The Balochistan movement faces severe state repression, risking further alienation and conflict.

Recently, a large number of Baloch people gathered near Gwadar port city for the Baloch Raji Machi (Baloch National Gathering) organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), meaning the Baloch Unity Committee. The BYC, an ethno-nationalistic movement, campaigns against unlawful enforced disappearances, human rights violations, and extrajudicial killings by Pakistani security forces in Balochistan.

In an attempt to disrupt this mass gathering, Pakistani authorities employed various hard-liner tactics. Major highways in Balochistan were blocked by the military using containers, heavy stones, and large trucks to prevent people from joining the Gwadar gathering. Transporters and passenger bus operators were threatened and ordered not to transport attendees. Protesters and activists traveling to Gwadar from different parts of Pakistan, including within Balochistan, faced violence, arrests, and threats of arrest.

To gain more insight, I spoke with Riaz Baloch, a human rights and political activist from Balochistan currently living in exile. He mentioned that the BYC has significant support on the ground, with thousands of Baloch people attending the meeting despite facing security forces’ brutality, especially in Mustang and Kund Malir. He also noted that sit-in protests continue in many places. According to Riaz, Mahrang Baloch has emerged as the most popular leader of the Baloch civil movement, with the oppressed and discriminated people of Balochistan seeing her campaign as their last ray of hope.

Late last year, the BYC led a 1,600-kilometer march from Turbat, Balochistan, to Islamabad with families awaiting the return of their loved ones, who had most likely been picked up by Pakistani security forces. Protesters faced severe police action as they tried to enter the Pakistani capital. It should be noted that the BYC is entirely a social and civil organization, using only democratic measures to pursue their just demands. Despite this, they are subjected to brutal state violence.

Ironically, despite this major upheaval in the largest province of the country, there is virtually no coverage in mainstream Pakistani media. This strategy mirrors the approach taken by Pakistan in 1970 to crush the Bengali nationalist movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League. We are all aware of the outcome of mishandling the Bengali movement five decades ago—it led to the creation of Bangladesh. Yet, it seems the government of Pakistan has learned nothing from the past, as they once again resort to strong-arm tactics to curb a peaceful popular civil movement.

As violence escalates in the province due to a new wave of insurgency aiming solely for freedom, the Pakistani military establishment is trying to deal with it with a heavy hand. The authorities launched a campaign of forced disappearances a decade ago, targeting anyone even remotely connected to the Baloch nationalist movement.

This has led to the disappearance of numerous activists, students, suspected militants, protest leaders, and intellectuals. Amnesty International has described this campaign as a “kill and dump” policy. Pakistan’s notorious intelligence agency ISI, military intelligence, and the Frontier Corps (a federal paramilitary force) are conducting this campaign, using the “kill and dump” policy as an instrument of state terror to break the morale of the Baloch people.

Despite the Pakistan army’s terror campaign, the struggle has spread deeper into Baloch society than ever before. Anti-Pakistan sentiments have gripped the entire province. The current civil movement led by the BYC distinguishes itself through its peaceful approach and the prominent role of women and the middle class. Last year’s long march, a peaceful, women-led journey from Turbat to Islamabad, holds great significance in Balochistan’s political landscape. It distanced itself from conventional acts of rebellion and showcased remarkable resilience in the face of state-sponsored brutality.

Pakistani military leaders seem clueless about how to tackle this civil movement, relying solely on their core competency of crushing any voice of discontent through force. The harsh state response to the ongoing Baloch protests will only alienate people further and deepen the existing crisis.

It is the state’s repressive response that has radicalized many elements of the Baloch nationalist movement. The conflict now highlights the absurdity of repression, reinforcing the very threat it intends to eliminate. Pakistan’s political and military leadership must understand that there is no military solution to the Baloch issue. Military responses have been attempted several times—in 1958, 1973, and 2006—only to slow down the insurgency temporarily without assuring it won’t resurface with greater intensity.

Balochistan requires a political solution with a multidimensional approach. There is an immediate need to establish confidence and mutual trust among the Baloch people to resolve issues of insecurity, antagonism, and anger. Failure to adopt a prudent approach to the Balochistan reconciliation process in a fair and just manner will only alienate the Baloch people from the Pakistani state, leading more and more to see armed struggle as their only option.