“March Beyond Silence” from Turbat to Islamabad: Baloch Women Taking Islamabad by Storm

Highlights

• The protest gained momentum after the death of 24-year-old tailor, Balaach Mola Bakhsh, allegedly killed by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on 23 November in Balochistan.
• Starting from Turbat on 6 December, the women-led protest reached the capital city of Islamabad on 20 December 2024.
• As per the reports of the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), in December 2023 alone, there were 52 cases of enforced disappearances.
• According to the data provided by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) established in Pakistan in 2011, till August 2023, there are about 9967 cases of enforced disappearances and Balochistan accounts for about 2708 of them.
• The authorities in Pakistan did everything to stop the march. When the marchers reached Islamabad and rolled out their demands, the caretaker government led by a Baloch was harsh on them.
• When the women staged a sit-in in Islamabad, the BYC organised protests in various towns of Balochistan.
• On 25 January 2024, the participants of the long march, led by Dr Mahrang Baloch, arrived in Quetta to a rousing welcome by the Baloch people. The day has been declared Baloch Genocide Day and a symbol to this effect has been launched as well.
• The Baloch resistance is likely to grow as Pakistan has chosen to nourish it with its oppressive policies-- the best fertilizer that the Baloch movement can get.

Balochistan has long been marred by separatist violence. State repression is raging on in this geopolitically strategic province as it once again deals with difficult times marked by political turmoil and widespread terror as thousands have disappeared or were shot over the past 20 years, hundreds of abandoned bodies are being found in the streets of this impoverished province. With that, women, who were separated from their husbands, brothers and sons have taken to the streets with unwavering determination, marching 1,600 kilometers from the southern Kech district near the Iranian border to Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.¹ The march named “March beyond Silence” was organised by Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a non-profit organization led by Dr. Ms Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch leaders.

It has been a long time since women are living in distress due to constant uncertainty surrounding the disappearance of their family members. With mothers being unsure of whether their sons are missing or got deceased in extrajudicial killings, to wives being clueless about their husbands, this absence of clarity has taken a heavy emotional toll on the community.

The protest gained momentum after the death of 24-year-old tailor, Balaach Mola Bakhsh, who was allegedly killed by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on 23 November in the impoverished region of Balochistan. The incident has contributed to the ongoing protests against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.² Baksh’s body was found in a militant camp that the CTD raided.

Starting from Turbat on 6 December, the women-led protest made its way through Khuzdar, the provincial capital of Quetta, and Dera Ghazi KhanThe marchers made a stop in Taunsa before reaching the capital city of Islamabad on 20 December 2024, via Dera Ismail Khan and camped in the capital for almost a month. Protesters alleged as per media reports that the district administration and other officials tried to stop them from heading to Taunsa. Some even claimed that state officials refused them access to transportation, and arrested several of their activists. In various regions of Balochistan, cases have been filed against the marchers. With video footages circulating all over social media during the march, it was seen that Pakistan police was detaining protesters and using tear gas and violence against them. Mahrang Baloch, a doctor, whose father was forcefully abducted, is currently leading the protest. Baloch took to social media to share the harsh treatment they are facing as they demanded justice and accountability. There seems no end to the tragic series of events as even the children of those who had been missing for over a decade have started to disappear as well.³

Although the Baloch people have staged several anti-Pakistan protests for over a decade, this one stands out as women are leading the protest this time around. Their long march has received unprecedented attention and support, as people from across provinces joined in the march. Women were forced to take the lead because the men protesting for their missing relatives had faced harassment in the past and many of them went missing also.

For the past two decades, Balochistan has been in the grip of a violent insurgency, leaving a long trail of forced disappearance in its wake. The situation appears disturbing as the state is focused on exploiting this mineral rich province of its precious resources while ignoring people’s well-being. Many have accused the country's security agencies of abducting the civilians, but elected governments in Islamabad and Quetta have responded rather harshly that the security forces only arrest ‘terrorists’ and those supporting them are anti-national. For years, different governments have promised to resolve the issue of forced disappearances, but little has been done.

A bill introduced by the government of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to tackle this issue infamously went missing. Imran Khan's government introduced this bill to criminalise enforced disappearances in Pakistan's parliament in June 2021, but it never came into effect. The bill was passed by the National Assembly but not by the Senate. However, the proposed bill has gone missing, according to Shireen Mazari, the former minister for human rights in Imran’s cabinet.

Pakistan has a long history of allegations regarding the abduction of Baloch people, particularly in Balochistan. Their security forces are apparently abducting people to crush the insurgency in Balochistan, which has been going on since the 1970s, demanding complete independence but with the primary goal of retaining total control over the province's rich natural resources. The practice of enforced disappearances has been used as a weapon to instill terror while maintaining control over the Baloch community, with the state typically denying involvement in such cases. Surprisingly enough, Pakistan’s population themselves are not much aware of the prevailing situation because of the media blackout, as Pakistan is constantly silencing voices so as to maintain the status quo. Even the recent women’s march was not given as much coverage in Pakistani media as in international media.

As per the reports of the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), a non-profit and non-partisan human rights group based in Balochistan and Sweden, in December 2023 alone, there were 52 cases of enforced disappearance in Balochistan. The report provided by HRCB said that most victims, including seven students, were disappeared during raids by the Frontier Corps (FC) and most of the enforced disappearances were from Dera Bugti (18 cases) and Kech. It said: “Despite protests on daily basis by the families of victims to seek accountability and information about their missing loved ones, their voices haven’t been successful in changing the behavior of the armed forces due to the media blackout and censorship in the region”. According to Baloch sources reported in the media between 2009 and 2022 about there were about 5000 cases of disappearance from Balochistan alone. According to the data provided by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) established in Pakistan in 2011, till August 2023, there are about 9967 cases of enforced disappearances (which only considers cases reported to it) and Balochistan accounts for about 2708 of them. All in all, as the cases of disappearances continue to rise in Balochistan, there is a hardening of sentiments among the Baloch people which is likely to intensify as the state agencies continue to trample on the legitimate aspirations of the people. The insurgency in Balochistan is likely to gain further legitimacy if this state of affairs is allowed to perpetuate in the name of containing secessionism. As a commentator in Pakistani media says:

….unlike the rural-based, sardar-led and incipient nationalism of past Baloch insurgencies, the present insurgency is urbanised, has mobilised society on a large scale — and, crucially, includes Baloch women — is youth-based, is middle class-led and has developed into a fully developed nationalist movement. A state which tries to counter nationalism through enforced disappearances is interested in suppression, not solutions.

Despite the rudimentary coverage given to Baloch issues in Pakistani media, there are people noticing the third-degree methods (use of water cannons, arbitrary arrests of about 160-170 protestors etc.) the state used to disperse the protestors. In fact, a noted Pakistani writer, Mohammed Hanif, author of the famous book A Case of Exploding Mangoes, returned the award State had given him (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) in protest saying through a post on his X account:

In protest, returning my Sitara e Imtiaz, given to me by a state that continues to abduct and torture Baloch citizens. Journalists of my generation have seen @SammiBaluch and @MahrangBaloch_ grow up in protest camps. Ashamed to witness a new generation being denied basic dignity.

The authorities in Pakistan did everything to stop the march. When the marchers reached Islamabad and rolled out their demands, the caretaker government led by a Baloch was harsh on them. The caretaker Prime Minister, Anwaarul Haq Kakar even called them “advocates of terrorists”, belonging to “family of those fighting against the state” and implied that they did not deserve any sympathy. The daily Dawn wrote editorially that “enforced disappearances and extrajudicial tactics only deepen the schism and perpetuate a cycle of violence and mistrust” The Supreme Court came to their rescue and asked the government not to resort to harsh measures against the Baloch protesters, Yet, the government was predictably callous in its response.

The government’s indifference did not deter the protestors. They have shown remarkable resilience. When the women staged a sit-in in Islamabad, the BYC organised protests in various towns of Balochistan. On 25 January 2024, after a month-long protest sit-in in Islamabad, the participants of the long march, led by Dr Mahrang Baloch, arrived in Quetta to a rousing welcome by Baloch people. BYC declared 25 January as Day of Baloch Genocide and came out with a symbol to this effect.   

The protestors have pledged to continue with a social media campaign against fake encounters of forcibly disappeared persons. The protests are likely to continue even as the state refuses to relent.

There is a comparison today being made between Balochistan and Bangladesh in the current scenario which may not come as a surprise, given the handling of these issues by the Pakistani government in a heavy-handed manner. The Baloch resistance is likely to grow as Pakistan has chosen to nourish it with its oppressive policies-- the best fertilizer that the Baloch movement can get.