Detained rights activist and chief organiser of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) Dr Mahrang Baloch has said recent allegations against her, her colleagues and the BYC are part of an organised attempt to discredit peaceful political struggle in Balochistan.
In a statement issued from Huda Jail in Quetta on 3 June 2026, Dr Baloch said the allegations levelled by certain state representatives and some members of the Balochistan Assembly were “baseless” and aimed at creating an environment in which political dissent is treated as a crime.
She said demands for human rights in Balochistan were being portrayed as hostility towards the state, while those raising their voices against enforced disappearances and other abuses were being subjected to harassment, propaganda and character assassination.
Dr Baloch said the BYC was a public, non-violent and peaceful platform that had struggled for the basic rights, justice and human dignity of the Baloch people since its establishment.
“Our demands are clear: enforced disappearances must end, extrajudicial arrests must stop, freedom of expression must be ensured, the right of the Baloch people over Balochistan’s resources must be recognised, and the people of Balochistan must be given their constitutional and historical rights,” she said.
She said that instead of addressing these demands, state actors were attempting to damage the credibility of BYC leaders and workers through false allegations.
According to Dr Baloch, central leaders of the BYC, including Dr Sabiha Baloch, Sammi Deen Baloch, Lala Wahab and other workers, had continued their organisational responsibilities under difficult circumstances over the past year.
She said the BYC was responsibly documenting and reporting ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan.
‘Propaganda After Security Failures’
Dr Baloch said a new narrative was built against the BYC after every action by armed organisations in Balochistan, adding that state institutions used such moments to shift attention from their own failures.
She alleged that after security incidents, state institutions prepared “a new false propaganda campaign” against the BYC and then used public resources to spread it through print and social media.
“We ask: can you erase from the hearts of the Baloch nation the stories of state oppression preserved there through this propaganda?” she said. “Can you erase the existence of a son from the heart of a Baloch mother by forcing press conferences?”
Dr Baloch said crushing a public movement through force had sent a message to the people of Balochistan that there was no space for peaceful struggle in the state.
She said it was deeply concerning that Baloch political activists and human rights defenders were being continuously harassed despite what she described as the absence of credible evidence for the allegations against them.
Dr Baloch said state oppression in Balochistan had become “the biggest catalyst” for the struggle over Baloch national identity, adding that the movement had reached its present stage because of “the sincerity, sacrifice and immense love of the Baloch nation for its homeland.”
She said the public gatherings of the BYC, including “Baloch Raaji Muchi,” reflected what she called the “collective national consciousness” of the Baloch people.
“We will never allow the sacrifices of our martyrs and the long journey of our dignified nation to go to waste,” she said.
Dr Baloch said the Baloch people continued to support the political position of the BYC, which was why the state repeatedly attempted to create new propaganda campaigns and narratives against the organisation.
She said such tactics would not suppress the peaceful struggle of the Baloch people, nor would Baloch intellectuals and political activists retreat from their demand for basic rights.
Dr Baloch appealed to human rights organisations, journalists and what she called justice-loving circles to examine the facts behind the narrative being built against the BYC and independently assess the situation in Balochistan.
“We will not accept any attempt to discredit Baloch political activists, human rights workers and the peaceful struggle of the BYC through false allegations and propaganda,” she said.
In her concluding remarks, Dr Baloch said history had shown that whenever attempts were made to suppress “the pen, knowledge and peaceful political struggle,” truth and resistance grew stronger.
“I once again make it clear that these allegations cannot stop us, because our national resistance has become the purpose of our lives, and our struggle for the rights and human dignity of the Baloch people will continue,” she said.
Pakistani authorities have not issued an immediate public response to Dr Baloch’s statement.