
The recent arrest of Nobel Prize-Nominated human rights activist Mahrang Baloch, member of the Baloch Yekjehtee Committee (BYC), by the Pakistani authorities sparked outrage all over Balochistan. The Indian media outlet Firstpost.com defined her as the symbol of “the Baloch movement for freedom, homeland, human rights, and women’s aspirations.”
It is worth noting that the following members of the BYC leadership have been recently arrested: Mahrang Baloch; Beebo Baloch; Sami Deen Baloch, whose father, Dr. Dewn Mohammad Baloch, is a political activist and a doctor who has been in Pakistani custody for the past 14 years; BYC organizer Lala Wahab Baloch; BYC senior representative Sibghatullah Shahji Baloch; and Bebagar Baloch. All are being imprisoned over charges of incitement to violence and murder.
Firstpost.com said that “the arrest of Mahrang Baloch illustrates the frustrations of a weak Pakistani state.” Indeed, speaking at a recent session of the Pakistani National Assembly, Pakistan MP Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman [see WikiLeaks cable below] admitted that Pakistan lost its control in Balochistan, stating that a moment like that of 1971, when East and West Pakistan fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War, which led to the creation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, has arrived again.
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Frontline Defenders: BALOCH WOMAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER DR. MAHRANG BALOCH ARRESTED AND DENIED PROPER TREATMENT IN PRISON
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After two days of the blockade, the Iranian Baloch sent food on speedboats. “The coastguards looked the other way and allowed food to enter Gwadar through the sea,” Behram says. Balochistan is a region divided between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan and families continue to straddle the three countries.
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Media Transparency Profile: Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
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Embedded Journalism, Media Manipulation, CIA Operation Mockingbird, & Apathy
Document: US Proxies in Balochistan
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