Washington, DC [US] February 13 : Human rights advocate and president of the Institute for Gilgit Baltistan Studies, Senge Sering, accused Pakistan's authorities of historically using sectarian divisions and militant networks as instruments of policy, arguing that the consequences are now deeply embedded in public consciousness, particularly in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Sering said, "Resentment among Shia communities is neither recent nor emotional, but the product of decades", in which he claimed the state failed to offer protection and instead manipulated religious fault lines.
He maintained that many residents believe violence has been cultivated internally rather than imposed from abroad, a perception he described as steadily becoming part of a shared political narrative.
Sering traced sectarian tensions to the ideological trajectory set at the country's birth, arguing that once separation from non-Muslims occurred, divisions within Islam hardened. He alleged that successive governments learned to manage these divides, at times activating militant actors and at other moments restraining them when international or economic considerations required a calmer environment.
For example, he cited relative lulls in violence during periods when Islamabad sought to reassure China about the security climate around projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. As regional rivalries evolve, particularly between Iran and Arab states, Sering stated that sectarian mobilisation could intensify again.
Recounting past episodes, he referred to early post-1947 unrest and the 1988 attacks in which villages were burned and residents displaced, arguing that these events left scars that still shape community attitudes.
According to him, many now feel compelled to think about self-preservation because they see little assurance from formal institutions.
Sering also criticised the information environment, alleging that regulators such as the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority curtail dissent while failing to challenge rhetoric that deepens religious or ethnic divides.