24/06/2026
Last year, I wrote for Himal Southasian about the crackdown on Baloch women. At the time, I argued that Baloch women were no longer merely bearing the consequences of conflict and repression, they were increasingly at the forefront of challenging it.
Over the past few years, a new generation of women activists has transformed the political landscape of Balochistan. They have marched against enforced disappearances, documented human rights violations, stood with families searching for missing loved ones, and challenged a system that has long rendered their pain invisible. In doing so, they have become equal stakeholders in the Baloch struggle, refusing to remain silent in the face of injustice.
Among the most prominent of these voices is Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a medical doctor turned human rights defender whose activism has focused on enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and the rights of communities living under decades of conflict and militarization. Through protests, advocacy and campaigns, she became a symbol of a new generation of Baloch women who refused to accept fear as the price of survival.
Now, an Anti-Terrorism Court in Quetta has reportedly sentenced Dr. Mahrang Baloch to life imprisonment in a case linked to the death of an FC official during a gathering in Gwadar.
For many, this verdict reaches far beyond one individual. It will be read as a warning to every woman who dares to question power, demand answers for the disappeared, speak about state violence, or organize against injustice. Yet the story of Baloch women has never been one of silence. From mothers searching for disappeared sons to young women leading marches across cities, their struggle has persisted despite intimidation, arrests, surveillance, and threats. Whether one agrees with their politics or not, their emergence has fundamentally reshaped the conversation on rights and justice in Balochistan.
Read my full story.
https://www.himalmag.com/politics/balochistan-women-mahrang-baloch-arrest
Women are leading protests against disappearances and demanding equal participation in the Baloch struggle, but Mahrang Baloch and others face repression by the Pakistan government amid an intensified crackdown in Balochistan
