For too long, the so-called “human rights” campaign in Balochistan has been hijacked by individuals and families who are not innocent victims, but ideological sympathisers and enablers of terrorism. What we are witnessing is not a peaceful movement. It is an orchestrated, highly media-savvy cover-up for armed separatism.
Take the example of Mahrang Baloch, widely portrayed as a grieving sister of a missing person. What many do not realize is that her brother was a known terrorist affiliated with a banned group. Mehrang and others like her are not just passive family members—they are active participants in a propaganda war designed to tarnish Pakistan’s reputation internationally.
These so-called activists use public platforms to label Pakistan as a “fascist” state. They deliberately mislead audiences in Pakistan and abroad, including students at institutions such as Quaid-e-Azam University. They erase all mention of their relatives’ terrorist affiliations and paint the state as the sole aggressor. But the reality is different: these missing persons are not poets or students; they are people who picked up arms against the state.
Let us not forget that many of the women involved in these movements are from families deeply rooted in militant networks. This is not an emotional campaign by helpless sisters or mothers. This is generational terrorism, dressed up as civil rights activism. Their aim is not justice but the dismantling of Pakistan. And now, they are grooming the next generation—using children to carry anti-state placards, mimicking tactics used by groups like the Tamil Tigers and the Kurdish separatists.
Their strategy is working—at least on a superficial level. The international media lap it up. NGOs amplify their voices. But they all fail to ask the hard questions: Why are these women always from the same families tied to banned outfits? Why are they silent when security forces are killed in Balochistan? Why do they praise figures like Dr. Allah Nazar, who openly leads attacks against the state?
Let me be clear: the real victims in Balochistan are the teachers, the doctors, the journalists, and the ordinary Baloch who want peace but are silenced by these militants. The state is far from perfect, but it is fighting an ideological and armed insurgency, not oppressing a peaceful resistance.
We must stop this romanticisation of Baloch militancy. We must expose the propaganda. And we must support the people of Balochistan who truly want progress, not those who hide guns behind slogans of human rights.
