What is driving the largest women-led rights movement in Balochistan’s recent history? | Abdullah Zahid

On the annual International Day of the Disappeared, 30 August, a look at how the Baloch community in Pakistan is being pushed to the wall but also ignored by the state. Their marches, sit-ins, and demonstrations do get some attention, but little seems to change.

By Abdullah Zahid / Sapan News

The International Day of the Disappeared, observed on 30 August annually, holds particular relevance to Pakistan’s Khyber PakhtunKhwa and Balochistan provinces, plagued by enforced disappearances and target killings. Activists here have long been agitating against these abuses, alleging state and military complicity.

A 2024 report by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has documented 10,088 enforced disappearances since 2011. Of these, 4,413 were resolved, while security agencies enforced only 7% of the 744 ‘Production Orders – a legal mechanism to produce detainees in court.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 3,485 have gone “missing†since 2011, of which 1,336 cases were still pending by year-end. Balochistan had the second-highest number of such cases, 2,752, with 1,990 resolved and 468 pending by the end of 2023.

The activist organisation Voice of Baloch Missing Persons says that the government figures are grossly under-reported, and that there are about 8,000 cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

Analysts hold that systematic state repression and denial of rights fuels insurgencies as well as giving cover to armed militant groups formed in the name of religion. The recent murder of several migrant workers in the Musa Khel area of Balochistan, is a case in point.

Women-led

With so many men being disappeared or threatened, Baloch women have stepped up to take an active role in this campaign, also addressing land occupation and resource deprivation. Their women-led Baloch Yakjehti, or Solidarity, Committee is known as the BYC.

Co-convener of the BYC, Sammi Deen Baloch, 26, began her activism after her father was taken away from their Khuzdar home in 2009. He has been ‘missing’ since. She told Sapan News that she feared that this grassroots movement led by unaffiliated Baloch women would fade into oblivion. However, it gained momentum with support from political workers, human rights advocates, activists, and students.

However, this is the first time that women and young girls from Balochistan have come out like this, Farhatullah Babar told Sapan News.

The sit-in ended under hostile conditions, with no government negotiations, mainstream parties silent, and growing pressure from various quarters.

“We have lost faith in elections because every government has used our issue as a political bargaining chip,†lamented Sammi Baloch, speaking to Sapan News earlier this year from Quetta. “Once in power, they get caught up in safeguarding their so-called seats and positions and forget about us.â€

At the end of July this year, the BYC convened a one-day demonstration at the port city of Gwadar, for which convoys of protestors converged from all over the province.

Though the women-led movement is up against Balochistan’s traditionally conservative norms, “we were welcomed with flowers and cheers at every stop,†she added.

However, the state responded with teargas and police action. At least three persons were killed, and several injured ahead of the Gwadar sit-in. This led to the protest extending to ten days.

The BYC alleged that the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force responsible for security in the region, was behind the deaths. The provincial government denies any involvement.

The Sindh administration cracked down on a rally in Karachi in support of the Gwadar demonstration, with several protesters including prominent academic Dr. Nida Kirmani being detained. Police charged 35 male protestors with terrorism, citing a violation of Section 144. This is a legal provision which bans public gathering. However, a demonstration by religious groups nearby was allowed to continue freely, exposing the stark disparity in state treatment.

“This is clear discrimination and goes against all principles of democracy. We cannot say this is a democratic state when an entire population is being suppressed and prevented from exercising their constitutional rights,†Dr. Kirmani told Sapan News.

Ongoing protests

Such demonstrations are not new. The extended ‘long march’ ten years ago, in 2013, went on for at least a year. The activist Sabeen Mahmud will forever be associated with this, as she was killed in 2015 after hosting a discussion on the issue at The Second Floor cafe-gallery in Karachi that she had founded.

However, this is the first time that women and young girls from Balochistan have come out like this, observed former senator Farhatullah Babar, talking to Sapan News from Islamabad.

Last November, the BYC undertook a ‘long march’ to Islamabad from Turbat city in southern Balochistan to protest the death in custody of a Baloch youth. The Counter Terrorism Department claimed he had been killed in an ‘encounter’. Hundreds traversed the over 1,600 km to Islamabad on foot and by bus.

In Islamabad the protestors endured a long night battling tear gas, batons, and water cannons before being roughed up by riot police.

Despite a court order, authorities unlawfully sought to ‘deport’ the marchers to Quetta. Local activists thwarted this move, and supported the Baloch protestors’ month-long sit-in at the National Press Club, Islamabad.

Then-Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar accused protesters of ties to militant separatist groups. He suggested that the protestors take up arms in defence.

Encouraging such vigilante action breeds civil anarchy and unchecked abuse of power, warns Mr Babar. The state inadvertently sabotages its own credibility and becomes “handicapped†.

https://x.com/waqasaalam/status/1819336796771438770?s=46
Prominent academic and activist Nida Kirmani speaks to the media as she is taken away in a prison van.

Disparity

Analysts point to the institutional and state coddling of militant groups, even allowing some to operate as political parties.

Mr. Babar explains militant groups “have historically received state support due to their ability to project power beyond borders when the state itself cannot do so overtly, for fear of provoking conflict.â€

“This support serves the interests of the security apparatus in both security and foreign policy realms,†he added.

Giving examples, Mr. Babar said groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, involved in the 2008 Mumbai bombings, are scot free, while the UN-blacklisted Maulana Masood Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed was “sheltered by authorities who falsely claimed he was missing.â€

Despite the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s trail of chaos and violent protests that have cost the exchequer over USD 125 million, they enjoyed a mere slap on the wrist - a brief ban lifted under a clandestine deal allowing them to contest polls in 2024.

Pakistan has seen enforced disappearances even before the ‘9/11’ attacks in America, on 11 September 2001. Such disappearances spiked later due to intensified security measures and U.S. collaboration in the ’war on terror,’ targeting suspected militants.

The late President Pervez Musharraf admitted in his 2008 memoir ‘In the Line of Fire’ that Pakistan handed over many alleged ‘terrorists’ to the CIA in return for millions of dollars.

‘Real’ democracy

Such disappearances were initially limited to border regions but during ex-premier Imran Khan’s tenure, expanded to journalists, activists, poets, and political figures in other urban centres.

Once out of power, Khan washed his hands of this matter, blaming disappearances during his administration on “the establishment.â€

Many fear that the Balochistan situation could lead to a 1971-like crisis that split the country due to centralised power, military operations against civilians, and foreign overreach. Why, then, have these lessons not been learned?

Nida Kirmani attributes this failure to Pakistan’s lack of a ‘real’ democracy where those in power must listen to the will of the people. “In Balochistan, the state behaves like a dictator, and dictators are generally taken down only by revolutions.â€

Dr. Kirmani argues the state has long treated Balochistan as a ‘colony,’ extracting its resources without equitable benefit or representation. It needs to change its political and economic relationship with Balochistan or “the situation will only worsen for them, since for the Baloch it could hardly get any worse.â€

In a 2018 Senate Human Rights Committee meeting, the commission’s head, Justice retd Javed Iqbal, cited the low compliance of production orders as missing persons’ reluctance to get the kidnappers uncovered, fearing reprisals.

When pressed further, Iqbal disclosed that 153 military personnel were implicated, according to Babar, who attended the off-the-record meeting.

The consistent activism is receiving international recognition. In June, Sammi Baloch received the Asia Pacific Human Rights Award in Dublin for her courageous advocacy.

This epitomises “true democracy,†she told Sapan News afterwards, “where your cause gets acknowledged, you get shelter, and you have the freedom to speak your mind.â€

But her gratitude is tempered with a sharp critique of Pakistan’s claims as a democratic Islamic state. “In Pakistan, when you share or tell people about your pain and suffering, you are silenced, denounced, and labelled as a terrorist,†she said, reflecting the harsh realities many like her face back home.

In a recent move, the government announced a support package of Rs 5 million or nearly USD 18,000 per family, as legal and financial support for loved ones missing for five years or more. While this may provide some relief, particularly to those economically marginalised, what the families really want is their loved ones’ safe return.

Way forward

Advocates like Mr. Babar argue that the path to justice involves more than just financial assistance. He points to the Supreme Court’s December 10, 2013 ruling, which called for the return of all undeclared internees from Malakand internment centre and take legal action against those involved in their disappearances.

"If the 2017 Faizabad sit-in case verdict can be upheld," Mr. Babar argued, "why not act on the 2013 SC order to take the conversation forward?"

He also stressed following the Islamabad High Court’s directives from the 2020 Maira Sajid case. These include fining officials found responsible and ensuring consistent financial support for victims’ families, with equitable compensation for spouses left behind.

Pakistan’s inaction on domestic legislation has drawn international scrutiny, with the UN urging the country to ratify the Convention on Enforced Disappearance – a step only taken by its neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal so far.

During a preliminary meeting in May 2024, participants highlighted the need for regional cooperation, strengthened National Human Rights Institutions (NHIs), support for victims’ families, and accountability measures against states that engage in or tolerate such abuses.

Many in ‘mainland’ Pakistan are calling for political parties and institutions to acknowledge their flawed policies and begin a dialogue, a stance long advocated by independent groups like Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

There is solidarity for the Baloch activists in Karachi also, where a rally against enforced disappearances is planned on 30 August, starting at Teen Talwar at 3 pm and ending at the Karachi Press Club.

Senior journalist Imtiaz Alam in Lahore has urged democratic and nationalist forces to convene an All Parties Conference, bringing together groups like Baloch Yakjehti Committee.

His vision: A united front that demands an immediate ceasefire, release or fair trials for missing persons, an end to all atrocities, and a lasting political solution recognising the Baloch people’s rights to shape their future.

Meanwhile, many see the upcoming World Congress on Enforced Disappearance scheduled for January 14-16, 2025 as an opportunity for global collective action on a universal issue.

(Author: Sapan News intern Abdullah Zahid is a communications student at the University of Karachi, passionate about covering peace, human rights, and politics. On X @AbdullahZahid)

This is a Sapan News syndicated feature