Worshippers at the infamous Red Mosque in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, still gather in their hundreds for Friday prayers, but the fiery sermons calling for Sharia law led by hard-line cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz are now a thing of the past.

The preacher, who once led a weeklong armed conflict against Pakistan's army and has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the government, has now been muzzled by authorities - though technically he remains a free man and a revered figure among the Taliban.

It is this duality - where hardened resolve against groups such as the Taliban is blunted by a willingness to tolerate and even fan the flames of extremism still bubbling beneath society's surface - that activists say sums up the country's battle against a homegrown Islamist insurgency.