Speeches delivered by congregation leaders at Friday prayers are outdated and out of sync with the realities of the contemporary world. The sermons on such occasions have depoliticized the people of Pakistan beyond measure. A totally invalid and misleading assumption is that politics and Islam cannot coexist. Nothing is farther from the truth than this myth. I suggest some kind of orientation of Friday prayer leaders is a must to teach them the basic parameters of modern life which are not in conflict with the progressive spirit of our faith. A set of consensus-based talking points can be prepared in consultation with political scientists and religious scholars and handed over to the ordinary maulanas for their Friday lectures to the congregations. The talking points could forge harmony and balance between the philosophies of Islam and politics. If we can not separate the church from the state we can at least make sure that both can coexist and let the nation prosper in an atmosphere of peace and tolerance. Needless to add that the basic values of democracy and Islam are not incompatible with each other. The various authors of long articles in newspapers may wish to take up this suggestion in order to purge Pakistan of Talibanism and all its manifestations. -B.A. MALIK, Islamabad, via e-mail, May 22.