Two Days After Baloch Government's Action Against Sit-In, Whereabouts of Two Activists Unknown

 

The situation in Balochistan remains volatile. On July 28, authorities and military forces opened fire on a peaceful public gathering led by Dr. Mahrang Baloch of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). From Mastung to Turbat and Khuzdar to Quetta, every city is under heavy security control. Gwadar, however, is completely sealed off, with little information available about the situation there.

Videos have surfaced showing security forces opening fire and apparently arresting human rights activists Sammi Deen Baloch, Sibagatullah Shah, Sabeha Baloch, and numerous protesters. Reports indicate that the bodies of protesters who were killed have not been returned to their families, as security forces have seized them.

Despite a curfew-like situation, Mahrang Baloch bravely addressed the people gathered in Gwadar on July 28. Her and the BYC leadership's decision to hold a jalsa on that day was a courageous act. “Gwadar belongs to the Baloch. No one has the right to stop us from entering the city,” Mahrang declared in her speech.

At the jalsa, or ‘Baloch National Gathering,’ which sparked sit-ins across Balochistan and in Karachi, she demanded the government release all protesters and allow the Baloch people to enter Gwadar. Instead of negotiating with the protesters, the provincial government and security forces responded violently, causing numerous injuries and reportedly arresting the BYC’s leadership.

A video has emerged in which a man named Waleed claims that Pakistani government agencies sent him to shoot the BYC’s leadership. He was captured by those at the jalsa, and a photo shows a pistol and walkie-talkie purportedly recovered from him.

The Wire has reported on threats against Mahrang and the BYC’s leadership. The situation remains critical in many areas of Balochistan, including Gwadar. The country’s leadership in Islamabad remains silent on human rights violations in Gwadar.

As of Tuesday evening, July 30, Sabeha Baloch had been released, but the whereabouts of Deen and Shah are unknown. The provincial government denies arresting Sammi Deen and the BYC leadership.

Sammi Deen Baloch is a prominent human rights activist who has been fighting for the release of her abducted father, Dr. Deen Mohammad Baloch, for over a decade. This year, she won the ‘Front Line Defenders Award’ from the European Union for Human Rights Defenders. She was in Gwadar when security forces launched a massive crackdown on the sit-in there. She and the BYC leadership were injured and reportedly arrested.

Provincial authorities have denied arresting BYC leaders and others. Imran Baloch, an advocate, said that the Gwadar deputy commissioner initially acknowledged their arrests but later denied it.

Afrasiab Khattak, a former senator, reacted to Sammi Deen’s reported arrest, stating that her father was abducted by intelligence agencies. He noted that Sammi began her struggle to retrieve her father when she was very young and now, as a popular young leader of Baloch nationalists, she has been abducted for participating in a peaceful protest.

Aamna Baloch, a prominent activist, recalled a similar incident in Karachi, where police denied arresting boys from the city’s Lyari area who were collecting donations for the Baloch National Gathering, despite their donation box being discovered inside a police station.

“We know the government has arrested them,” Aamna said, referring to Sammi Deen and others.

Mir Mohammad Talpur, a well-known columnist, told The Wire: “Bullets, military operations, and violence by the Pakistani state are not new, nor are we [the Baloch] afraid of them. We are fighting for our land and will not allow outsiders to steal our natural resources. Gwadar belongs only to the Baloch. Those who believe that Gwadar belongs to them [the Pakistani state] or to China are mistaken.”

Talpur emphasized that the Baloch National Gathering was not just a jalsa but a “revolution,” adding that the Baloch would never forget the government’s violent actions against them. He criticized the PPP government’s role in the province, recalling former President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s dissolution of Balochistan’s provincial government and the launch of a military operation in the 1970s. He also highlighted the “kill-and-dump policy” unleashed against the Baloch during the PPP’s 2008 tenure.

Khattak stated that violence has come to define the relationship between the Pakistani state and the Baloch people, noting that several military operations have taken place in the province. He said that the current military operation, which began in 2006, is still ongoing and that enforced disappearances, especially targeting Baloch youth, represent another form of war against the Baloch by the state.

Talpur criticized the media’s role in Pakistan, saying they never speak of Sammi, Sabeha, or Mahrang. He accused the media of promoting the state’s narrative and supporting its actions, prioritizing its own interests over those of oppressed people.

Aamna, emotional and weeping, said that if she were in Gwadar, she would have kissed Mahrang’s head. She spoke of how younger Baloch people had grown and were now fighting for their people. “Mahrang has received death threats, and we know this state is unkind and capable of violent actions. But look, Mahrang is out and with her people,” she said.

“The brutal state repression has reached generational proportions. It will certainly deepen anger and alienation among the Baloch,” said Khattak.