For years, Balochistan’s insurgency has raged under the banner of “freedom fighting” and human rights. While Pakistan confronts a violent separatist campaign by groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), an ostensibly benign front has also emerged: The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), led by Dr. Mahrang Baloch. The BYC presents itself as a peaceful rights group focusing on missing persons and state abuses. But a closer look reveals a troubling pattern of silence and sympathy for terrorist violence. From “missing persons” who turn out to be suicide bombers to BYC’s ideological ties to insurgency, the so-called “human rights” narrative warrants critical scrutiny. BYC’s agenda may be less about justice and more about providing cover for militant separatism.
Baloch insurgents have long masqueraded as victims, disappearing into the mountains only to reappear as bombers. Consider several cases often cited by human rights lobbies:
Tayyab Baloch, alias Ilyas Lala, was reported “missing” in April 2024. Four months later, he was identified among the suicide attackers who struck an FC camp in Bela. The BLA even filed an FIR claiming he was abducted, only to be exposed when his role in the bombing was confirmed. His co-attacker was Mahal Baloch, a young woman from Gwadar, who had earlier been arrested in 2023 with a suicide vest. Activists called her innocent. A year later, she drove a bomb-laden car into a security post.
Karim Jan, listed missing since May 2022, was killed during a suicide attack on the Gwadar Port Authority in March 2024. He had joined the BLA’s Majeed Brigade, infamous for suicide missions, after going “missing.” The same goes for Abdul Wadood Satakzai, who reappeared during an assault in Mach in early 2024 and was neutralized by security forces. Both had been hailed as “disappeared” by protestors led by BYC.
Similarly, Imtiaz Ahmed, supposedly disappeared, died during a shootout with law enforcement. Authorities confirmed he was part of a banned separatist group. His name, too, was paraded on activist placards. And then there’s Abdul Ghaffar Langove, Dr. Mahrang Baloch’s father. Far from being a political prisoner, Langove was a known BLA commander who died in intra-militant conflict in 2011. Yet activists call his death a “state killing.” This direct connection between BYC’s leadership and insurgency cannot be overlooked.
These are not anomalies. Pakistani security sources report that a majority of remaining “missing persons” have joined terror outfits. Many of those killed or captured during recent attacks had once been listed by BYC as abducted civilians. The pattern is clear: BLA and similar groups exploit the missing persons’ narrative to hide recruits and malign Pakistan. Every time such a “victim” reemerges as an attacker, it erodes the credibility of those who blindly propagate these claims.
Despite these facts, BYC continues to brand itself a peaceful rights movement. Founded in 2020, the group claims to fight enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. In theory, that’s a noble cause. In reality, the BYC’s activism is selective, politically loaded, and glaringly silent on the BLA’s terrorism. Dr. Mahrang Baloch has never condemned a single attack by Baloch militants. Not even when teachers, miners, or fellow Baloch are killed. This isn’t neutrality, it’s complicity.
Consider the Jaffar Express hijacking in March 2025 by the BLA’s Majeed Brigade. Passengers were held hostage, some executed. Dr. Baloch’s only statement? A demand for the return of the attackers’ bodies. She did not utter a word for the innocent dead. Such one-sided concern exposes her true allegiances. Again, when 23 bus passengers were massacred in Musakhail or when Kalat saw civilian bombings, BYC said nothing. It seems only the deaths attributed to the state matter to them.
This selective outrage is telling. True humanitarians mourn all victims. BYC, however, picks sides. Its failure to denounce Baloch insurgent violence reveals an agenda beyond human rights. It wants to delegitimize Pakistan’s institutions, and in doing so, provides ideological cover to terror groups.
Why would an organization claiming to champion peace remain silent on such atrocities? The answer lies in BYC’s leadership. Dr. Mahrang’s own family legacy ties her to the insurgency. Rather than reject her father’s militant past, she has celebrated it, visiting his grave draped in a BLA flag. That’s not an act of neutrality. That’s allegiance.
BYC is no grassroots movement. It’s a foreign-backed pressure group masking as a civil rights body. From the Chief Minister of Balochistan to the DG ISPR, officials have labeled BYC a propaganda proxy for militants. Following recent attacks, Dr. Baloch has directly been called “a terrorist proxy,” highlighting that her protests rarely gather more than a few dozen participants, far from the mass support she claims to represent.
The BYC’s record reinforces these concerns. In 2023, the group organized a “Long March” to Islamabad. Among the participants? Families of known insurgents like Karim Jan and Abdul Wadood, killed in action while executing terror attacks. BYC paraded these families as victims of state oppression, concealing their real affiliations. Whether wittingly or not, this blurs the line between activism and advocacy for insurgency.
Allegations also exist that BYC-linked activists have recruited students for Baloch insurgent outfits, turning educational platforms into recruitment grounds for terror. If true, this isn’t rights work. It’s radicalization under humanitarian camouflage.
To be clear, Balochistan does have legitimate grievances. Pakistan’s Commission on Enforced Disappearances continues to investigate cases, and the state has repeatedly extended offers of reconciliation to misguided youth. But rights activism must be principled and nonviolent. When an organization ignores terror and glorifies its perpetrators, it forfeits all credibility.
From a national security standpoint, BYC’s actions weaken counter-terrorism by framing Pakistan as the aggressor and terrorists as victims. Their rallies never commemorate Baloch civilians killed by the BLA. Their silence after attacks is deafening. Their protests over “missing persons” seem hollow when so many turn up as bombers.
It’s time to expose the BYC for what it is: not a peace movement, but a soft-power wing of a separatist network. Pakistan must continue to investigate, counter, and delegitimize such groups. The people of Balochistan deserve real advocates, those who want prosperity and peace, not masked mouthpieces for militants.
Dr. Mahrang and BYC have a choice: denounce terrorism in word and deed, or be seen as accomplices to it. Until they do, Pakistan, and the world, must question their legitimacy. True peace will only come through development, dialogue, and justice, not through lies wrapped in activist slogans.
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