the extremists have been devastating for business. The investment climate has been destroyed with scarcely any local or foreign investors putting any money into new projects.

Seeming to sustain the rising tide of extremism is the all-pervasive religiosity that has become the defining element of today's Pakistan. TV screens are full of bearded or masked faces constantly mouthing platitudes and sermons.

An art exhibition at Karachi University is trashed by zealots. Women patients in NWFP can no longer be examined by X-ray and MRI machines operated by male technicians. Other examples of this slide into the black hole of fundamentalism are all too depressingly familiar to all of us.

In his books and talks, V.S. Naipaul has stressed the insecurity of the recent convert that makes him wear his new faith on his sleeve. Thus, Arabs and Iranians whose forefathers entered the fold of Islam a millennium ago are much more relaxed about it than South Asians who converted to Islam a couple of centuries ago, or even more recently. To a great extent, we define ourselves solely by our faith while older, more established Islamic communities have a number of other claims on their time and energy.

This single-minded preoccupation with religion was reinforced by Zia's Islamization project that changed textbooks and laws while bombarding us with hypocritical sermons that were broadcast non-stop from the state media. Twenty years later, while religious words and symbols have become everyday currency, their true meaning and purpose have become blurred. It would seem that we have acquired a monopoly of the faith and others are somehow lesser Muslims.

It is these attitudes that support and sustain the religious groups and parties, providing them with the very oxygen they need to survive. So when Musharraf seeks to eliminate religious extremism and terrorism from our society, he needs to look beyond the symptoms and examine the causes.

Going to the roots of the phenomenon, there is an urgent need to completely overhaul the syllabi taught at state schools and the madressahs. Both teach hate and contempt for other faiths and these texts need to be purged. Textbooks are full of jingoistic nonsense that makes a mockery of history. A committee should go through teaching material to ensure that it conforms to the requirements of today's world.

Scientists and educationists should be associated with this task. We have lost enough time, and if Musharraf is serious about ridding us of extremism, he should prove that he has the political will needed for the job.

Tailpiece: Over two years ago, I had written about the plight of our fishing community, ending with an appeal to help my fisherman friend, Fateh, build a new boat. My faith in humanity was restored when readers around the world responded generously. Supported by a small grant from the Besom Foundation, we helped Fateh build a 26-foot boat equipped with two engines, professional fishing rods, a kilometre of nets and a large ice compartment. I would like to thank everybody involved in the project for their generosity.