What then is the source of the self-righteousness and intolerance which leads a person to take a gun and kill innocent people without mercy? Pakistan was separated from India because of the religious divide. One would have thought that the country would serve as an example where Muslims would show how people of the same faith could live in peace and tranquility in a spirit of sharing and caring. It is incredible that the blood being shed is that of their own citizens. In places like Senegal and Gambia, people belonging to different religions and sects or denominations co-exist in peace, while each engages in practices as dictated by their religious beliefs. This culture of religious tolerance should be an example throughout the world. The spilling of blood in Pakistan should motivate all Muslim religious leaders to intensify their preaching of tolerance in every country so that the Taliban and Boko Haram insurgency would not find root in other countries. There are many unemployed youths in each of our countries. Such people are vulnerable to propaganda. Only enlightenment could save them from being transformed into suicide bombers because of promise of a better life in the hereafter. It is an absurd logic to the mind that thinks. When emotions and passions overshadow reason, one could do anything. The real solution is to inculcate in the minds of every Muslim child that there is no compulsion in religion.]]>
