QUETTA: Speakers at a stakeholder consultation on Friday warned that social and political engineering in Balochistan is deepening divisions and fostering radicalisation in an already fragile province. The event, titled “Building Bridges: A Stakeholder Consultation on Tolerance and Inclusivity”, was organised by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) at the Quetta Press Club.
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The dialogue brought together lawmakers, lawyers, academics, religious scholars, human rights defenders, political activists and civil society members. Participants discussed ways to bridge societal divides, counter misconceptions, and promote tolerance and inclusivity within Balochistan and beyond.
BNP-M leader and former senator Sanaullah Baloch said that engineered political and social interventions were altering public behaviour and creating new actors, ultimately fuelling extremism rather than reducing it. He stressed that such strategies cannot cultivate harmony or lasting peace in the province.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Balochistan Assembly Younas Aziz Zehri said people had the right to demand their constitutional rights and that such demands should not be misinterpreted as acts of terrorism. Rights activist and MPA Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch called for abandoning the narrow lens of ‘Islamic versus un-Islamic’ and urged a broader examination of the roots of intolerance and extremism.