What is clear is that hard-line members of each sect are gunning each other down, often in front of mosques. Many of the killings are retaliatory, and the violence has surged since the January murder in Lahore of Sunni leader Zia ul-Rehman and the February killing of Muhammed Ali Rahimi, head of an Iranian cultural center in the southern Punjab city of Multan. Also influential are the 2,000 madrassas, or religious schools, operating in Punjab. The madrassas were encouraged in the 1980s by Zia, who wanted to build yet another center of political power to counter the Bhuttos. The Prime Minister's plan is to counter violence with the force of the state.
Police can now arrest without a warrant and shoot at suspected terrorists.
Confessions, which in Pakistan are often coerced, are now legally the basis for conviction. The risk is that, in getting tough on violence, Nawaz Sharif may be pushing Pakistan away from lawfulness and freedom.