QUETTA – Public policy and development expert Rafiullah Kakar has raised alarm over the record rise in female suicide bombers from the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) over the past four years, warning that state policies are pushing peaceful movements toward militancy.

In a podcast interview with host Farzana Ali, Kakar said: "What has happened that young people are reaching this conclusion?" He noted that while secular militant groups like the Tamil Tigers took 25 years to develop a similar number of suicide bombers, the BLA has achieved this in just four years.

Kakar expressed deep concern over the profile of these bombers, which includes educated Baloch women from areas like Dera Ghazi Khan and Karachi, ranging in age from 20 to 70 years.

"The state is deliberately pushing peaceful political movements toward violence," Kakar said. He referenced peaceful initiatives like the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which highlighted human rights, enforced disappearances, and the impact of war. "You beat them, you crushed them—which has only added to public anger," he added.

Kakar argued that instead of correcting its own policies and mistakes, the state labels people as traitors. "The state is made for the welfare of the people, and the people are part of the state," he said. According to him, government authority has effectively ended beyond Quetta city, with BLA dominating the Baloch belt and the TTP's influence growing in Pashtun areas. He described Quetta as an "open-air prison" with economic activities at a halt.