Sir: Regardless of what happens to the ongoing negotiations, the problem we are facing is not going to go away. This is the battle for the soul of Pakistan. On one side are the weapons-wielding obscurantists, while on the other are those who wish to see Pakistan develop as a tolerant state based on equality, democracy and human freedom. A huge chunk of the population, disgusted with the corrupt administrative system and abject poverty, seem to fantasise about an Islamic state. Women, the silent sufferers, have no say, as they are either too suppressed by tradition or awed by the thought of rebelling against their only security of home in a cruel society and state. This struggle will not end till the soul of Pakistan is won over by either side. Deferring the inevitable will not solve the problem. We will neither progress nor live in peace without deciding this issue once and for all. Saeed Rawalpindi