Sir: In contemporary times two important countries faced an outbreak of terrorism. The Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany and the Red Army in Japan were intent on trying to impose a reign of terror. But the governments of Germany and Japan did not at any stage seek an accommodation with the terrorists. Such a policy would amount to tacit admission of defeat. They used all the means available to them to destroy terrorism so that it could not raise its head again. Our government, on the other hand, has been engaged in a futile search for peace. It has not occurred to them that peace comes with strength, not by wishing for it or worse issuing empty threats. The terrorism that we face is worse than the terrorism that was faced by Germany and Japan. It is being perpetrated in the name of religion. Our home grown terrorists have sullied the name of Islam to such an extent that the word Islamist has become synonymous with terrorist in the west. In the Muslim east there is little or no respect for Pakistan. To return to political sanity we must give up the hoax of Islamisation. Pakistan can never become another Saudi Arabia or Iran. Our history and traditions are quite different. During the period of colonial rule we remained the Muslims that we are. A secular Muslim state will not turn us into non-believers. Birjis Hasan Khan Karachi