THE governor of the Punjab is assassinated. Christians are murdered and hounded out of Iraq.

And, sure as night follows day, Pete Winstanley claims this is the responsibility of “extremists” and “not a conflict between one religion and another” (HAS, Jan 17).

I’m afraid that violence is part and parcel of religion, Islam in particular.

A third of UK Muslim students think it is acceptable to kill in the name of their religion.

As for the proportion of Muslims in Pakistan who support the governor’s murder, it would be reasonable to expect this to be higher than one third.

And there is evidence that the majority of educated Pakistanis support the murder (never mind the less educated).

Violence should not be part of religion. I am afraid it just is.

Ralph Musgrave, Durham.