MJ Akbar has written a highly convoluted article which misses the entire point. He has not only failed to make any point, he only added to his own confusion about the nature of today's terrorism. Today's terrorism is incited by religious extremists whom Prof. Salim Mansur, professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario and prominent Indo-Canadian scholar, calls "Islamofascists," whose main goal is to terrorise people into accepting their brutal rule in the name of Islam.

Unfortunately, Pakistan and its US allies played a pivotal role in the rise of Islamofascists during the US-assisted insurgency against the Soviet military occupation in Afghanistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, on July 11 at the G-8 meeting in St. Petersburg, that the US decision to fund and train Islamist guerrillas against the Soviet Union has backfired two decades later. Mr. Putin suggested that Afghanistan's Islamist militias might not have been such a big problem if the Americans hadn't spent billions of dollars training, funding and arming Islamists during almost a decade of proxy war after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. He is absolutely right.

When the Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan to stop fanatical Afghan tribes from overthrowing its surrogate regime, the United States and the Soviet Union might have had a common interest as they had during the Second World War when they were allies against Hitler. Similarly, after the rise of anti-American Islamic regime in next-door Iran, the Americans had a common interest with the Soviets to stem any rise of Islamic fanaticism in Afghanistan.

Instead, blinded by their hatred for the Soviet Union, then President Ronald Reagan and his policymakers decided to arm the Islamists whom Mr. Reagan called "the moral equivalent of the founding fathers." Armed by the CIA and financed by the Saudis, using Pakistan as a base and conduit, a lethal insurgency to drive out the "infidel" Russians was born, and Osama bin Laden's vision of an atavistic Islam took shape.

American military supplies to the Afghan insurgents were crucial in the defeat of the mighty Soviet forces. The Stinger missiles supplied by the United States were particularly devastating in bringing down Soviet helicopter gunships which were essential to defeat any insurgency in a country as rugged as Afghanistan. Once the Soviets were defeated, the Islamists turned their attention to driving "infidel" Americans from the Middle East. Pakistan's armed forces, on their part, tried to use these Islamists in their never-ending war against India in Kashmir.

In fact, the Taliban cadres and al Qaeda again used Pakistan to launch their invasion of Afghanistan and wage war against American domination of the Middle East and the Indian occupation of Kashmir. The rest is history.

Terrorist attacks of 9/11, bombings of Madrid, London and Mumbai and the daily killing of Shiite Muslims by Sunni insurgents in Iraq are all a part of this global terrorism by Islamofasists to impose their reign of terror around the world. And they are inciting hatred against the West and provoking Muslims to commit acts of terrorism throughout the world.

On July 7, 2005, a group of British Muslims bombed London's mass transit system, killing 52 and injuring many more. They claimed they were merely retaliating against the killing of Iraqi Muslims by the Anglo-American coalition forces. "Until you stop bombing, gassing and torturing my people, we will not stop fighting," vowed one of the bombers in a pre-recorded video statement.

But this perverse logic cannot hide the fact that it is extremist Sunnis who are bombing fellow Shiite Muslims in Iraq. Sunni extremists have bombed Shiite mosques filled with worshippers. They have attacked schools and markets crowded with children and women in the name of fighting the coalition forces. Recently, the Sunni extremists destroyed the Golden Mosque, one of the holiest Shiite shrines. And the only person responsible for gassing the Iraqis is Saddam Hussein who used poison gas against the Kurdish Muslims. Sunni extremists are slaughtering the Shiites in a bid to provoke a Shiite backlash and they might just have succeeded as the Shiites are now retaliating by attacking Sunni mosques and killing Sunni clerics.

Similarly, the Mumbai bombing by Islamofacsists is basically designed to provoke a backlash by the Hindu majority against the Muslim minority. And as the London bombing by British Muslims has shown, there are always disguntled local Muslims available who can be incited to commit acts of violence against their compatriots. By killing hundreds, the extremists were hoping to create a Hindu backlash, plunging India into chaos and ultimate collapse.

But credit goes to India's Hindu majority who refused to be provoked into committing violence against the Muslim minority. This is in stark contrast to Iraq where the Sunni extremists have been successful in provoking the Shiite majority to commit acts of violence. However, the patience of India's Hindu majority cannot be tried too far. This is why stern action against Islamofascists and their misguided supporters must be taken without delay.

MJ Akbar's pointless article fails to touch on these issues. He draws a facile analogy with the Naxalites. Naxalites were angels compared to these religious fanatics. They never attacked mosques, schools and hospitals. Naxalites were romantic anarchists and their targets were police stations and local administrators. And MJ Akbar's criticism of Indian democracy is completely out of place.

As for Pakistan, it is a victim of its own terrorist creation. Like the US hatred for the Soviet Union, Pakistan's hatred for India is responsible for the rise of various terrorist groups. And like the United States, which is facing the biggest threats from Islamist terrorists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, Pakistan is also facing Islamist terrorism. It may be pointed out that Muslims are slaughtering fellow Muslims and shifting the blame on to America and India. As Pakistani journalist, Khaled Ahmed, recently wrote in Lahore's Daily Times: "In Sudan and Somalia, Muslims are killing Muslims. In Afghanistan, Muslims killed Muslims in the civil war before the world moved in with daisy-cutters with a UN legal cover. In Pakistan, Muslims kill Muslims then blame it on India."

Only a few days ago (July 14), a Sunni suicide bomber in Karachi blew himself up outside the home of a prominent Shia cleric, Allama Hassan Turabi, killing the cleric and a bodyguard and triggering a riot in the port city. Pakistan has been blighted for years by attacks by extremist elements among the Sunnis and Shias, targeting mosques and religious leaders. Most attacks are invariably followed by riots. After the murder of Allama Turabi, hundreds of his youthful followers set fire to petrol depots and damaged a bank branch and several shops. This is in stark contrast to India where no such attacks against the local Muslims occurred after the Mumbai bombing.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was absolutely right when he called upon Pakistan to rein in the terrorists. Although Pakistan denies it, it is well known that many terrorist groups operate inside Pakistan. However, the authorities might have little control over them. But Pakistan must realise that these terrorist groups are as much a threat to Pakistan as they are to India. It may be in the interest of Pakistan to cooperate with India in dismantling terrorist groups operating inside the country with virtual impunity. Pakistan must not allow the fanatics to turn the country into a virtual terrorist state.

MJ Akbar has written a largely pointless article. He asks: "Why do I feel helpless?" Because he has failed to see the real picture. It is a great pity.

Mahmood Elahi writes from Ottawa, Canada.