Karachi: “The state cannot level accusations against someone and assume its brutal injustices will go unnoticed,” said Nadia Baloch, sister of Mahrang Baloch, who has been closely following her sibling's case since the day of her arrest.

She demanded accountability from the authorities, asking, “Who has killed and abducted [the] Baloch?” She stressed that false allegations and spurious charges cannot absolve the state of responsibility.

“It is enough now – we have endured grave injustices and immense hardship,” she said, her voice thick with emotion as she spoke to The Wire. “Despite everything, we still believe in the constitution and the rule of law. But we don’t know whether justice will be served – or if injustice will be our only fate.”

Mahrang, a prominent leader from Balochistan and head of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), was arrested on March 22 for holding a protest over the authorities' refusal to hand over several bodies.

Officials claimed the deceased were involved in the Jaffar Express attack that same month. However, BYC leaders demanded that DNA tests be conducted and due process followed, rather than allowing the state to quietly bury the bodies. They further alleged that the government had produced the bodies of missing persons, falsely labeling them as terrorists.

On July 8, the Anti-Terrorism Court in Quetta – the capital of Balochistan province – ruled that Mahrang and her BYC colleagues Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, Bebarg Baloch Sibagatullah Shah and Ghaffar Baloch were to be removed from Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), which allows law enforcement to detain and arrest people accused of posing a threat to public order.

However, they were simultaneously re-arrested under new, allegedly fabricated FIRs, and the court granted police a ten-day remand.

Nadia said that since March 22, they had insisted the government unlawfully jailed BYC leaders under Section 3 of the MPO or in fabricated FIRs.

“It took 107 days for the court to recognise that the BYC leaders could not be detained simultaneously under both the MPO and FIRs,” she said.

The court eventually ordered the removal of the MPO charges while allowing the FIRs to proceed.

Speaking to The Wire, Nadia said the authorities were likely to bring forth multiple FIRs in an attempt to keep the BYC leaders behind bars. Still, she added, they would continue to challenge what she described as “bogus FIRs”.

Mahrang’s legal notice to DG ISPR

On June 18, Mahrang served a legal notice to Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Pakistan armed forces' Inter-Services Public Relations division (DG ISPR), stating that he had made defamatory remarks against her and the BYC during a press conference on May 23 and a speech on June 2.

In the notice, she claimed that he had described them as a “deformed evil face”, which she said damaged her reputation. She maintained that the BYC was a peaceful civil rights group and noted that she had recently been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.

Akhtar Mengal, president of the Balochistan National Party and former chief minister of Balochistan, told The Wire that allegations like those made against Mahrang had long been used against those who questioned Islamabad’s policies in the province.

“These accusations have been used against everyone who has challenged the state’s injustices,” he said, citing the example of Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was killed in August 2006 during General Pervez Musharraf’s military rule. “Bugti believed in democracy – but he was assassinated for demanding justice.”

Mengal warned that if the state continued to ignore the voices of the Baloch, they would be forced to seek other paths. “It is the state that is pushing the Baloch against the wall,” he said. “Peaceful voices in Balochistan are being punished. It’s not just Mahrang – every Baloch who asks for justice is treated the same way.”

Sabiha Baloch, a key organiser of the BYC, told The Wire that the Baloch people had long been victims of state violence and were left helpless. She said that the only recourse available to them was the constitution, through which they demanded justice.

“Those who raise their voices are often labeled either terrorists or anti-state,” she said, adding that BYC has faced such accusations repeatedly.

Speaking about Mahrang's legal notice, Sabiha called it a courageous move. “Mahrang’s stance is a bold step. I don’t think anyone has ever dared to challenge such a powerful man in such a powerful position,” she said. “This practice of branding people as anti-state must end.”

Sammi Deen Baloch, a recipient of the International Human Rights Award and another key organiser of the BYC, told The Wire that the state’s treatment of the Baloch was riddled with contradictions.

“When a Baloch wins an international human rights award, the mainstream media calls us Pakistani,” she said, referring to her own experience when the headlines read like the following: ‘Pakistan’s Sammi Deen Baloch receives international award for human rights activism.’

“But when the Baloch demand justice, ask for their rights or seek the whereabouts of their loved ones, they are labeled anti-state.”

Nadia said her family had endured ongoing violations and injustice, adding that her concerns extended beyond her sister’s case. “Even when I go to the hospital, Vigo vehicles [a pickup truck often used by authorities engaged in covert work] follow me,” she said.

According to her, the decision to send the legal notice to the DG ISPR was not an easy one. “Mahrang took days to reflect before proceeding, especially as the state continued to portray her as anti-state,” she said, calling the DG’s speech and press conference “baseless”.

“Mahrang is in jail, yet she has sent a legal notice to a powerful authority – someone who controls not only the country but Balochistan as well,” Nadia said. “Her decision sends a message to the state: the Baloch are asking for justice and cannot be silenced by being labeled anti-state.”

“If they have proof, let them present it in court,” she added. “Mahrang will fight it through legal means. Otherwise, no one has the right to defame her character.”

Terrorist groups issue threats as authorities serve notice to silence voices

Sabiha further stated that the state was not only labelling Baloch activists as anti-state, but that even terrorist organisations like the Islamic State had issued statements targeting leaders of the BYC, declaring them anti-state and calling for their killing.

She said the statement named herself, Mahrang and others, including a local journalist.

“No one in the state has taken notice of these threats,” she said. “How is it possible that a terrorist group is openly threatening political activists and ordinary citizens, and yet the state remains silent?”

Sabiha alleged that the silence from authorities amounted to complicity. “Now those who seek justice for the Baloch are being targeted by terrorist organisations – and the state’s silence is evidence that it is happening with their approval,” she said.

Mengal had led a protest rally in March against the arrest of Mahrang and other members of BYC. During the rally in Mastung’s Luk Pass, a suicide bomber attempted to attack the protesters. Demonstrators identified the attacker and thwarted the attempt.

But the violence was not the only response Mengal faced. After he publicly demanded the release of Mahrang and other BYC members, he received a notice from the Cyber Crime Reporting Unit. Authorities accused him of using his X account to spread false information and glorify a proscribed individual, i.e. Mahrang.

Speaking to The Wire, Mengal said that terrorist organisations like the Islamic State were, in his view, linked to the state. “The Baloch who demand justice are either threatened directly by the state or by state-sponsored militants,” he said. Referring to the suicide attack attempt during his rally, he noted that the government had neither reached out to them about the incident nor launched an investigation.

“Those who believe in democracy are being threatened in multiple ways to silence them,” he said. “But those who follow the establishment’s script – like the Form 45 crowd – face no such threats.” Form 45 refers to the official election result count.

“These threats will not silence the Baloch, and not even Mahrang,” Mengal said. “We will continue to raise our voices for justice.”

Nadia recalled Mahrang’s words, saying that when the latter returned from Islamabad, people across Balochistan had welcomed her warmly. “That was our reality then – and this, too, is our reality now,” she had told Nadia. “We are in jail merely for demanding justice.”

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