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SFX - Yeh Hum Naheen song

COCHRANE: Eight of Pakistan's most popular performers got together to sing this song, with lyrics rejecting the violence being done in the name of Islam. The song is called Yeh Hum Naheen which means 'this is not us' and its been a huge hit in Pakistan and India. Since its release in earlier this year, there's been a groundswell of support for the sentiment it expresses - a groundswell that's been encouraged by a slick multimedia campaign and captured in the form of a petition which has collected 63-million signatures. It's the biggest petition ever compiled and has been done by text messages, online and in person, with the help of 6,000 ambassadors. Its a message that is backed by Abdul Jabbar Sharkir, the director general of the Dawah Academy at the International Islamic University in Islamabad.

SHARKIR: No sane person, even a Muslim can believe in terrorism. It is against our faith, it is against out religious culture.

COCHRANE: While millions may agree with Mr Sharkir, according to the petition, many hardliners believe there is a role for violence in Pakistan. The north western tribal area of the country has seen dozens killed in heavy fighting between the Taliban and government security forces. The incursion of US armed drones into Pakistan's territory has angered many, who turn the terrorism argument around, saying the United States deserves the label as much as the Taliban. Syed Munawar Hasan is the Secretary General of Pakistan's largest Muslim political party, Jamaat-i-Islami.

HASAN: Americans are interfering with our internal affairs, our independence and our sovereignty are at stake because their drone planes come into our space and they bomb the civilian population. So as a matter of fact the whole world is basically faced by State terrorism.

COCHRANE: Mr Hasan says he is not surprised that extremist forces are gaining popularity.

HASAN: The most popular position in the whole of the world is anti-American slogan, down with America, that sort of thing... Who so ever shouts against America will gain support.

COCHRANE: In Pakistan, one of those voices shouting against America is the Taliban. There are fresh reports that the Taliban's influence in Pakistan is increasing, even in urban areas such as Lahore and Karachi. The leader of the Muttahida Quami Movement, which controls Karachi, has warned that 400-thousand Afghan nationals have arrived in the city recently with automatic weapons. Karachi is an important strategic city in efforts to fight terrorism, because its port is used to transfer military supplies to US-led forces in Afghanistan. Meanwhile in Lahore, the Taliban is being blamed for the bombing of several juice bars, where young men and women meet socially, and they've demanded traders burn videos and CDs which they consider immoral. Local media have expressed surprise that business organisations have been unwilling to stand up to Taliban threats. While the graffiti on the walls of Karachi may read "save our cities from Talibanisation", Mr Hasan says the real threat is from America.

HASAN: So in fact this is the Americanisation that is going and Americans want that everybody should be their colony and should be enslaved by them. So that is a trend we are faced with.

COCHRANE: And yet, Mr Shakir and 63-million other Pakistanis say there is no room for terrorism in the name of Islam.

SHAKIR: Our country is against them, our society is against them... so noone can afford to say anything in favour of terrorism.