“I know well that Islamabad will not listen to the Baloch people,” said Nadia Baloch, the younger sister of Mahrang Baloch, a prominent leader in Balochistan.

Nadia is in Islamabad once again. In 2023 she came here with her sister to join a sit-in. This time she has returned without her – demanding Mahrang’s release. Her words echo her sister’s. In 2023, Mahrang told The Wire: “I know Islamabad will never do justice to the Baloch.” A year on, little has changed for the Baloch: injustice, violence and silencing of voices remain constant.

Since July 16, Nadia has led a sit-in in the capital, calling for the release of Mahrang, who heads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), along with fellow activists Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, Bebarg Baloch and Sibagatullah Shah, widely known as Shah Jee.

Mahrang was arrested on March 22 after demanding that authorities return the bodies of slain protesters. Instead of handing them over, security forces opened fire on demonstrators, detained leaders and intensified their crackdown on BYC activists and other Baloch who have questioned state policies.

It is now more than five months since Mahrang and her colleagues were imprisoned. Speaking to The Wire, Nadia said she did not come to Islamabad “to admire its roads or buildings”. She came, she said, because the state has turned Balochistan into a province “where voices are made invisible”.

“I felt like I had nowhere else to turn,” she said.

Bringing the protest to the capital was a deliberate choice. In Balochistan, Nadia argued, the provincial government is “nothing more than a puppet, dismissive of the people’s concerns”.

For over a month she and around 10 families of victims have held their sit-in. The government has ignored them. Their demands remain twofold: the release of Mahrang and her colleagues, and the release of the disappeared.

Islamabad Authorities Hinder Sit-in

Islamabad’s administration has repeatedly disrupted the sit-in, preventing participants from holding a rally even briefly. Families were barred from demonstrating outside the Islamabad Press Club, and instead sit across the road, hemmed in by police.

“Our sit-in has been reduced to a narrow patch of roadside where families hold pictures of victims,” Nadia said, her voice heavy with disappointment. “Even in this tiny space, we will sit and raise our voices.”

Asked why so few families had joined, she said many in Balochistan have lost hope. “Islamabad’s cold indifference has convinced them that it no longer wants to talk to the Baloch.”

Seeing Mahrang, who led a peaceful resistance movement, arrested and silenced has deepened that despair. Nadia admitted she had little expectation of justice, but still clung to hope that the judiciary and constitution might provide redress.

Over Five Months Behind Bars for Mahrang

Authorities first invoked Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) against Mahrang. When that failed, they turned to fabricated first information reports (FIRs), Nadia said. “Even this time, they have no proof to justify their FIRs.”

On June 18, Mahrang filed a legal notice against Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, head of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), accusing him of making defamatory remarks about her and the BYC. No response has yet been received.

“They can amplify their lies, but lies remain lies,” Nadia said. She described a recent court hearing in Balochistan where a judge, frustrated by repeated delays, warned the government that no further adjournments would be allowed.

Yet soon after, a Karachi court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Mahrang over an earlier FIR. Nadia said the case had already collapsed when a police officer admitted Mahrang had not even held a public gathering.

In 2024, speaking of such cases, Mahrang had laughed. “How could they be so foolish as to lodge an FIR when I wasn’t even there?” she had said.

Slogans on the street echo in court

Nadia recalled how she and her younger sister Iqra avoided the media after Mahrang’s arrest, only to be mocked by some journalists as unsure of what to say. “Now I speak to the media and to everyone,” she said. “Why? Because it is the state that dragged the Baloch onto the streets and forced them to speak. Now the state wonders why the Baloch raise their voices.”

She admitted support had been limited. “Human rights activists speak day and night for Palestine, but not for us. Even the media passes by our sit-in without paying attention. Perhaps they have bought into the state’s narrative.”

Still, she vowed not to end the protest until their demands were met.

Nadia’s voice grew firm. “It is our achievement that the slogans we once chanted on the streets, today, Mahrang chants them in court.”

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