What we saw on television of the Pakistani mobs in thousands rampaging through the streets was indeed very frightening. But sad it was to see these young students and adults alike behaving in a trance like fanatical manner, climbing over fences and barricades, burning buildings and vehicles and fighting with the police and military.

It was reported that the worst deprecating cartoons of the Holy Prophet were products not of Denmark but by some political instigators capitalising on this issue within the Islamic world. What a pity that these young Muslims were used by shrewd politicians and religionists for their own ends.

In the light of this, the Muslim world needs more enlightened leaders like Pak Lah to give the correct message to the people and to avoid Islam from getting the bad name as a religion of violence and terror as being witnessed on TV currently. Let not people label Islam as a religion of terror and violence.

Let there be always peace in this world. We have learned a good lesson. But there should not be any curb on freedom of expression for the world will then stagnate and not progress. However, criticism of religions or religious figures should be confined to within the domain of one's own religion. In other words, they can sort it out within themselves for the progress of their future generations.

One should not comment on another's religion as it will always be treated as sensitive or insulting except, of course, in the case of good commentary. It is for these reasons we must separate religion from politics so that politicians cannot manipulate and ride on religious horses.

From the letters and comments on malaysiakini , I think we are lacking some self-reflection on what we say. While choosing the Prophet Muhammad may not have been the best decision by the cartoonist, it does not invalidate what was commented on, which unfortunately reflects contemporary perception of Islamic teachings and Muslims.

I recall many Muslims urging the US and European nations to reflect on their international policies when the former were struck by Muslim terrorist attacks. I think Muslims across the world should also reflect on the reason behind the cartoons and to act positively to mitigate the problem.

I think one of thing that should be done is to have a clearer distinction between self-proclaimed Islamist leaders and those speaking on behalf of their countries or international Islamic organisations.