The southwestern region of Pakistan has recently captured significant attention in both local and international media, primarily due to the pressing issue of Missing Persons. This longstanding issue was dramatically highlighted by Mahrang Baloch, a determined Baloch woman who led a caravan from Turbat, Balochistan to Islamabad during the cold winter nights of December 2023. Mahrang’s mission was to seek justice for the countless missing Balochs, representing numerous families who staged a sit-in at the National Press Club in Islamabad.
The sit-in camp became a poignant tableau, filled with pictures of young boys, men in their prime, and even some elderly individuals. The grieving families shared their heart-wrenching stories: sisters waiting for brothers, mothers searching for sons, wives uncertain if they were married or widowed, and daughters who had never seen their fathers. These vulnerable women, driven by desperation, looked to Mahrang as their beacon of hope, believing in her promise to elicit answers from the authorities capable of locating their missing loved ones.
As citizens of Pakistan, they invoked their constitutional right to demand assistance from the state. The camp garnered attention from state officials, media, and human rights organizations, intensifying the urgency to uncover the whereabouts of these missing persons. Consequently, a broad array of stakeholders initiated a concerted search for these individuals as the claims and concerns about the missing continued to grow.
While Mahrang Baloch has gained significant attention for her activism, several contradictions and troubling incidents reveal a potential propaganda campaign under the guise of seeking justice for missing persons. In January 2024, following Pakistan’s airstrikes on terrorist camps in Iran targeting Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) hideouts, Mahrang inadvertently admitted during a press conference that families of those killed in the airstrikes- BLF terrorists—were present at her Islamabad protest. This slip of the tongue casted doubts on the legitimacy of her protest and raised concerns about the true nature of the individuals she represents.
Further complicating her narrative, a young woman at the same protest claimed her brother, Abdul Wadood Satakzai, was forcibly disappeared by the state. However, just days later, the proscribed terrorist organization Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) identified him as a suicide bomber involved in a terrorist attack in Mach city, Bolan district. This contradiction between her claims and the reality of her brother’s actions evidently pointed to a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts, potentially undermining the credibility of her entire movement.
After the Mach city clearance by security forces, Mahrang, along with members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), caused a commotion at District Hospital Bolan, where dead bodies of terrorists who blew themselves were kept. The members of BYC demanded the bodies of the suicide bombers be handed over to families without undergoing medico-legal examinations, bypassing standard procedures and obstructing justice. In a similar vein, Mahrang staged an incident with Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Pari Gul Tareen, insisting that the bodies of BLA suicide bombers be released to their families without the required undertakings. These actions not only demonstrate a disregard for legal processes but also raise suspicions about her alignment with anti-state elements.
When the bodies of the suicide bombers were finally handed over, members of BYC, under Mahrang’s leadership, chanted slogans in favor of BLA and voiced anti-state sentiments. This behavior starkly contrasts with the image of a humanitarian seeking justice for the missing and suggests a more sinister agenda. Mahrang’s actions and the discrepancies in her statements expose a potential propaganda campaign, calling into question her true intentions and the nature of her campaign. By scrutinizing these contradictions, one might see Mahrang Baloch not as a pure advocate for the missing but as a figure whose activities could potentially abet anti-state elements under the guise of seeking justice.
In conclusion, the actions and contradictions surrounding Mahrang Baloch and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) suggest a deliberate propaganda campaign masked as a fight for justice for missing persons. Mahrang’s inadvertent admissions, the exposure of terrorist affiliations among supposed missing individuals, and the manipulation of legal processes all point to a broader agenda that undermines their stated cause. Additionally, Mahrang’s tendency to overplay the narrative of missing persons further distorts the reality, creating a heightened sense of urgency and victimization that may not fully align with the facts. These incidents reveal a pattern of misrepresentation and alignment with anti-state elements, casting doubt on the legitimacy of their protests.
While the plight of the missing persons is a serious and pressing issue, the actions of Mahrang and the BYC highlight the need for a critical examination of such movements to separate genuine advocacy from politically motivated propaganda. As more such cases come to light, it becomes crucial to address the underlying issues with transparency and integrity, ensuring that the real victims and their families receive the justice they deserve.
