Durrani's husband was Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a close ally of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his chief minister in Punjab. But Durrani and Khar were separated shortly after his release. Khar went on to marry Durrani's sister instead, being the much marrying type.

Durrani wrote a book on her life with Khar, My Feudal Lord which became a bestseller and was translated into several languages. After that, Durrani wrote a book -- A Mirror to the Blind -- about Abdus Sattar Edhi, Pakistan's most celebrated social worker. Once again, the bookwas very well received, all the more so because of the personality of Edhi.

This time, Durrani may have taken on her biggest challenge by writing about the much venerated pirs of Pakistan and trying to uncloak what happens behind the garb of religion.

``It is based on a real life story,'' she says. According to her, she met the pir's wife who told her of life behind the high walls of the pir's house: how he sexually abused his disciples; how morally bankrupt the whole system of pir-mureed (religious leader-disciple) was.

Pakistani society has a special place for pirs; they are the custodians of a religious sanction or order, also known as silsila. The pirs usually live off the donations or offerings of their disciples, which is also used to run the shrine which they commands. Disciples have faith in the the powers of the pir and believe they can invoke miracles.

Durrani's novel touches on incest, child abuse, prostitution and paedophilia. It talks about womenwho appeared at the shrine childless, were ``blessed'' by the pir and went back pregnant, and of deviances that few associate with a holy shrine.

Durrani claims her books aims at exposing the rot that the pir system contains. She also tries to illustrate the harrowing ordeal of women in the pir's household who were kept veritably locked in the closely guarded house.

Few doubt the book's authenticity. And many say they are not surprised with what they have read. To outsiders, the opposition to the book is expected from Right-wing parties but it's not so. For, there are several instances where these parties, fanatical though they may be, are in fact fighting against the tyranny of the pirs. Durrani herself says that pirs have nothing to do with Islam: ``I want to establish that in my book also.''

In Pakistan's political set-up, the pirs are associated instead with the powerful landed gentry. Most major landlords are also pirs in their right and represent both Leftand Right-wing parties. And in Pakistan's parliament, the zamindars dominate.

For these people, this book will make little difference in either their lives or the status that they enjoy. One reason is that the book is in English -- a language read by under one per cent of Pakistanis. And the very fact that it is a book gives cause for comfort: thanks to the efforts of zamindars and other interests, over 72 per cent of Pakistanis are illiterate today.