Veengas, Editor of The Rise News, speaks with Dr. Sabiha Baloch, a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), about the political and human rights situation in Balochistan and the cases against BYC leadership.
Veengas asked Sabiha Baloch, a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), about going underground, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and other BYC leaders — Beebo, Gulzadi, Sabguttullah, known as Shahji, and Beeburg — who have been jailed for more than a year.
Sabiha responded that because the BYC leadership was simply raising human rights issues, its members were forced to go into hiding. The movement’s main leadership was either jailed or, like herself, forced to operate underground.
She said that even a “faceless trial” had been conducted to punish Mahrang Baloch and Shahji with life imprisonment.
She also raised the broader question of what happens to ordinary people when those who are educated, activists and speaking out for justice are themselves being jailed or harassed. “Imagine those living in remote areas,” she said, questioning how they would be treated if even activists and educated people were facing such pressure.
Sabiha emphasized that the state should follow the Constitution. Instead, she said, BYC members are being arrested and more than 50 cases have been filed against them, which she described as false cases.
She said she was willing to face the courts but questioned whether people could trust a judicial system that, in her view, was being controlled and compromised. She referred to an example in which, she said, the Balochistan government’s Home Department directly asked the court to bring Mahrang Baloch’s case to an end. In such circumstances, she asked, how can someone trust the system?
Human Rights Violations and Abductions
Sabiha continued by discussing the record of the Balochistan government under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). She said human rights violations had increased and claimed that more than 50 women had been abducted.
As an example, she referred to two medical students who, she said, were abducted from Bolan University a few days earlier and whose bodies were later found. She also said drone attacks, killings and cases of missing persons had increased.
She described the situation as increasingly difficult for families whose members are targeted because of their political or human rights activism.
Sabiha also spoke about her own family. She said her father was abducted in 2024 and remained missing for almost five months, telling that authorities targeted him in an attempt to force her into arrest. She further said that even armed individuals had been ordered to arrest her sister.
She said it had become difficult to survive in such circumstances when people close to you could themselves become targets.
She described the treatment of her family as a form of collective punishment for speaking out against human rights violations.
For that reason, she said, the BYC has to remain present even while operating underground in order to continue raising its voice against human rights violations.
Threats, Daesh and the BYC Leadership
When asked about threats from the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, as well as threats of arrest and possible elimination targeting the BYC’s main leadership, including Mahrang Baloch and herself, Sabiha explained that the pressure on the movement had intensified over time.
She said that since the Gwadar sit-in in 2024, the state had been trying to harass and target the BYC and its leadership, particularly Mahrang Baloch. She also said that Daesh had issued threats against BYC leaders.
Sabiha referred to an incident in which, she said, a security official warned that the BYC’s gathering in Dalbandin would be its last public gathering and that the organization would not be allowed to hold another jalsa.
She said such threats and pressure have created an environment in which the BYC leadership must continue its political and human rights work while also dealing with the possibility of arrest, prosecution and physical harm.
Mahrang Baloch, Akhtar Mengal and the BYC
Sabiha further explained that the state accused Mahrang Baloch of involvement in the Jaffar Express incident more than two and a half years later, but, she said, no case had been filed against her on that accusation. Instead, she argued that Mahrang was punished in connection with the murder case arising from the Raji Muchi incident, despite, she said, Mahrang not being involved and no evidence being available against her.
Asked why most political parties had remained silent over the BYC leadership, Sabiha pointed to Akhtar Mengal, leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), saying that he had supported Mahrang Baloch and her family.
Sabiha appreciated Mengal’s role and said that his resignation from parliament was initially not accepted but was later accepted after he raised his voice for Mahrang and the BYC. She further said that after the BYC, the BNP was the only political party speaking out against human rights violations in Balochistan.
She questioned the argument that the BYC should enter parliamentary politics in order to avoid state harassment. “What about the BNP?” she asked, pointing out that it is a parliamentary political party and has also faced a crackdown. She argued that the reason is that anyone who speaks for Baloch rights is punished.
Sabiha also criticized the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), saying that the BNP was not like the PPP, which she accused of being directly involved in what she described as the “genocide” of Baloch people.
Mainstream Media and the State Narrative
Asked whether the government and Pakistan’s mainstream media had succeeded in turning people against the BYC, Sabiha said that the government’s large financial resources had helped shape the narrative in the mainstream media against her and the BYC.
However, she said, the strategy had failed to turn Baloch people against the BYC. Instead, she argued, people increasingly believe the BYC’s narrative about what she described as state brutality.
She said that earlier, people were more focused on individual leaders, whereas now, they increasingly recognize the BYC as a movement and identify with its name.
“The government earlier blamed Mahrang for everything in Balochistan. Now they are worried about whom to blame. So, they keep blaming me,” she said.
Sabiha also criticized Pakistan’s mainstream media for what she described as following and reproducing the state’s narrative.
Missing Persons and Threats to Families
Asked about the increasing number of missing persons and the harassment of their families, Sabiha said that relatives of missing persons are often warned not to speak publicly about the abduction of their family members. She claimed that some families had been threatened that if they disclosed information, they would instead receive the body of their missing relative.
She said many families of missing persons had been placed on the Fourth Schedule and subjected to harassment.
Regarding data on missing persons, Sabiha said that many cases go unreported because families are threatened. She acknowledged that the BYC does not have complete data but said the organization had managed to collect information in recent years indicating that more than 12,000 Baloch people had been abducted, including approximately 600 in recent months.
She further claimed that 50 bodies had been recovered in Panjgur in recent months.
Sabiha also said that civilian families had been targeted in drone attacks, referring to the incident in the Sorab area. She criticized the PPP-led government and described the situation in Balochistan as resembling Gaza.
Families of Missing Persons and the Loss of Hope
Asked why families of missing persons were no longer holding protests as frequently as they had in the past, Sabiha reflected on how the situation had changed.
Earlier, she said, families had at least hoped that journalists would come to cover their protests. Even when the government did not listen to them, media coverage gave them a sense that someone was listening and that journalists could become their voice.
Now, she said, the state had taken away even that hope.
Sabiha explained that families continue to face harassment and threats. She said some families had approached her and insisted that she help them organize protests.
She named Sammi Deen Baloch, Fozia, Seema, Sara Baloch and other Baloch women, saying they had faced threats for raising their voices for the recovery of abducted family members.
Why Baloch Women Are Losing Faith in Peaceful Political Activism
Asked why many Baloch women had lost faith in peaceful political activism, and whether anyone had told her that Baloch women would no longer participate in activism after seeing the price paid by her and Mahrang Baloch, Sabiha said the situation had become increasingly difficult for peaceful political activity.
She described the PPP-led government as being connected to what she called “death squads” and said that the situation had developed to a point where people could no longer engage in peaceful political activism safely.
She said that even families and women who were not involved in activism had been harassed and, in some cases, forced at gunpoint to hold press conferences.
Sabiha further claimed that ordinary Baloch women were no longer safe and stated that members of death squads had abducted women or forced them into marriage.
She argued that state repression had pushed people away from peaceful political movements. According to Sabiha, even those who remained politically inactive could be punished simply for doing nothing.
She said this had resulted, for the first time in Balochistan’s history, in some Baloch women choosing to take up arms and move to the mountains.
She explained that women who felt unsafe in their own homes believed they could find greater security in the mountains, whether they feared death squads or state action.
She referred to a remote area of Gwadar where, she said, religious extremism was also present and claimed that 10 Baloch girls from the area had joined an armed movement in the mountains. She said the government subsequently issued a notice and placed bounties on their heads.
Sorab Incident: the Role of the Media and Human Rights Organizations
Asked about the Sorab incident of August 12, Sabiha said she had approached human rights organizations and asked them to issue condemnation statements, but did not receive a response. She also questioned the role of the media in covering the incident.
Sabiha said the media had consistently promoted what she described as the state’s narrative and had repeated the same narrative during the Sorab incident by referring to civilians, including children, as terrorists.
She alleged that the state was carrying out drone strikes against civilians.
Using the interview itself as an example, she said that even while sitting with a journalist for an interview, she could not know when a drone strike might occur. She argued that Baloch civilians were being killed indiscriminately in drone attacks.
“No one is safe in Balochistan,” she said. “Whenever I interview or speak, I feel that this may be the last interview.”
Asked about the response of human rights organizations in Pakistan, Sabiha criticized what she described as their silence over human rights violations in Balochistan.
She said there was effectively a media blackout in Balochistan and questioned why human rights organizations were not even issuing statements of condemnation.
International Human Rights Organizations
Sabiha also criticized international human rights organizations, saying that their attention is disproportionately focused on the Middle East while they pay little attention to Baloch people who, she argued, are also being killed and subjected to human rights violations.
She said international human rights organizations often depend on local human rights groups for information. If local organizations do not report human rights violations in Balochistan, she argued, international organizations are less likely to take notice.
She emphasized that human rights violations should be addressed without discrimination or selective attention.
Sabiha also criticized what she described as the silence of elite feminists in Pakistan. She said they discuss domestic violence against women while remaining silent about what she described as state violence against Baloch women.
The Future of Political Activism and Mahrang Baloch’s Case
Asked about the future of political activism and Mahrang Baloch’s case, Sabiha said it was the state’s responsibility to prevent further violence rather than contribute to it. She argued that violence cannot resolve political problems and said the state should listen even to those who warn it about the consequences of continued violence.
Regarding Mahrang Baloch’s case, Sabiha maintained that there was no evidence against her. She said that if Mahrang receives a fair trial, she and the BYC will be vindicated.
Sabiha reiterated that the BYC believes in peaceful political activism and said that political dialogue could provide a path toward resolving the conflict.
