Islamabad: In a fiery speech outside the Islamabad Press Club, prominent Baloch rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch levelled scathing attack against Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and its involvement in controlling the media narrative of Pak-occupied-Balochistan. She said ISI is sending embedded journalists to covertly control the narrative surrounding the ongoing Baloch genocide.
Dr. Baloch, leading a “Long March and Protest against Baloch Genocide,” addressed the media, stating, “You (journalists) are not here on your own. The ISI sends you without uniforms. You have never condemned the bloodshed on our land, and I challenge any media channel to come to Balochistan and witness the truth for yourselves. Our land is stained with blood due to your institutions,” Dr. Baloch declared, directly addressing the Pakistan Army.
Responding to inquiries about the journalists’ role, Dr. Mahrang Baloch claimed that these individuals were ISI agents, admonishing them for their attire. She stated, “The attire you are wearing is your reality. With that uniform, don’t raise the microphone; you have disgraced it.”
ISI News
She further criticized the media’s complicity in perpetuating the Army’s narrative, stating, “We knew who your channel was flattering, who was funding you. You broadcast the Army’s story. It would be easier if you called yourselves ISI News instead of Bol News, but we still respected you.” She asserted that instead of reporting on Baloch genocide, killings, and looting, the channel aimed to end statements with criticism.
Addressing the media’s lack of coverage on Pak-occupied-Balochistan, Dr. Mahrang emphasized that despite the ongoing bloodshed and atrocities, the media had failed to condemn these acts.
In response to accusations against major institutions like the ISI, she challenged journalists to find evidence within their own questions. Dr. Mahrang Baloch expressed disappointment in the failure of responsible journalists to address Baloch genocide, emphasizing that they preferred to conclude statements with criticism against their cause.
Highlighting the colonial treatment of Balochistan, she claimed that the Army had stained the land with blood, yet there had been no condemnation of this bloodshed.
Killing Nawab Bugti
She challenged journalists to investigate the reality on the ground, stating, “You haven’t seen Turbat, Hoshab, Awaran. You need a visa to enter Awaran. This is the Balochistan you haven’t seen, the one you portray through fabricated narratives.” Dr. Mahrang Baloch challenged journalists to condemn the firing on Nawab Bugti by Yahya Khan and their hero Musharraf, urging them to criticize the Army for its actions against innocent people.
Dr. Baloch’s call for accountability extended, urging journalists to “get condemnation from Yahya and your biggest hero Musharraf for firing on an 80-year-old Nawab Bugti.”
She concluded her address with a powerful message of defiance, stating, “The entire Baloch nation stands with us. We will not tolerate even one step of yours on our land. That gun, shooting at innocents, we are against it.” And by declaring the solidarity of the entire Baloch nation against their genocide, asserting that they would not tolerate any intrusion on their land. Dr. Mahrang Baloch firmly stood against the use of force on innocent people and urged journalists to confront the harsh realities of Pak-occupied-Balochistan. The Baloch conflict, a long-running desire for independence, has been marred by human rights abuses committed by Pak Army.
The march began in response to the extrajudicial killing of Balach Mola Bakhsh by the Pak Army, sparking concerns about enforced disappearances and human rights abuses in Pak-occupied-Balochistan. The protests and sit-ins arose from both a demand for justice for Baloch victims and a call for action against the perpetrators within the CTD, which has become a tool for the Army’s raids, abductions, and indiscriminate extrajudicial killings