We, who live abroad, take everything that happens in Pakistan in a different context then the people who are residing there. Our neighbors and friends, from other countries, question us about the conditions in Pakistan. Most newspapers report crimes anyhow, but the kinds of issues that are written in newspapers and broadcast from Pakistan are reprehensible.It was so depressing to hear that a couple was arrested for dousing their 15-year old daughter with acid, the unfortunate girl later died in the hospital, a husband has been arrested for defacing and badly injuring his wife with a blade, a Jirga (local elders court in rural areas) ordered publicly beating of a boy and girl with shoes, all these atrocities are being meted out in the name of some kind of distorted family honor. Then another sad news came from Lahore where a mob attacked a girls school and set fire to it, the school Principal and several teachers have been arrested and are in police custody as their bail applications have been rejected by a local court (means they are quite vulnerable as are being kept with petty criminals) their crime; a teacher got a few pages of homework mixed up changing the context, which was taken by local religious leaders as blasphemy, what kind of jungle are we living in? Yesterday, when the students and teachers visited their burnt out school, they wept at the destruction havocked in the name of religion. This school was imparting education to a widespread segment of society for last several years.What is all this; why are people resorting to violence on such issues? In my opinion, in the last few decades, Pakistan has witnessed a rampant increase in religious extremism, and hatred is the only food on which religious extremism survives, therefore blasphemy and family honor are the two outlets to fan this hatred and give our country and society in the hands of extremists. Someone needs to review whether the influence of semi-educated religious teachers and leaders is playing any role in inciting hatred and violence towards vulnerable segments of the society. Perhaps educationists and sociologists should come forward and analyze the reasons for such crimes, otherwise, we are fast moving towards jungle rule. MASOOD KHAN, Jubail, November 6.