Latest news with #MahjabeenBaloch
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Baloch women now face brutality of Pakistani establishment
Enforced disappearances, the ruthless tactic of the Pakistani establishment's playbook long used on Baloch men, children, and the elderly, is now being unleashed on women. Women are the new targets of human rights violations in Balochistan, a province where flags of independence have been raised by rebels. Mahjabeen Baloch, a 24-year-old, became the latest victim of the Pakistani state's suppression. She was kidnapped in the last week of disappearance is part of a trend in Balochistan. Since the detention and subsequent arrest of Balochistan's lioness Mahrang Baloch in March, the restive province has seen an uptick in women being targeted, a trend that the Baloch Women Forum says "reflects an alarming escalation in the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan".An enforced disappearance is an "arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law", says the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).advertisement In Balochistan, the duration of enforced disappearances varies, with many missing for years and some for as long as 18 years. The bodies of some are found years later, dumped or buried in desolate trend of forced disappearances of Baloch women comes even as Pakistan reels under a surge of Baloch armed rebel activity, which has shaken its internal security and its keeper, the military Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had in May admitted that the "state's grip on Balochistan is slipping, especially after nightfall". Amid these growing internal fissures, Army Chief Asim Munir is visibly tightening his BALOCH ABDUCTED DAYS AFTER HER BROTHER'S DISAPPEARANCEIn the early hours of May 29, Mahjabeen Baloch, a 24-year-old library science student at the University of Balochistan, was forcibly detained by personnel from Pakistan's Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies. She was picked up from Quetta's Civil Hospital, and since then, her whereabouts remain unknown, reported The Balochistan detention came less than a week after her brother, Muhammad Younus, an engineering student, was also forcibly taken away from their home in Basima, a town in central was reportedly abducted during a night raid carried out by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).advertisement"Our homes have been raided repeatedly by security forces. Our loved ones have been taken from their beds and their mutilated bodies dumped in desolate places... Many still remain lost in the darkness of enforced disappearance," Mahjabeen's family Baloch Women Forum (BWF) has condemned the incident, and said Mahjabeen's disappearance is the latest example of a growing pattern of "state violence against Baloch women".A HISTORY OF REPRESSIVE ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN BALOCHISTANSecessionist sentiment in Balochistan traces back to what many see as Muhammad Ali Jinnah's betrayal in 1948, when the Khan of Kalat was coerced into acceding to Pakistan despite earlier assurances of decades, Balochistan has been a hotbed of unrest, with the ethnic Baloch people agitating against what they perceive as exploitation by the Pakistani establishment, and the Chinese, and their interests tied to projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).The Pakistani military and security forces have used enforced disappearances as a tool to suppress dissent, targeting men, children, and the elderly suspected of supporting Baloch nationalist movements or criticising state disappearances often involve abductions without legal process, followed by torture, and in some cases, extrajudicial stark example is the case of Abdul Ghaffar Langove, a Baloch nationalist and father of activist Mahrang Baloch. Abducted in 2009, his body was found in 2011, bearing signs of severe discoveries are not uncommon; families often find the bodies of their loved ones dumped in remote areas, disfigured beyond recognition, as a warning to to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED), 2,752 active cases of enforced disappearances were recorded in Balochistan as of January 2024, though human rights groups like the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) estimate the number to be closer to 7,000 since UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern in September 2024 about the "increasing rate of enforced disappearance among persons belonging to ethnic minority groups in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces".TARGETING OF BALOCH WOMEN IS A DISTURBING NEW TRENDWith men locked up and killed by Pakistani security agencies, Baloch women have taken on more prominent roles in protests and activism, through movements like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). As a result, they have also become direct targets of state women have also become suicide bombers for the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as part of the armed to Mahjabeen's detention, the Balochistan-based National Democratic Party said that "for years, Baloch men, elderly and young alike, have faced enforced disappearances", and warned that this "cruel trend has now extended to Baloch women", according to a report in The Balochistan Baloch, the 32-year-old doctor-turned-BYC leader, was arrested on March 22, during a peaceful sit-in in Quetta, alongside her sister Mehran-e-Sareng. For nearly 12 hours, their whereabouts were unknown. She has been charged with terrorism, sedition and February 2023, Mahal Baloch, a 28-year-old mother of two, was detained by the CTD in Quetta after a raid on her home. Her young daughters were also detained overnight. In another case, Rasheeda Zehri was forcibly taken away in February 2023, marking an early instance of this precise numbers of women abducted are harder to verify due to under-reporting, the BWF has noted that the targeting of women is a "deeply disturbing development" that violates cultural norms and human UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, expressed concern over the detention of Mahrang and other women, urging Pakistani authorities to "refrain from abusing counter-terrorism or public safety measures against human rights defenders".advertisement"Mahrang Baloch's case highlights the increasing targeting of women activists in Pakistan. Women who challenge the status quo face not only political persecution but also threats of gender-based violence," Amnesty International's coordinator for Pakistan, Irfan Ali, they came for the Baloch men, then the children and the elderly, now the women. And this signals a troubling expansion of the Pakistani establishment's repression in Balochistan.
Qatar Tribune
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Qatar Tribune
PISQ students shine in video making competition at Blyth Academy
Pakistan International School Qatar (PISQ) celebrated the outstanding achievements of its students in both sports and creative arts, proving once again the school's commitment to fostering holistic development and talent across multiple disciplines. In a parallel celebration of artistic expression, three talented students from the Girls' Wing brought further recognition to PISQ by winning first place in the Blyth Academy Video Making Competition held under the theme 'Discover Qatar.' Guided by Aftab Alam and Mahjabeen Baloch, the students impressed the judges with their creativity, technical skills, and compelling storytelling: • Eshaal Imran – First Prize (Junior Category) • Javeria Sarfraz – First Prize (Senior Category) • Tasmia Ali – First Prize (Senior Category) Their videos thoughtfully captured Qatar's culture, beauty, and diversity, reflecting a deep understanding of both creative media and national identity. PISQ Principal Ch Muhammad Afzal hosted a special award ceremony, where the achievers were honoured with certificates and words of praise. He lauded their commitment, discipline, and the balance they maintained between academics and co-curricular excellence. The principal emphasized that this success embodies the school's vision to nurture talent in every field—from athletic excellence to digital storytelling—fostering well-rounded students who contribute positively to both national and global communities.
