On 17–18 December 2025, encouraged by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Government of the Punjab arranged a Strategic Planning Workshop for the Punjab Centre of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism (CoE-CVE) at 

Sheraton, Lahore.

The objective was to chart a five-year roadmap to prevent violent extremism in Punjab. For this purpose, a constellation of politicians, policymakers, security officials, academics, and civil society representatives was invited to deliberate on the issue from four interlinked perspectives: governance, research, digital resilience, and community engagement.

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Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan (Speaker of the Punjab Assembly) and Khawaja Salman Rafique (Minister for Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education and Vice Chairperson of the Punjab CoE-CVE Board) co-chaired the event. In his remarks, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan stressed that violent extremism is a collective societal challenge, requiring policy coherence, research, education, and shared responsibility beyond law enforcement. He underscored that sustainable prevention demands coordinated state action complemented by informed civic participation.

Syed Ali Haider Gillani (MPA, Chairman PAC-2), drawing on his firsthand experience of captivity under Al-Qaida and the Taliban, offered critical insights into ideological indoctrination, recruitment mechanisms, and pathways to radicalisation, emphasising the importance of preventive engagement at the university and youth level.

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Academic and media perspectives further enriched the deliberations. Prof. Dr. Irum Khalid, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the Punjab, emphasised the indispensable role of research-backed state narratives and sustained academic input in shaping a coherent, credible, and evidence-driven CVE framework. She reinforced the importance of a sharp and unified state narrative to effectively counter misinformation and digital propaganda, noting that fragmented or ambiguous messaging creates exploitable spaces for extremist discourse.

From the media domain, Mansoor Azam Qazi, renowned anchorperson and CVE Advisor, highlighted the strategic role of media in countering extremist narratives. He stressed the need for proactive communication strategies, responsible journalism, and effective perception management, underscoring that ethical and informed media........

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