Felix R's letter From the tiger's lips to Nik Aziz's ears made exhilarating reading. It is a story that contained truths not only about tigers and man, but also about Kelantan Menteri Besar and PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

His appearance of serenity, calm and peace has endeared him to others. But all these belie his true self which is quite capable of horrendous things in the name of religion.

Evidence of that surfaced when he backed the Taliban unconditionally. And if there were any doubts, his recent show of aggression against Kelantan tigers demonstrated the kind of violence he is capable of, albeit of course camouflaged by his religious demeanor.

Religious zealots only have to do a quick search to find a verse here and there to justify their actions. Therein lies the danger of theocracy.

It may be that Nik Aziz has no real power over people even in Kelantan, and that is as it should be. If he does not have any qualms using violence against Kelantan tigers, how do we know he would not use it against Malaysians.

We can't do any worse than to keep him and his sort out of real power.