The recent accounts emerging from Mastung and other protest sites in Balochistan are nothing short of chilling. Behind every large gathering or dramatic sit-in, there are stories that never make it to the headlines of children threatened, families blackmailed, and communities silenced into compliance.
This isn’t peaceful protest. It’s psychological warfare.
Militant outfits like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have long mastered the art of turning fear into a recruitment tool. Those who refuse to show up at a dharna are warned: “We know where your daughter goes to school.” Others are promised small stipends to survive another day in poverty provided they chant the “right” slogans.
This orchestrated drama is then picked up by antistate media to paint a picture of mass unrest when in reality, it’s mass coercion.
The state must not only expose these tactics but also protect those who have been victimized by them. Pakistan must draw a hard line: the right to protest is sacred but not when it is forced through fear.
We owe it to Balochistan to reveal this ugly truth. Because only when we protect the powerless from the powerful can we say we stand for justice.
