Latest news with #MahrangBaloch
The Print
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Pakistan fabricates terror charges, manipulates courts to frame Baloch leaders, says a Baloch group
According to the BYC X post, the leaders were taken to court between 10 and 11 AM, where Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials falsely claimed the 3MPO orders had already been revoked. Based on these misleading statements, the ATC granted a 10-day police remand under newly filed and baseless FIRs. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the BYC revealed that its leaders, including Dr Mahrang Baloch, Shah Jee, Beebagr Baloch, Ghafar Baloch, Gulzadi, and Beebow Baloch, were informed early on Monday morning that their 3MPO detentions had been lifted and they would be presented before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC). However, this occurred hours before the scheduled 3MPO Review Board meeting, set for 12 to 1 PM. Balochistan : The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has denounced what it calls a calculated state operation aimed at silencing Baloch political voices through fabricated terror charges and legal deception. This comes after a dramatic escalation on July 8, when key BYC leaders were abruptly shifted from preventive detention under 3MPO laws to terrorism custody, a move the group says blatantly violates due process and constitutional rights. However, when relatives and associates of BYC approached the High Court to confirm the removal of 3MPOs, it became evident that the board meeting had yet to occur. The official release orders for the 3MPO detentions were only issued after the board convened from 12 to 1 PM, demonstrating that the state had prematurely and unlawfully transferred custody to pursue fabricated terrorism accusations before any legal release occurred. The BYC also said that this intentional bypassing of due process, falsely asserting that the MPOs were removed before the board meeting, is a calculated effort to deny a lawful release and intensify the persecution of BYC leadership. From arbitrary detentions of over three months concerning 3MPO to unlawful post-3MPO custody, and now the imposition of false terrorism allegations with a 10-day remand, the state has initiated a coordinated assault, both legal and administrative, on the Baloch Yakjehti Committee. BYC calls it a situation not of isolated malfeasance but rather a systematic strategy to criminalise peaceful political dissent through legal manipulation, deception, and suppression. BYC has denounced this continued exploitation of the legal system to stifle their movement. They have urged the immediate and unconditional release of all BYC leaders in detention and call upon both national and international human rights organisations to urgently address this misuse of law and violations of due process. This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. Also read: Uprising in Pakistan, hope in Agra's 'mini Balochistan' where families still dream of a freed homeland
Business Recorder
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
ATC sends Mahrang, BYC activists on 10-day physical remand
QUETTA: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Tuesday handed Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) Chief Dr Mahrang Baloch and other organisers of the group into police custody for 10 days, extending their three-month detention. In March, Mahrang and other BYC members were arrested for 'attacking' the Quetta Civil Hospital and 'inciting people to violence'; a day after the group faced a police crackdown for protesting against alleged enforced disappearances. The BYC is a Baloch advocacy group working against enforced disappearances since 2018. Mahrang is currently held at the Hudda District Prison in Quetta under a March 22 Maintenance of Public Order (MPO); a law that empowers authorities to arrest and detain individuals suspected of posing a threat to public order. Aside from Mahrang, other BYC organisers who were sent on a 10-day remand today include Sibghatullah Shah, Beberg Baloch, Ghaffar Baloch, Gulzadi and Beebow Baloch. Mahrang's sister, Nadia Baloch, appealed in June against the rejection of a petition pleading against her detention under the MPO. The appeal before the Supreme Court contended that the high court order was contrary to the Constitution, law and facts. The petition alleged that her repeated unlawful detention and labelling her as a sympathiser of militants was a planned effort by the respondents to stop her from raising her voice for missing persons. The same month, the Kech chapter of the BYC launched a three-day hunger strike in front of the Turbat Press Club in protest of the arrests of the leadership. Constitutional petitions seeking the release of the activists were rejected by the Balochistan High Court in May.
Express Tribune
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
ATC grants police 10-day physical remand of Dr Mahrang Baloch, other BYC activists
Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch is being escorted by police personnel during her appearance at an anti-terrorism court in Quetta on July 8, 2025. PHOTO: PPI An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta has granted police 10-day physical remand of Dr Mahrang Baloch, the head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), and five other members of the group. The ATC's decision comes as an extension of their ongoing detention, which has already lasted over three months. During Tuesday's hearing, six BYC members, including Dr Mahrang, were presented before Judge Saadat Bazai. The court approved the prosecutor's request to extend their remand, giving investigators more time for questioning. The other detained activists include Gulzadi, Bebow Baloch, Sibghatullah Shahji, Ghaffar Baloch and Beberg Baloch. The detainees were represented in court by Advocate Israr Baloch and Advocate Shoaib Baloch, who argued against the prolonged detention. However, the judge ruled in favor of the state, citing the need for further inquiry. The BYC, known for its activism against enforced disappearances in Balochistan since 2018, has been under increasing scrutiny by law enforcement agencies. Dr Mahrang and several of her colleagues were initially arrested in March after a protest turned tense near Quetta's Civil Hospital. Authorities have accused them of inciting public disorder and confronting police forces during the demonstration. Dr Mahrang is currently being held at Quetta's Hudda District Jail under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law—a legal provision that allows preventive detention for individuals considered a threat to public peace.
The Diplomat
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Exclusive Interview With Detained Activist Dr Mahrang Baloch
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has been advocating for Baloch rights since it was founded in 2020. Since its early days, when the movement was known as the Bramsh Yakjehti Committee, the BYC has organized peaceful protests against the excessive use of force by the Pakistani state in Balochistan – including forced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and other forms of repression. Also since its beginning, the BYC has been led by women – including Dr. Mahrang Baloch. The 32-year-old became an activist after her father was 'disappeared' in 2009. He was released – only to be abducted again in 2011, and this time killed. Ever since, Mahrang had been a central figure in the movement for human rights and justice in Balochistan, including being honored by Time magazine as of the 100 most influential leaders of 2024. Led prominently by women, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch herself, the BYC represents a new generation of progressive political activism in a region long marred by conflict and marginalization. The Pakistani state has responded to this peaceful mobilization with a sweeping crackdown and arrests, disinformation campaigns, and detentions without due process. In March 2025, Mahrang – along with several other BYC leaders – was arrested, and she has been held in detention ever since, where they report 'continuous mistreatment and harassment.' This exclusive interview with Mahrang, conducted via an intermediary who was able to visit her in prison, offers a rare and urgent insight into the thinking of a movement that, in recent months, has mobilized tens of thousands across Balochistan in protests against enforced disappearances and state repression. Mahrang offers her perspective on the current state of the BYC and its leadership while under state custody, as well as the broader challenge of extremism and the future of political activism and human rights advocacy under increased state repression and now threats from the Islamic State's local branch. In recent months, Balochistan has witnessed a troubling surge in religious extremism, most notably with the emergence of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), a group that appears to operate at both regional and international levels. This group has singled you out, publishing your photo in a booklet and labeling you as 'evil' and a 'Western puppet.' How do you respond to these personal attacks? And more broadly, what does the rise of such groups signal for the future of progressive politics in Balochistan? Balochistan has a peculiar and complex history with religious extremism. However, the roots of this extremism are not embedded in Baloch society itself. Based on clear evidence, we assert that religious extremism was imposed upon Baloch society – it was, in a sense, installed from the outside. The influence of religious radicalism in Balochistan began to emerge prominently during the Afghan War and became more pronounced after 9/11. If we study Baloch society from a historical perspective, it is inherently secular, a society that has traditionally embraced religious, ethnic, and regional tolerance and coexistence. The emergence of Islamic State in Balochistan and the threats made against me or declaring me an apostate are not something new. For the past two decades, we have witnessed how religious extremists have been used as a tool against the progressive Baloch political movement and against progressive educators, writers, intellectuals, and journalists. For example, Professor Saba Dashtiari, a Baloch intellectual and teacher at the University of Balochistan, openly criticized the state for human rights violations in Balochistan. In 2011, he was murdered in broad daylight in front of the university. A religious extremist group claimed responsibility for his assassination through the media. Similarly, Professor Razzaq Zehri in Khuzdar was killed merely for promoting co-education and free education for all deserving students. Likewise, in Gwadar, Sir Zahid Askani was also murdered for the same reason. And just last year in Turbat, another educator, Sir Rauf Baloch, met a similar fate. Progressive political activists in Balochistan, those who criticize the policies of the Pakistani state and advocate for human rights, face a dual threat. On one hand, they are subjected to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the state of Pakistan. On the other hand, they receive death threats from religious extremist armed groups. Last month, Islamic State released my photo, branded me a European agent and an apostate, and warned the public not to attend our events. This rhetoric mirrors the language used against me by ISPR [Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistani military] in their press conferences. I had long anticipated that a group like Islamic State would eventually be activated and deployed against us, because we have been observing this pattern in Balochistan for the past 20 years, as exemplified by the cases I mentioned above. I believe that threats from Islamic State or their activation against us will not significantly impact progressive politics in Balochistan. The Baloch political society has matured considerably, and the people of Balochistan are well aware of the truth, specifically, who is backing these religious extremists and why. The public fully understands this reality. Our greatest success is that the majority of the Baloch people stand with us. And as long as that remains true, the use of extremist groups like Islamic State against us will not put an end to our struggle. The progressive political circles in Balochistan are deeply rooted. Tactics like these will not silence the progressive political movement in Balochistan, nor will threats from Islamic State silence us. You have now been imprisoned for over three months. During this period, Pakistan's military spokesperson, in multiple ISPR press briefings, has described you as a 'proxy of terror' and used terms like 'evil face' in reference to your activism. How do you respond to these characterizations by the state's military apparatus? For the past three months, I have been detained unlawfully. During this time, according to the information available to me, ISPR has mentioned me in three to four press conferences or media briefings. In each instance, the same baseless accusations were repeated, such as: 'Mahrang is a proxy of terrorists,' or 'Mahrang is a foreign agent,' and so on. Despite being a powerful state with a 600,000-strong army, numerous intelligence agencies, and various civil institutions, ISPR has not presented even one piece of actual evidence against me. Instead, they have relied solely on false accusations and a media trial aimed at character assassination. The military spokesperson has repeatedly misrepresented the press conference I held on March 19 at the Quetta Press Club. That press conference was not about the armed attack on the Jaffar Express or the return of the bodies of armed individuals. In reality, it was held to highlight the harassment faced by our fellow human rights defenders at the hands of Pakistani security forces. We had also submitted related cases to the United Nations Human Rights bodies. The video and written transcript of that press conference are still publicly available in the media. At the end of the press conference, a journalist asked a question regarding the return of bodies lying in the Civil Hospital Quetta to their families. In response, I merely said that the bodies should be identified and handed over to the families, as this is their constitutional right. That is the only comment I made on the matter. The full recording of the press conference exists, and any institution can verify that I made no unlawful or unconstitutional remarks during it. The second allegation that the Pakistani military repeatedly makes against me and my colleagues is that we broke into the gates of the Civil Hospital Quetta to retrieve the bodies of armed individuals. I challenge the Pakistani military to provide evidence to support this claim. If they can, I will declare myself guilty. On that evening, I was at the Quetta Press Club, and afterward, I went straight to my home. Any independent investigative body is welcome to review CCTV footage from the Quetta Press Club and the city of Quetta, or to interview individuals present on that day. My colleagues, our organization, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), and I have consistently spoken out against violence and injustice. Wherever I've had the opportunity to speak or write, whether in Pakistan or internationally, I have clearly and unequivocally opposed violence. This is our well-established policy. I believe the real issue ISPR and the Pakistani military have with us is that we raise our voices against the state's violent policies and human rights violations in Balochistan. We question them, we hold different views, and our position has gained international recognition. Our peaceful struggle has been acknowledged globally, and our voice is being heard. This is what troubles the Pakistani military most. That is why ISPR, in its repeated press conferences, is branding me and our organization, the BYC, as terrorists without providing a shred of evidence. The purpose of these statements is clearly to create a false international narrative that Mahrang and the BYC are proxies of terrorists, in an attempt to silence international discourse on human rights violations in Balochistan and to delegitimize our voice. However, it seems the Pakistani military wrongly assumes that international human rights organizations operate like domestic Pakistani media – that they will believe anything, no matter how baseless. But no credible person or institution accepts accusations without evidence. They demand proof or valid evidence. In response to ISPR's false allegations, I have issued a legal notice demanding that either ISPR prove these allegations in court or issue a formal apology. Now we will see how the Pakistani judiciary fulfills its responsibility and whether it will hold the military spokesperson accountable. Reports have emerged through social media, open letters, and messages from your colleagues that you and other detained members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee have faced harassment, mistreatment, and denial of basic rights in prison. There are accounts of torture, a hunger strike, and the severe case of Beebow Baloch. Can you describe the conditions of your imprisonment and your other colleagues and the nature of the treatment you and other BYC detained leaders have received? Yes, in prison, we have been subjected to continuous mistreatment, harassment, and denial of our basic rights. On the night of April 24 at 8:00 p.m., personnel from the Quetta Police and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) unlawfully entered the prison and brutally assaulted me and my colleagues, Beebow Baloch and Gulzadi Baloch. During this incident, Beebow Baloch was transferred from Hudda Jail Quetta to Pishin Jail, where she was severely tortured during the transfer. Surveillance cameras were even installed inside her barracks and restroom, violating her privacy. In protest against her transfer and the inhumane treatment she faced, we went on a five-day hunger strike. Ten days later, Beebow Baloch was brought back to Hudda Jail, and she continued her hunger strike for ten consecutive days. Inside the prison, we are continuously harassed and threatened. Our family has been denied access to basic facilities and necessities on multiple occasions, and we have had to suspend visits and meetings with legal counsel. Following the Jaffar Express attack, the Pakistani state – through its media apparatus, official channels, and social media team – directly accused you and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee of supporting terrorism. Yet the BYC is widely known, both locally and internationally, as a peaceful human rights movement. Why do you believe the state is attempting to criminalize your activism? What political calculations or anxieties do you think lie behind this campaign? In March 2025, following an armed attack on the Jaffar Express in Balochistan, the state used the incident as a pretext to target our peaceful political organization, the BYC. A severe crackdown was launched against us, despite the fact that we had no any type of connection to the attack or any act of violence. The entire episode appeared orchestrated, with one clear objective: to silence or dismantle the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, as we have been a strong and consistent voice against human rights violations in Balochistan. We have always raised our voices against all forms of injustice and abuse, and it is this peaceful dissent that the state finds intolerable. Consequently, efforts were made to associate our non-violent struggle with an act of armed violence. However, the BYC is a peaceful political organization. We have never engaged in nor endorsed violent politics. Since our inception, our position and method of struggle have been clear: we resist the state's oppression and brutality in Balochistan through non-violent means. To date, not a single stone has been broken at any of our gatherings or protests – yet we have faced violent crackdowns from the state from day one. After the Jaffer Express attack, the state launched an aggressive media campaign against the BYC, attempting to malign our peaceful political efforts by falsely linking us to the incident. We were repeatedly pressured to issue condemnations that served the state's narrative. But our stance has always been unequivocal: we do not support armed struggle or violence in any form, and this position has been documented in the media multiple times. Nevertheless, our organization has faced an intense crackdown. Following the attack, the Balochistan government suspiciously buried several unidentified bodies in the Kaasi Graveyard in Quetta. Some bodies were stored in the morgue at Civil Hospital Quetta, with no access granted to anyone. This sparked panic and fear among the families of Baloch victims of enforced disappearances, as they feared their missing loved ones might be among the dead. For years, the state has used armed attacks as a cover to execute extrajudicial killings. Victims of enforced disappearances are taken from secret detention centers, killed, and then falsely portrayed as militants killed in combat. Sometimes, the bodies of actual militants are accompanied by those of forcibly disappeared persons to suggest they died together. These incidents are not isolated; as an organization, we have documented evidence of many such cases. The same fear gripped families once again. Every day, relatives of missing persons visited Civil Hospital Quetta, demanding a basic and constitutionally protected right: access to the bodies or disclosure of their identities, so they could determine whether their loved ones were among them. In retaliation for these lawful and peaceful demands, the state brutally targeted these families, subjecting them to violence and further enforced disappearances. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee stood with these families, raised their voices, and supported them through this painful ordeal. As a consequence, our leadership and members have faced the harshest state repression. The recent crackdown against our organization began on March 20, when, at 5 a.m., our colleague Bibagar Baloch was arrested at his home. When we launched a peaceful protest against his arrest, the state responded with violent repression and opened direct fire on the protesters. This resulted in the deaths of three people, including a young child, and left dozens injured. We then held a peaceful sit-in alongside the bodies of those killed. It was during this protest that Beebow Baloch and I were arrested, followed by the arrest of several of our other members. The real reason behind the state crackdown on the BYC is our non-violent resistance to Pakistan's human rights violations, violence, and injustice in Balochistan. Instead of acknowledging our peaceful movement or addressing our demands for justice, the Pakistani state continues to delegitimize our struggle by leveling baseless accusations and using force against our activists. I believe that my arrest and the arrest of my colleagues, the crackdown on the BYC, the state-led media campaign to malign us, and ongoing efforts to damage our reputation are all part of a deliberate attempt to psychologically pressure us into abandoning our political principles and programs. The aim is to silence our voice against human rights abuses in Balochistan, so that the Pakistani military can continue its exploitation of the region's resources and oppression of its people without resistance or accountability. With the emergence of ISKP in Balochistan, and given its explicit threats toward you and other BYC members, how does the Baloch Yakjehti Committee plan to respond? What strategies do you envision for navigating this increasingly volatile political and security environment? As I have already mentioned above, both Islamic State and the spokespersons of the Pakistan military are using the same language against us. Their tone is identical. Both are troubled by our struggle, both speak of eliminating us, both label us as foreign agents, and both feel threatened by our progressive stance. They view our political and human rights struggle as a danger, and in response, ISPR's press conferences and Islamic State's threatening audio-visual content and pamphlets have used hateful and violent language against us. I believe their sole aim is to silence me and my colleague, or to coerce us into abandoning our struggle. We are being subjected to relentless psychological pressure through various means. First, I was arrested. Then, ISPR held repeated press conferences against me, launching character assassination campaigns. A false and misleading media narrative was spread to manipulate international public opinion. The families of my colleagues, Dr. Sabiha Baloch and Beebow Baloch, were collectively punished. Over 300 of our members were detained. An undeclared ban was imposed on the political activities of our organization. The law was weaponized against me and my colleagues. Every peaceful protest was met with violence against our members. Despite all this, our colleagues have remained committed to their peaceful political and human rights activism. Even in the face of imprisonment, torture, arrest, media trials, and false accusations, neither I nor my colleagues have chosen silence. We have remained resolute in continuing our peaceful struggle against human rights violations in Balochistan. When our unwavering commitment became evident, Daesh ultimately became active against us, issuing death threats and calling for our elimination. Yet, we are fully determined that we will not remain silent about the human rights abuses in Balochistan. No matter the cost, we will continue our peaceful struggle, because our demands are simple and lawful: an immediate end to all forms of oppression and violence in Balochistan, and the constitutional and legal right of the Baloch people to make their own decisions regarding their future. Crackdowns on political dissent in Pakistan have intensified in recent years, affecting movements across the ideological spectrum, from the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Given this broader climate of repression, how do you see the future of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee? What role do you believe it can continue to play, both within Balochistan and nationally? From day one, the BYC has strived to unite all oppressed and state-affected people within Pakistan, to foster harmony among them, and to lead a collective struggle against human rights violations and for the attainment of public rights. This effort stems from the reality that every community and nation in Pakistan today is suffering under state oppression and injustice. A majority of political leaders have been imprisoned, peaceful political activism has been criminalized, dissenting voices are being silenced, the media is fully controlled, and even the judiciary is being manipulated through controversial measures like the 26th Constitutional Amendment. In essence, a full-fledged authoritarian regime is in place in Pakistan. In the face of this, it is imperative that all oppressed nations and communities come together in a united struggle against this dictatorship.
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First Post
16-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Baloch must embrace civil disobedience to resist Pakistan's repression
From Gandhi's Salt March in colonial India to the sit-ins led by Black students in segregated America, history shows that justice has always advanced when ordinary people chose civil disobedience over silent suffering read more What options are left when every legal path is blocked, when even mourning becomes a punishable act, and a mother clutching her son's photograph is seen as a danger? When the courts, human rights commissions, and press clubs all turn their backs, what remains is not hope, but a quiet determination to endure and to resist. The past year has made one thing clear to the oppressed Baloch nation: the state has no interest in dialogue, justice, or reform. The crackdown on the Baloch Yakjehti Committee; the arrests of peaceful activists like Mahrang Baloch, Sibghat Ullah Shahji, and Beebagr Baloch; the brutal response to the long march to Islamabad and the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar—none of this was accidental. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is part of a long-standing campaign to silence and intimidate Baloch voices through brute force. These were not militants, but students, lawyers, doctors and families searching for their missing loved ones. They carried placards, chanted slogans and held photographs. In return, they faced repression, arrests, baton charges, tear gas and complete indifference from the very institutions meant to uphold their rights. In March 2025, in Balochistan's capital Quetta, families of the missing came to the streets alongside young activists to demand answers. These were families who had spent years searching for their loved ones—sons, daughters, and brothers who had disappeared without a trace. They called for the release of detained members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and others held without charge. The state responded not with dialogue or compassion but with violence. Pakistani forces opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing three children in broad daylight. Those who spoke out were arrested, and those who stood in solidarity were harassed and intimidated. Grieving women were dragged and manhandled in the streets, while Mahrang Baloch, a leading voice of the movement, was taken into custody along with others in a wave of unlawful detentions. In a political order where peaceful dissent is met with such force, mass civil disobedience is no longer just a right; it becomes a moral duty. And now, as Baloch women and sisters themselves are being abducted, harassed and even killed, as they were in Awaran, Kech and Quetta, the red line has been crossed once again. This time, the response cannot follow the same path. It must take the shape of mass civil disobedience. A refusal to continue participating in a system that criminalises identity and grief. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Baloch must now break the illusion of normalcy that the state depends on. Let teachers resign until the disappeared are returned or at least acknowledged. Let bureaucrats leave their offices and stop lending their labour to a government that erases their families. Let students refuse to sit in classrooms where their accents turn them into suspects. Let shopkeepers shut their stores, transport come to a halt and the roads empty. The state's authority should be met with collective and determined withdrawal. And let the Baloch people march again, not to courtrooms that offer no justice or press clubs that refuse to speak the truth, but to the gates of military cantonments and intelligence offices, where so many of the disappeared were last seen, where countless others continue to face inhumane torture. Let them stand before the institutions that built this terror and say, 'Abduct or kill us too. You abducted our sons and our daughters. You killed our mothers. We will not live half-lives anymore.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is not some distant ideal or romantic notion. It has happened before, and it can happen again. From Gandhi's Salt March in colonial India to the sit-ins led by Black students in segregated America, history shows that justice has always advanced when ordinary people chose civil disobedience over silent suffering. When the law serves only power, disobedience becomes the highest expression of civic duty. Gandhi did not defeat the British with rifles; he broke their hold by daring them to arrest him, knowing thousands more would rise in his place. The Civil Rights Movement did not end segregation through appeasement but through the unbearable moral clarity of young people being hosed down for trying to go to school. The resistance that authoritarian states fear most is not violent—it is moral, disciplined, and impossible to ignore. Pakistan may fear militants in the mountains, but what it fears even more is unarmed, organised resistance. It fears a protest that refuses to disappear, one that grows stronger each time it is attacked. It fears women like Mahrang Baloch, who stand before cameras and say, 'We are not asking for charity; we are demanding justice. Stop your barbarity in Balochistan and give us answers.' And it fears thousands like her—people who carry no weapons, only the weight of memory and the strength to keep speaking when silence is safer. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The state has made it clear, time and again, that it has no tolerance for peaceful dissent. This is exactly why the leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee were targeted—not because they took up arms or incited violence, but because they refused to be silent. They were not punished for insurrection but for daring to organise within the bounds of the law. They were not arrested for agitation but for remembering the disappeared. When a state begins to treat remembrance itself as a threat, when mourning is labelled as sedition, it becomes painfully clear that the era of appeals, petitions, and commissions is over. Civil disobedience offers a way forward that does not rely on violence but on collective courage and dignity. Imagine mothers standing in quiet rows outside Pakistani military camps, holding nothing but photographs of their missing children. Imagine students walking out of universities in protest, not for privilege, but because their language or surname has marked them as suspects. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Imagine entire neighbourhoods marching together to the gates of military installations with a clear message: 'We will not cooperate in our own erasure.' This is not disorder or chaos; it is disciplined, purposeful resistance. It is the reclaiming of moral ground in a system built on denial and repression. The question is no longer whether the Baloch should resist but how to resist in a way that is effective, principled, and enduring. The answer lies in resistance that is nonviolent, collective, and unwavering. Continuing to beg a state that responds only with indiscriminate firing, tear gas, batons, and silence is a slow and suffocating death. Mass disobedience is never easy. It requires discipline, sacrifice, and unity that reaches across cities, communities, and generations, from Awaran to Kech, Gwadar to Quetta, Panjgur to Pasni. Yet it remains the only form of protest that carries both moral legitimacy and the power to shake the foundations of repression. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Let the state be forced to choose between acknowledging its violence or exposing its fear of peace. Let it come to understand that if it continues to criminalise grief, then grief will grow beyond its control. Let it face the reality of Baloch mothers who no longer beg but who will not walk away either. And let it be clear that if the state insists on erasing the Baloch, then the Baloch will step away from the very system that depends on their silence and cooperation. This is what settles in when people have tried everything—waited outside courts, knocked on every door, held up photographs, but nothing changed. When silence and oppression are all the state offers, the only thing left is to say no, together. This is not a call to destroy but a call to sit down, to disrupt the system peacefully and refuse to be pushed aside any longer. And if the state sees even that as a threat, then let it do what it has done to so many before. Let it abduct us too. Let it kill us too. But we won't be silent, and we won't fade away like our lives don't matter. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Dilshad Baluch is a journalist from Pakistan's Balochistan Province and a graduate of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @DilshadBaluch. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
