Latest news with #MahrangBaloch
India Today
3 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.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Is Pakistan's ISI using ISIS to threaten Balochistan activists?
While Pakistan tries to whitewash its image, the latest manifesto of ISIS-K targets Baloch rights activists, including Mahrang Baloch. The terror group was also seen parroting the same narrative pushed by Pakistan's ISI. Read our exclusive read more Portraits of Baloch missing persons are seen by their family members at a sit-in protest camp, in Islamabad, Pakistan Monday, Dec. 25, 2023. File Image / AP While Pakistan denies claims that it is fostering terror groups on its soil , the Baloch civilians and activists in the country are facing threats from the Islamic State (ISIS) terror cells. In recent weeks, the transnational terrorist organisation announced war on the Baloch militant groups, like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan Liberation Front. However, a prominent Baloch rights activist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Firstpost that the terror group is also targeting Baloch civilians and political protesters. The activist from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee told Firstpost that ISIS has been allegedly linking the missing Baloch civilians and their families to militant groups like BLA and BLF. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The source noted that the group issued a 117-page booklet, claiming that the activists are against 'the rules of Islam'. The front page of the booklet featured Manzoor Pashteen, leader of Pashteen Tahafuz movement, Bashir Zeb, leader of Baloch liberation army and a faceless woman. The cover image of the ISIS booklet features Manzoor Pashteen, leader of Pashteen Tahafuz movement, Bashir Zeb, leader of Baloch liberation army and a faceless female. Image Source: BYC The picture is believed to be depicting prominent Baloch activist Dr Mahrang Baloch. Just last year, TIME Magazine included the Baloch human rights activist on the TIME100 Next list for her efforts to raise the Baloch plight. While her activism was celebrated around the world, on March 22, Dr Mahrang Baloch was arrested by the Pakistani authorities during a peaceful sit-in where she was demonstrating against police violence on protesters from the previous day. In the photographs of the booklet shared by the source to Firstpost, Dr Baloch's name was explicitly mentioned. In the provocative manifesto, Dr Mahrang was referred to as 'Kafir, a Muslim who has left Islam and became non Muslim,' the source said. In the booklet, Dr Mahrang Baloch's name was explicity mentioned, she was referred to as 'Kafir, a Muslim who have left Islam and became non Muslim. Image Source: FP Sources How is ISI involved in all this? The game of narratives While speaking on the matter, the Baloch activist told Firstpost that ISIS has been promoting the same narrative often pushed by Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence, also known as ISI. 'It [the manifesto] totally shows this is promoting the narrative of ISI and going to target Baloch activists,' the source told Firstpost. The source explained that both ISIS and ISI paint Baloch rights activists as 'soft faces of militants'. When asked why Pakistan's ISI would use ISIS to terrorise Baloch civilians, the Baloch activists gave a simple response: Growing public awareness about atrocities against Baloch civilians. 'The ISI has long sought to continue human rights violations and exploit the region's resources without accountability. However, our peaceful movement has exposed their actions to the world, which is why they are now targeting us in an attempt to silence our voices. Despite their efforts, they have failed,' the source told Firstpost. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Currently, Dr. Mahrang Baloch and four of our leaders — Beebarg Baloch, Beebu Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, and Shaji Baloch — are unjustly imprisoned. My own father forcibly disappeared as part of a pressure tactic to force my surrender. The state continues to brutally suppress every protest, yet we have not stopped resisting.' Mahrang Baloch has been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Prize. Image: mahrangbaloch__/Instagram Now, as public awareness grows and the people's resentment against state oppression deepens, they (ISI) are shifting strategies. Since open violence is increasingly being condemned both locally and internationally, they may resort to using groups like ISIS to further suppress us. This allows them to deflect criticism, evade responsibility, and even gain international sympathy because any violence blamed on a banned terrorist group distances the state from accountability," the source furthered. Against the backdrop of the alleged threat coming from the ISI-ISIS combo, the BYC had to cancel its rallies in different regions across Balochistan. When asked if there are just threats or the lives of Dr Mahrang Baloch and other rights activists are actually in danger, the source stated: 'This is a threat to all political activists like us, and victim families, who came on the roads just for justice.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD How Baloch civilians are facing the burnt of terror groups During a phone call with Firstpost, the source explained how the tensions between ISIS-K (Islamic State - Khorasan Province) and Daesh actually started. The Pakistani wing of the transnational terror group claimed that militant organisations like BLA and BLF killed 30 people. The source noted that Daesh and the Baloch militant groups have camps in Mastung town in the Balochistan province. The Baloch activist also pointed out that neither the BLA nor the BLF have claimed responsibility for killing Daesh members as of now. Militants from the Baloch Liberation Army in Quetta. File image/AFP However, in the tussle between the two groups, it is the Baloch civilians and activists who are getting dragged into all this. For instance, on March 29, a suicide bomber detonated himself near the rally conducted by Sardar Akhtar Mengal and other leaders of his faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) in Mastung. According to Pakistani news outlet The Express Tribune, the rally was en route from Wadh to Quetta when the attack occurred. No casualties were reported in the blast. The demonstration was organised to protest the arrests of Balochistan Yakjehti Committee (BYC) chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch and other leaders. The source claimed that the attack was carried out by the Daesh terror group operating in the Khorasan province. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The atrocities by the ISI and the state of Pakistan Not only this, but the Baloch activists and innocent civilians are also facing atrocities at the hands of the Pakistani establishment. 'The ISI has employed a wide range of tactics to target Baloch activists, aiming to silence dissent and suppress the movement. These methods include: Fabricating allegations and spreading false propaganda, intimidation and harassment of activists and their families, misusing anti-terrorism laws and sedition charges to criminalise peaceful activism, etc,' the source told to Firstpost. 'These actions collectively aim to dismantle the peaceful Baloch movement through fear, legal persecution, and economic strangulation,' the source furthered. Baloch activists hold pictures of their missing family members in Islamabad, Pakistan, 2023. File Image: AP The ISIS booklet peddles the same narrative against Baloch activists as formulated earlier by the ISI. This also offers evidence backing the charge that the Pakistani establishment and its security agencies have terror links. This may compound troubles for Pakistan when it's already under global scrutiny for sponsoring terrorism in India, especially in the aftermath of the Pahalgam massacre of tourists.
News18
24-05-2025
- Politics
- News18
Pakistan Is Dragging Itself To End Of The Road With A Broken Security Architecture
Last Updated: From Balochistan to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan remains challenged by escalating internal insurgencies In 2021, the Pakistani government introduced its inaugural National Security Policy, asserting that 'the safety, security, dignity, and prosperity of citizens in all their manifestations will remain the ultimate purpose of Pakistan's national security (p. 6)". To many, this appeared to mark a shift—at least rhetorically—towards a more citizen-focused and comprehensive understanding of security, moving away from the historically military-centric framework. Yet, four years on, such declarations appear increasingly unfulfilled. From Balochistan to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan remains challenged by escalating internal insurgencies. The Baloch nationalist movement, in particular, has withstood decades of state repression and, in recent years, has expanded both in territorial scope and tactical capability. Concurrently, Pakistan's regional stance—especially its policy alignment with the Afghan Taliban and its enduring engagement with extremist proxies—has resulted in diplomatic isolation and increased domestic exposure to militant reprisals. Pakistan must confront a difficult truth: national security cannot be sustained on the basis of repression, strategic ambiguity, and denial. Instead, it must be re-envisioned to include justice, political reconciliation, and an honest reckoning with historical missteps. This transformation must commence with Balochistan. For decades, the Pakistani state has approached Baloch nationalism not as a legitimate political grievance requiring resolution, but as a security challenge to be forcefully suppressed. This approach has involved enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and aggressive military interventions. Consequently, a profound sense of alienation has taken root among Baloch communities, many of whom, having suffered state violence, now view the state more as a colonising force than a protective authority. It is therefore unsurprising that leading non-violent advocates for justice in the province, such as Mahrang Baloch, have personally experienced repression, with numerous family members subjected to enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings. extended their activities beyond traditional rural strongholds, increasingly targeting economic infrastructure and security personnel across the province, and occasionally in major urban centres such as Karachi. In recent years, Baloch insurgents have repeatedly attacked Pakistani military facilities and China-backed development projects, resulting in the deaths of several Chinese nationals. This trajectory does not reflect a weakening movement; rather, it underscores the failure of the Pakistani state's militarised strategy. The Pakistan government continues to portray the insurgency as externally orchestrated, particularly by India. This narrative serves to conveniently sidestep the deeper, legitimate grievances of Baloch citizens, including political exclusion, resource extraction without local benefit, and a lack of essential public services. Notably, Balochistan—despite its substantial mineral wealth—remains among the most impoverished and underdeveloped regions in the country. It is this stark disjunction between the state's strategic priorities and the lived experiences of its people that lies at the core of Pakistan's faltering national security framework. Pakistan's prevailing security architecture has been predominantly shaped and directed by the military establishment. Its conventional orientation has remained India-centric, interpreting national security primarily through the limited perspective of external threats which do not exist in reality. This strategic outlook has fostered three deeply detrimental tendencies within the country's policymaking. First, it has resulted in the systematic securitisation of internal dissent. Movements advocating for ethnic rights, such as the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, that calls for democratic reform, and even critical journalism are frequently perceived as threats to 'national unity." The state's response has often been coercive, ranging from censorship to outright violence—as recently witnessed during the Baloch Yakjehti Committee's protest march against extrajudicial killings and ongoing state-enforced disappearances in Balochistan. This approach has only exacerbated public distrust and further eroded the cohesion of the social fabric. Second, it has normalised the deployment of terrorists as tools of regional influence. From Kashmir to Afghanistan, Pakistan has supported terrorist and extremist groups that serve its strategic objectives. While this proxy strategy may have yielded short-term gains, it has come at a significant cost, as several of these groups have turned against the state itself—most notably the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has resurged in strength in recent years. Third, this strategy has contributed to Pakistan's diplomatic isolation. Its ongoing support for, or at least tolerance of, the Afghan Taliban has estranged key allies, including the United States and the wider international community. Repeated statements by US officials accusing Pakistan of exploiting its partnership with Washington for counterterrorism purposes while simultaneously shielding such groups underscore this duplicity. Moreover, Pakistan's failure to present a coherent counter-extremism policy has rendered it an unreliable actor in global counterterrorism initiatives. Thus, Pakistan's national security doctrine has, paradoxically, undermined its own security. For Pakistan to break free from this cyclical pattern, it requires more than a mere superficial adjustment to its national security policy. A profound transformation is necessary, starting with a shift in focus from safeguarding the interests of the military establishment to prioritising the welfare of its citizens. This entails prioritising political dialogue over military repression. Additionally, it must recognise that dissent is not an act of treason, that ethnic grievances do not constitute national threats, and that lasting peace is achieved through negotiation, not eradication. This also requires rejecting the militarised approach in favour of empowering civilian institutions to lead on internal security. The intelligence and military apparatus must not serve as both judge and executioner in matters of internal dissent. Pakistan's democracy has failed to survive under the strain of a constant state of emergency and dominant military control. Moreover, it is crucial to abandon the 'good Taliban, bad Taliban" policy, which has always been driven more by strategic considerations than by moral principles. The Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan represents a model that Pakistan should avoid, as it has strengthened jihadist networks across the region. Pakistan must end its strategic ambivalence and decisively distance itself from all extremist groups. No state can achieve stability while harbouring forces fundamentally opposed to the very concept of the modern nation-state. Pakistan has options, but lacks the political will. The path to reform is very challenging. It will necessitate the military's relinquishment of control over internal policy decisions, as well as political leaders demonstrating the courage to confront uncomfortable truths. Additionally, it will require society as a whole to call for a new definition of security—one that is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice, opportunity, and dignity. For Pakistan, the stakes are immense. The choice is no longer between change and continuity, but between transformation and ongoing disintegration. The writer is an author and a columnist. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. tags : Afghan Taliban Balochistan Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa pakistan Location : Islamabad, Pakistan First Published: May 24, 2025, 08:21 IST News opinion Global Watch | Pakistan Is Dragging Itself To End Of The Road With A Broken Security Architecture
Business Recorder
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Drawing a line between advocacy and violence
EDITORIAL: Functioning democracies give space to citizens, especially those belonging to estranged sections of society, so that they may vent their resentment without fear of criminalisation. Nowhere is this more necessary than in our restive Balochistan province, where long-standing grievances arising from denial of political and economic rights have created a deep sense of alienation, further aggravated by the despicable phenomenon of enforced disappearances. For a while, the arrest of women activists of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a peaceful protest movement led by Dr Mahrang Baloch against this grave human rights violation, has been making a bad situation worse. Last month, the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal launched a long march from Mastung to Quetta to protest the BYC activists' detention, but was not allowed to go anywhere near the provincial capital. After a 20-day standoff the party quit the march, deciding instead to stage protest rallies all across the province to draw national attention to the 'missing' people. It turned out to be the main issue of concern at a recent event in Islamabad. Several human rights experts and UN Special Rapporteurs while acknowledging 'the serious threat posed by armed groups in Balochistan' warned against conflating legitimate human and minority rights advocacy and public demonstrations with terrorism. They also expressed concern over the detention of BYC leaders and their supporters, as well as alleged actions against their family members and lawyers. That, maintained the rights experts, may amount to reprisals for their interaction with UN mechanisms. Such episodes together with the Baloch people's other genuine grievances play into the hands of insurgents and hostile foreign forces supporting them. But a security-centred approach alone cannot help establish durable peace. As a matter of fact, it's been two decades since the ongoing insurgency (fifth since the country's inception) was triggered by the killing of a moderate Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Bugti. A major reason the conflict has remained so protracted is that all these years the state has been resorting to the same old method, use of force, to quell trouble, producing the same results: frustration, alienation and anger towards the Centre. Meanwhile, suppression of dissent keeps fuelling unrest rather than resolving any, which underscores the need to draw a clear line between rights advocacy and acts of terrorism. The controversial February 2024 elections also have exacerbated the situation. A policy reset is in order. Criminalising dissent in Balochistan's context only reinforces the sentiments the state seeks to restrain. Restoration of sustainable peace calls for good faith conversations aimed at addressing the causes underlying recurring cycles of insurgency, as well as the now paramount problem of enforced disappearances. That should be achievable if those who can get things right, i.e., genuine representatives of the Baloch people, are given a free hand to resolve all outstanding issues of conflict. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hans India
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Stop Baloch genocide: Protest in Netherlands against Pakistan's 'kill and dump' policy
Utrecht: The Baloch National Movement (BNM) organised a protest and a photo exhibition in the Dutch city of Utrecht, urging the Netherlands and the international community to publicly condemn what it termed as grave atrocities committed by Pakistan against the Baloch people. The protest, led by the BNM's Netherlands chapter on Saturday, aimed to amplify the voices of the Baloch people and draw attention to Pakistan's ongoing human rights violations, including the controversial "kill and dump" policy, enforced disappearances, and the systemic "abuse of ethnic and political minorities" in Balochistan. "Amplifying Baloch voices, BNM appeals to the Netherlands to publicly condemn atrocities against Baloch people by Pakistan. Regularly, events are held in Balochistan to raise awareness of Pakistan's 'kill & dump policy,' which has instilled fear & uncertainty among the Baloch people. Thousands of families forcibly disappeared are left in the dark about the whereabouts or fate of their loved ones, while widespread poverty continues to affect the local population," read an official statement from the BNM. According to the organisers, the event also aimed to raise international awareness about the illegal detention and continuous physical and psychological torture of key leaders from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) -- including Mahrang Baloch, Shah Jee Baloch, Beebo Baloch, Bibagar Baloch, and Gulzadi Baloch. The protest saw participation from BNM members, supporters, and human rights activists, who gathered in large numbers holding banners and placards bearing slogans such as 'Stop Baloch Genocide,' 'Enforced Disappearances Are Unacceptable,' and 'Free BYC Leaders'. A photo exhibition was also held at the venue, capturing the dire situation in Balochistan through images of cultural identity, the sacrifices of 'martyrs', and portraits of enforced disappeared individuals. The display sought to convey the pain and suffering endured by the Baloch people over decades of repression. The BNM activists spoke about the Pakistan Army's alleged violence in the region and called for urgent global action to address the crisis. The protest highlighted the Netherlands chapter's resolve to raise the Baloch issue at international forums and press the global community into taking meaningful action. "This protest and exhibition reflected BNM Netherlands' unwavering resolve to raise the voice of the Baloch nation on every global platform and to shake the conscience of the international community into taking effective action against the ongoing state atrocities in Balochistan," the statement concluded.
