Although most Ulema condemn suicide bombing as un-Islamic, there are also a few that offer bizarre justifications for it. A few days back a so-called aalim was heard on a channel saying that during the 1965 war, Ayub Khan had ordered his soldiers to lay in front of the Indian tanks advancing on Lahore with anti tank mines tied to their chests as there was no other way of stopping them. About three days ago, another religious scholar repeated the same thing on TV. These gentlemen who did not have the foggiest idea of a tank battle were narrating such concocted stories simply to justify suicide bombing. Nothing could be farther from truth. No soldier was ever ordered by anyone to lay in front of any tank with a mine tied to his body. In fact, no one can be ordered by anyone to die in that manner in any battle. Period. The fact is that although the tank is a Goliath, it has its limitations too. It is almost blind when buttoned up (i.e. when the hatch of its cupola is closed). Only the driver and the commander can see through narrow slits and that too straight in front. Therefore, the enemy foot soldiers can sometimes sneak quite close to it and even ride on it without the crew inside the tank knowing it. And, if by any chance, they could open the hatch and lob a grenade inside, the tank is tanked. Probably the soldiers creeping up on a tank have caused legends of them lying under it with mines tied to them. I am told that some school texts also mention the soldiers lying in front of the enemy tanks with mines on their chests. Strange, is all I can say-COL (Retd) RIAZ JAFRI, Rawalpindi, via e-mail, July 22.