The debate on the pros and cons of the highhandedness of Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Perseketuan (Jawi) officials in raiding a well-known disco to nab young Muslims patrons intrigues me.

Most parents whose children were caught in the dragnet must have felt a sense of anger at their young one are being herded like cattle into trucks to be sent to the Jawi office to have their statements recorded, dressing scrutinised and being subjected to a breath-analyser test.

Muslims purists in this country would welcome such action by our religious officers to wipe out the social ills that beset our country. As a parent myself, I find it disturbing that other parents let their young children paint the town red and patronise these sort of joints.

Youngsters at an impressionable age can fall victims to the bad hats who patronise these places. How can parents sleep well knowing that their young ones are enjoying themselves silly at midnight?

There should be a clear-cut provisions under the law on nightspots that can be patronised by Muslims. Muslims parents should educate their young ones not to mention that they should know better than to allow their offspring to go to places where raids by Jawi officials can happen.

Parents should plan wholesome activities for their young one to enjoy themselves rather than have them being caught in the wrong place at a wrong time by religious officers who seems to be zealots in doing their jobs.

Having said that, the religious officials should use a gentler approach and show more compassion when detaining youngsters. They should not use their religious credentials to take advantage of the detained youngsters' position and commit a sin.

God knows how religious officers would react if one of their offspring was caught in a Jawi dragnet. There should be no double standard. As it is, one can hear in the gossip columns of how royalty and the children of VVIPs are given a chance to escape from the nightspots before the religious officers conduct a raid.

People talk about the loose morals of our youth today but when the government does something about it, people complain. I suppose you can't please everyone every time.

Non-Muslims, meanwhile, would do Muslims a good favor in not commenting on the Syariah law being implemented in this country.