The way the issue of the fake degrees is being defended by Raisani and his likes speaks volumes about the intellectual bankruptcy of our so called leaders. Little do they realise that a degree is not a mere piece of paper which they can easily forge, but is a sacred parchment conferred by an academia certifying possession of a specific measure of knowledge by the degree holder. I think it is for such like people that the Holy Qura’n says in Sura Az Zumar (39:9), “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” It is our misfortune as a nation that our leaders are not alive to it. To them knowledge seems to be a low priority commodity.   This proclamation of Qura’n leads me yet to another anomaly being practised in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. When Allah (swt) Himself says that those who know not cannot be equal to those who know, (the knowledgeable and the ignorant cannot be equal) how can we treat them as equals in exercising their judgement in matters of national import requiring deep understanding and good knowledge of the state craft. Surely the judgement of a knowledgeable person could vary from that of an ignorant one in, say, electing the rulers.  Allow me to say, keeping the literacy rate of Pakistan in view, the number of ‘ignorants’ far outweighs that of the ‘knowledgeables’. And as they wield the deciding influence on the outcome of an election, we are ‘blessed’ with the type of leaders that we have.  Should we, therefore, have one vote equally for all – the knowing ones and the not-knowing ones?  Is it not against the teachings of Qura’n and Shariah? I think it calls for a serious study and ruling by the experts on Shariah and Islamic jurisprudence –  the Muftis, the Federal Shariat Court, the Islamic Ideological Council etc.?   Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd) 30, Westridge-1 Rawalpindi 46000 Tel: (051) 546 3344