According to reports, the Pakistan military and its secret services are alleged of supporting fake and fabricated NGOs to counter the growing “pro-independence” movement in Balochistan. Millions of rupees are funded to different online NGOs to propagate the state narrative in Balochistan and to hide the ground realities by putting a fake and peaceful image of Balochistan into the media and campaigning against all those who speak about the actual situation and the deteriorating conditions of the native people facing the injustice and discrimination on daily basis. Secret documents revealed the military’s huge funding of such unregistered propaganda groups.
These reports come to the surface when a Baloch journalist discovered some secret official documents. According to the exposed documentation, at the request of the Corps Commander Balochistan, the government of Balochistan has aided an amount of 37 million to fake NGOs and online propaganda groups. These groups are assigned to counter the narrative of Baloch insurgents among the youth. Whereas, journalists, social media activists, and political workers highlighting human rights violations in the region are often targeted or threatened by these people. As per the documents, the Provincial Ministers and Senators are also involved in providing and taking sums of money to support such groups for their operational activities.
Voice of Balochistan, an unregistered NGO, operating in Balochistan to promote state narrative among Baloch youth, allegedly received more than 30 million for launching different projects in this regard, according to the aforementioned documentation revealed by journalist Kiyya Baloch.
According to journalist Kiyya Baloch, he had received secret documentation regarding an NGO, namely Voice of Balochistan (VOB), which has been operating in Balochistan and receiving funds from the government of Balochistan without being registered for years. It was launched in 2016 but there’s no evidence of its registration until March of 2021, he added.
Kiyya Baloch said that when he discovered these secrete documents, he contacted many government officials, former bureaucrats, the Personel Secretary of the Chief minister of Balochistan, and the spokesperson for the Balochistan government but no one was willing to speak regarding this issue, and the activities of these NGOs.
The NGOs running such campaigns and propagating the fabricated state narrative are Voice of Balochistan, Balochistan Stars, Balochistan TV, and many more. Kiya Baloch quoting the secret documents said that these groups have also created numerous fake Twitter handlers who are continuously targeting those human rights activists, journalists, and students who are highlighting the reporting or revealing the ground realities in Balochistan. Instead, these fake Social Media activists and NGOs are depicting a positive image of Balochistan so they could counter the argument that there is an insurgency underway in Balochistan while hiding the atrocities committed by the security forces.
According to the Baloch journalist, the Voice of Balochistan (VOB) was launched by Senator Anwar Ul Haq Kakar back in 2016 but he told Kiyya Baloch in July that he had separated himself from the activities of the VOB since 2018. According to Kakar, the basic aim of the project was to mainstream the youth of Balochistan and separate them from the Baloch insurgency.
The journalist accused them of giving awards to each other for their propaganda and the money for the awards was being provided by the government of Balochistan. These people campaign against everyone who does not promote a picture of the army-defined Balochistan and neutrally speak of issues the Baloch people are facing on their land.
The exiled journalist from Balochistan said that he had received credible information of one of the employers of VOB being involved in the Balochistan University scandal — where the females of the university were harassed and blackmailed by a group in the university, comprising teachers, professors, and other officials. But the news has not been published, as he was working for more information in this regard, Kiya Baloch said.