Balochistan protests

From prison, Mahrang offers her perspective on the future of political dissent in Pakistan.

Recent escalations demonstrate both the insurgents’ growing operational capabilities and the Pakistani state’s persistent reliance on heavy-handed military responses that continue to alienate Baloch society.

“No one can stop us from standing up for our rights because our protests are peaceful, and we are determined.”

Between a determined and vocal civil rights movements and a renewed insurgency, the plight of Balochistan is no longer a peripheral issue in Pakistan. 

Amid violence, public protests, and electoral manipulation, enthusiasm for the polls among the Baloch is at an all-time low.

“Upon arriving in Islamabad with 300 families, we realized that the state was neither ready to listen nor interested in addressing the issue of missing persons.” 

Baloch protesters are demanding an end to the decades-old problem of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Pakistan’s government is trying to justify the practice.

An interview with Somaiyah Hafeez about the current protest movement demanding an end to forced disappearances and real accountability in Balochistan.

Baloch women have launched a march toward Pakistan’s capital to protest rights abuses and enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

In a growing protest movement, family members are drawing attention to the long-standing issue of abductions in Balochistan.

Informal trade in oil and other goods, which previously provided people in border villages with income, has been halted without putting alternative means of livelihood in place.

The “crown jewel” of CPEC is under an internet shutdown after a crackdown on protests.