REFERENCE ‘spiral into chaos’ (Aug 16) by Akbar Notezai who portrays the Baloch community as secular in nature, which is wrong. The Baloch are known for their strong customs and traditions, accompanied by belief in Islam. If we read Baloch history, a prominent figure and ruler of Balochistan, Noori Naseer Khan, who laid the foundation of the current Baloch tribal/jirga system, imposed sharia laws on Balochistan in the 18th century. Linking Tableeghi Jamaat to extremism and terrorism is unacceptable. The Tableeghi Jamaat is known for portraying the soft and real essence of Islam all over the world.

Alleging the Baloch are involved in extremist activities in the province and run terrorist groups such as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi is falsehood. In fact, terrorists do not belong to any religion, caste or sect; they are only a conglomerate of miscreants.These non-state actors have always been working for foreign agencies and are unacceptable to the nation.

Mir Mohammad Nauman Shahwani

Kalat

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2017