Late on the night of April 12, in Gwadar – a coastal city in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province that has become a symbol of both grand geopolitical dreams and brutal local repression – a journalist’s phone rang. On the other end was not a source or a colleague but was a threat cloaked in chilling words: “Apne kafan ki tayari karna” – “Prepare your shroud.”
The journalist being threatened, Javed M.B., had committed no crime. His only offense was reporting the truth in Balochistan, a place where truth itself has long been treated as treason.
For decades, Balochistan has been the most dangerous place in Pakistan to be a journalist. Here, speaking truth to power isn’t just risky; it is often fatal. Reporters are not just harassed or censored; they are abducted, exiled, or murdered. Journalism in Balochistan is not practiced in newsrooms, but in whispers, in exile, or under constant threat. This is not a media crisis. This is a war on truth – and it is escalating.
Balochistan has, over the years, transformed into a graveyard for press freedom – not because stories are absent, but because telling them is a direct threat to life. For journalists who remain in Balochistan, every word typed and every video uploaded carries the weight of potential death. Distance provides no safety either – even exiled journalists, too, have been silenced forever.
The most recent target of this systematic silencing is Javed M.B., a respected journalist from Gwadar and administrator of the online platform “Gwadar e Tawar.” On the night of April 12, Javed received ominous messages from anonymous sources – first a chilling text, then a phone call warning him of severe consequences for publishing a particular story. The voice on the line didn’t mince words: he was told to “prepare his shroud.”
This was not an isolated event. It’s part of a long, bloody chain of threats and violence against journalists in Balochistan – a region long cut off from the rest of the world by an information blockade enforced through intimidation and bloodshed.
In Barkhan district of Balochistan, journalist Asif Khan Khetran became another target in the growing war on truth. His only crime was trying to report on local injustices – and for that, his shop was abruptly shut down by authorities, cutting off his means of survival. Soon after, he was abducted. For days, his family lived in agony, uncertain whether he would return. When he finally came back, he was still determined – the same courage that got him targeted was still there. But what he went through had clearly affected him. His story is a reminder that in Balochistan, speaking the truth can cost you everything.
The War on Truth
Over the last two decades, the list of murdered or disappeared Baloch journalists has grown painfully long. Among them was Sajid Hussain Baloch, former editor of The Balochistan Times, who fled Pakistan after receiving death threats for reporting on human rights violations and drug trafficking involving powerful actors. In 2020, Sajid was found dead in Sweden under mysterious circumstances after going missing for weeks. His death was ruled as drowning but remains surrounded by suspicion.
Sajid had fled Pakistan hoping to avoid the fate that’s all too common for journalists in Balochistan: abduction, torture, and murder. Razzaq Gul, a reporter for Express News, was abducted in 2012 and found dead the next day, his body bearing marks of severe torture. Ilyas Nazar, a young and aspiring Baloch journalist, was abducted by Pakistani intelligence agencies in 2010 and later found shot dead in 2011. Rasheed Baloch and Munir Shakir, both local reporters, met similar fates. Their only crime was reporting on military operations and human rights abuses.
These journalists did not die in crossfire or by accident. They were deliberately targeted by powerful forces that see journalism not as a cornerstone of democracy, but as a threat to state control.
The attack on journalism in Balochistan is not just about censorship. It is about erasure – the deliberate destruction of the record, the silencing of the witness. The state’s aim is not merely to prevent stories from reaching the public; it is to create a vacuum where the only narrative that survives is the one authored by the security apparatus.
The recent threats to Javed M.B. serve as a harsh reminder that the war on truth is ongoing and escalating. As the administrator of a popular social media page reporting from Gwadar – a city transformed into a militarized zone due to Chinese-backed port development under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – Javed has been one of the few voices offering on-the-ground realities from a city otherwise buried under nationalistic headlines and corporate press releases.
By shedding light on local discontent, enforced disappearances, state violence, and the fishing community’s protests against port restrictions and land acquisition, Javed challenged the sanitized state narrative. And for that, he is being told to expect to be murdered.
Following the threats, a fellow journalist, Ain Qadir, publicly shared a screenshot of the messages Javed received. Civil society members, local activists, and citizens condemned the incident. But condemnation is no longer enough. Without institutional action, these statements of solidarity remain symbolic — and the silence of international media remains deafening.
The Cost of Truth in a Controlled State
The authorities’ war on journalism is not limited to Balochistan. Pakistan ranks 150th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index.
In recent years, prominent journalists across the country have faced harassment, abduction, and assault. Investigative reporter Ahmad Noorani’s family has been repeatedly targeted, including the disappearance of his brothers. Imran Riaz Khan, a vocal journalist and YouTuber, was abducted and kept in secret detention for months. Asad Ali Toor, another independent journalist, was brutally assaulted inside his own home by masked men.
But the scale and impunity of such attacks remain the most intense in Balochistan. Here, the red lines are not just invisible; they shift without warning. A Facebook post, a field report, or a video of a protest can all lead to a de facto death sentence. No journalist in the region can operate freely without facing surveillance, threats, or worse.
An atmosphere of fear defines journalistic work in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. Self-censorship is not just a professional compromise here; it is a survival tactic.
Major media houses in Pakistan have either been co-opted or intimidated into silence. Editors are warned through phone calls, reporters are told to drop certain stories, and entire regions – like Turbat, Awaran, Panjgur, or Gwadar – are often treated as “no-go zones” for national and international media alike.
In such an environment, independent online platforms, social media pages, and freelance journalists like Javed M.B. have emerged as the last bastions of truth. Their work often reaches people not through printed newspapers or satellite broadcasts, but via mobile phones, one share at a time. And that is precisely why the state wants to snuff them out.
The Role of the International Community: Silence Is Complicity
The silence of global institutions on the repression of journalists in Balochistan is deeply troubling. Organizations such as UNESCO, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) must go beyond issuing statements. They have a moral and professional obligation to launch investigations, apply diplomatic pressure, and engage directly with the Pakistani state over these human rights violations.
Press freedom should not be viewed as a regional concern; it is a universal imperative. When states are permitted to suppress journalism with impunity – through abductions, threats, and targeted killings – it sets a dangerous global precedent. What is unfolding in Balochistan today may very well occur elsewhere tomorrow if the international community remains silent.
We urge U.N. human rights bodies to conduct independent investigations into enforced disappearances and attacks on journalists in Pakistan. UNESCO and CPJ must establish regular, transparent monitoring mechanisms specifically focused on Balochistan, a region long neglected in global press freedom reports. International media outlets also have a role to play – they must report on these issues without fear or compromise, ensuring that the truth is not buried under geopolitical convenience.
Finally, countries with diplomatic or economic ties to Pakistan – particularly those involved in projects like CPEC – must re-evaluate their partnerships. No economic interest should override the imperative to uphold basic human rights, especially the right to report freely and without fear. Conditioning diplomatic and investment agreements on human rights guarantees is not just ethical; it is essential to protecting the global norms that underpin democracy and accountability.
The targeted silencing of Baloch journalists is not only an attack on individuals. It is an attack on truth, memory, and justice. Each time a journalist is silenced, a window into reality is closed – not just for the Baloch people, but for the world. Each threat, each bullet, each disappearance widens the gap between what happens and what is told.
And yet, despite the fear, despite the danger, journalists like Javed M.B. continue to report. Their courage is not just an act of resistance – it is a lifeline to truth. They continue not because they are fearless, but because they know that silence is surrender.
It is time the world listens – not after the next body is found, not after the next disappearance. But now. Because journalism is not a crime. Because journalism is not terrorism. Because the truth should never require a shroud.