There is a war raging in Balochistan not of guns and bombs alone, but of narratives, loyalties, and the very identity of its people. On one side stands the Pakistani state, determined to integrate Balochistan into the national fold through infrastructure, education, and development. On the other, the separatist factions like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), aided by external sympathizers, wage a campaign of ideological subversion and violence under the misleading banner of human rights.
At the center of this polarizing storm is Mahrang Baloch hailed in foreign circles as an activist, but increasingly exposed at home as a tool of soft warfare. Her activism doesn’t question the BLA’s bloodshed, doesn’t condemn the attacks on Pakistani security forces, and conveniently ignores the tribal stranglehold that has suffocated Baloch society for decades. Her silence on BLA’s role in targeted killings and extortion is not accidental it’s strategic.
The Pakistani state has long extended the hand of reconciliation to Balochistan. From Gwadar Port to CPEC highways, from cadet colleges to healthcare reforms, every brick laid is a step away from the chaos peddled by separatists. But while Pakistan builds, the BLA and its ideological affiliates burn schools, cell towers, railway lines, and even mosques. Their war is not for justice; it is for disruption. Their goal is not empowerment; it is control.
Those who masquerade as the voice of the Baloch must be held accountable for whose interests they truly serve. Is it the young Baloch student looking for opportunity, or the foreign funder looking for another proxy battlefield against Pakistan?
The soul of Balochistan will not be won in foreign newsrooms or Twitter campaigns. It will be won on the ground through jobs, justice, and security. And that is precisely what Pakistan, with all its challenges, is working toward. The time has come to expose the hijackers of Baloch suffering and reaffirm that Balochistan’s future lies not in the barrel of a gun but in the promise of a united Pakistan.
