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POJK Kashmiris protesting against Pakistan Army, Why?

Nilesh Kunwar
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POJK Kashmiris protesting against Pakistan Army, Why?

It couldn’t have been more ironical. Just days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used the United Nations General Assembly [UNGA] podium to make allegations of “Indian tyranny” in Kashmir, in a barefaced show of brute force, Pakistani forces fired indiscriminately on protesters in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir [PoJK] killing a dozen and seriously injuring several others.

This public agitation across POJK is in response to a shutdown (chakka-jam) call given by the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee [JKJAAC] to protest against the government’s failure to fulfil its grand promises of undertaking structural reforms, providing subsidies and ending the extravagant institutionalized privileges being enjoyed by a select elite section of society that serves as the lackey of the government. That the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) has put across a charter with 38 long-outstanding basic demands gives a fair idea of the abysmal state in which people of PoJK are living and the massive turnout of protesters.

This protest has evoked tremendous public response for two reasons. One, it addresses the very basic and legitimate demands of the marginalised people of PoJK. Two, JKJAAC, which is spearheading this agitation is not a political group but comprises a coalition of grass root level members of society like traders, transporters, lawyers and students-people who genuinely identify with the masses.

The unfortunate part is that the current protests are not the result of some spontaneous incitement but due to unpardonable institutional failure. During May last year, the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) launched protests across PoJK demanding restoration of subsidies for wheat and electricity in which at least three protesters were killed by the Pakistani forces.

Rather than addressing the core issues and eradicating the root causes of public angst, Islamabad, as is its wont, went in for a ‘quick fix’, dishing out Rs 2,300 crore to subsidise flour prices as well as reduce domestic and commercial electricity tariffs. PoJK Premier Chaudhary Anwarul Haq declared that this would be a “permanent arrangement” for which requisite provision would be incorporated in the federal budget for 2024-25.

Though it was a classic case of a naked man offering the people of PoJK his shirt, JKJAAC called off the protests in good faith and probably Islamabad thought that it had surmounted this crisis. What the government didn’t realise is that this was one of the few mass movements in Pakistan that despite being apolitical in nature had the backing of a cross section of local political parties, rights groups and above all, it enjoyed overwhelming public support.

Islamabad projects PoJK residents as a happy and extremely content lot and to support its incredulous claim, it has even named PoJK ‘Azad [free] Jammu and Kashmir’ even though its citizens are denied freedom of expression, which is unquestionably the basic and non-negotiable ingredient of freedom.

With Article 7(3) of PoJK constitution decreeing that “No person or political party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir [PoJK] shall be permitted to propagate against, or take part in activities prejudicial or detrimental to, the ideology of the State’s accession to Pakistan,” isn’t calling PoJK ‘Azad Kashmir’ a cruel joke on its hapless people?

Being denied their fundamental right to freedom of speech isn’t the only woe bedevilling PoJK residents. They are also being subjected to barefaced discrimination and being treated as second class citizens. An example is the partisan way Islamabad has gone back on its assurance of supplying free electricity to the entire PoJK region and complimentary clean water to Mirpur city-a commitment made by the government of Pakistan during construction of Mangla dam in PoJK’s Mirpur district.

As Mangla dam produces a whopping 4,000 MW of electricity while the power requirement of this region is a meagre 350 MW, providing this miniscule amount of free electricity to the people of POJK is no big deal. Yet, in 2013, Islamabad reneged on its commitment by unilaterally ending the subsidy on electricity in PoJK.

But exploitation of PoJK residents doesn’t end here. Muzaffarabad based political activist Zahid Mughal, reveals that “Pakistan is buying electricity from us at the rate of Rs 1.5 per unit [and] it again sells it to us at the high rate of Rs 52 per unit.” He complains that when people of PoJK “requested Pakistan to provide the electricity at the same rate, they started calling us traitors.” And this is where the real problem starts.

Though unproven, the very mention of “traitors” is what brings Rawalpindi into the scene and it has been operating behind the scenes, doing what it is best at-disappearing those suspected of being “traitors”. Defence of Human Rights [DHR], a reputed Pakistani non-governmental organisation in its 2023 report has revealed that PoJK recorded 20 enforced disappearances during that year.

Out of these, while 17 individuals who were abducted by the Pakistan Army were subsequently released by its intelligence operatives and law enforcement agencies, two persons, though traced, continue to remain in illegal confinement, while one individual has been the victim of extrajudicial execution. 

PoJK is under the tight grip of the Pakistan Army which will ensure that it makes examples of those whom it perceives to be “traitors” and its high highhandedness has definitely heightened anti-establishment sentiments amongst the masses. And several amateur videos in which protesters can be heard raising anti army slogans like “Yeh jo dahshatgardi hai, iske piche wardi hai” (it’s the uniform [Pakistan Army] that’s behind the ongoing terrorism), endorses this assessment.

In the wake of the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) protests, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had stated that Islamabad has evidence of a “neighbouring country” inciting these protests but provided no evidence to support his allegation. However, this has given Rawalpindi the necessary excuse for using uninhibited use of force to crush dissent.

And the whopping four-fold increase in protester fatalities in the ongoing agitation when compared with last year’s protests, reveal the unbridled animosity of Punjabi dominated Pakistani security towards the people of PoJK. Furthermore, by encouraging fringe groups to oppose the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) protests by taking to the streets in an attempt to conjure a counter narrative in its support Rawalpindi is only adding fuel to fire.

Considering the unprecedented surge in violence levels both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] as well as Balochistan and the Pakistan Army’s failure to decisively defeat the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and armed groups resisting Pakistani military occupation in Balochistan, and now widespread protests in PoJK, it’s obvious that Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who claims being ordained by God to be “protector of the country,” is certainly not discharging his divine responsibility effectively.

Just feeding the domestic audience with a heady concoction of cherry-picked religious edicts liberally infused with ultra nationalism won’t do. And neither will the announcement of a pejorative moniker to portray Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) as an anti-Islamic organisation working at the behest of a ‘Hindu’ India, help. It would definitely do the newly promoted Field Marshal a lot of good if rather than blaming India for everything going wrong in Pakistan, he puts his own house in order instead! 

Why has Pakistan Army launched an undeclared War against Pashtuns?

Nilesh Kunwar
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Why has Pakistan Army launched an undeclared War against Pashtuns?

Though public protests against lack of civic facilities, scarcity of essential goods, rising unemployment and inflation are commonplace in Pakistan, but what spurred widespread agitations in the Dir, Waziristan and Swat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [KP] in August 2022 wasn’t due to any of these reasons. The locals had taken to the streets with an unusual complaint that the government and army weren’t doing anything to curb the growing presence of armed fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] ‘terrorist’ group.

Unchecked influx of TTP fighters assumed such gargantuan proportions that it even came up for discussion in the National Assembly and Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif was forced to acknowledge the significant presence of TTP fighters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Since this restive province has been the traditional stronghold of this terrorist group, public resentment against TTP was indeed a blessing in disguise for the Pakistan Army as it created ideal conditions for launching a concerted operation against TTP to decimate this terrorist group.

However, despite abundant physical evidence that buttressed this dangerous development, Rawalpindi thought otherwise. Director General [DG] of Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor not only dismissed reports of TTP presence in KP as “a misperception” created on social media but even went on to add that “After confirmation on ground, these reports have been found as grossly exaggerated and misleading.” In short, Rawalpindi held that while the law makers and locals were wrong, it was the Pakistan Army that was [like it always claims] right!

And in an obvious attempt to downplay the facts readily available in public domain, DG-ISPR admitted that “presence of a small number of armed men on a few mountain tops between Swat and Dir has been observed, located far away from the population.” What the Pakistan Army didn’t care to explain was why were armed men allowed to settle down on “a few mountain tops” in the first place? Some say that the army had taken it for granted that as these armed people were “located far away from populated areas,” they were no threat to locals.

Isn’t it surprising that even though the Pakistani defence minister called influx of TTP terrorists into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a “national issue,” the army took no cognizance of his genuine concern. So it’s no big surprise that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan [HRCP] pulled up Rawalpindi for shamefully abdicating its constitutional responsibilities by maintaining that “Swat’s residents are right to hold the security forces responsible for failing to enforce the writ of the state.”

But the real reason for Rawalpindi’s unpardonable apathy lay elsewhere-the Pakistan Army had been holding Afghanistan Taliban brokered clandestine peace talks with TTP and details of these negotiations (for inexplicable reasons), weren’t shared with the senators. Hence it did not want to upset the dialogue process and invite public criticism for ‘sleeping with the enemy’. In fact, as early as June 2022, when Jamaat-i-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed raised this issue in National Assembly, Pakistan Muslim League [Nawaz] Senator Irfanul Haq passed the buck by saying that these talks had not been initiated during its term, adding that “We were also unaware who is holding these talks and where they are taking place.”

How could the Pakistan Army sit down to cut a peace deal with TTP, the terrorist group that carried out the dastardly 2014 Army Public School Peshawar attack in which nearly 150 innocent students and staff members were brutally murdered and has the blood of hundreds of soldiers and civilians on its hands? While Rawalpindi may claim that it was holding talks with TTP on directions of the Imran Khan run government, but even an amateur Pakistan watcher will agree that in Pakistan while the legislature proposes it’s the army that ultimately disposes. Hence, these talks could have never taken place had Rawalpindi decided against it.

By agreeing to a unilateral ceasefire declared by TTP and the making the highly unreasonable concession of allowing its cadres to surreptitiously establish themselves in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with unconditional release of more than a hundred convicted TTP fighters, Rawalpindi only ended up give this terrorist group the much need time and space it required to regroup and refit. However, such is its fear amongst the people that no one has demanded an explanation for its irresponsible actions. 

The rest is history.

In its endeavour to defeat TTP the Pakistan Army may have pulled out all the stops but while doing so it has demonstrated scant concern for the Pashtun majority population of KP, and the recent missile attack by the Pakistan Air Force [PAF] on Tirah Valley’s Matre Dara village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that left at least 30 civilians, including women and children dead and several others injured is just one example. Media reports claim that using Chinese made JF 17 fighter jets, PAF struck the village with at least six LS-6 precision guided munitions [PGM] of Chinese origin.

How could those who approved this air strike go so wrong? Was the intelligence inaccurate that TTP was using the houses in Matre Dara village and yet they were targeted? Did this happen due to the unreliability of Chinese fighter jets and/or munitions- the JF 17 fighter jet navigational systems going awry or the LS-6 PGM malfunctioning and missing the target? Or was it a cavalier decision triggered by inherent apathy towards the Pashtun people?

When viewed in the broader context, the last probability appears to be the most likely as the Punjabi dominant Pakistan Army’s hatred for Pashtuns is no secret.

Pashtun Tahafuz Movement [PTM] is a peaceful community movement pursuing reasonable objectives like accountability for wanton violence against its people by the authorities, information on Pashtuns forcibly disappeared by security forces, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, clearance of landmines laid by the Pakistan Army in Waziristan that were for killing/maiming locals and recognition of Pashtuns as equal citizens of the country.

Yet, during a media interaction session six years ago, DG-ISPR in an act unbecoming of a two-star army General unashamedly spewed venom against PTM and also issued threats. A sample of some of his prejudiced utterances:  
* “How much money did you get from NDS [National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s erstwhile intelligence agency] to keep your protest running?”
* “How much money did RAW [Research and Analysis Wing, India’s intelligence agency] give you for your first sit-in in Islamabad?”
* “Nobody can fight the state. We care about the people you’re trying to instigate, otherwise it is not difficult to deal with you.” 
* “Why does TTP speak in favour of PTM? Why is your narrative similar?”
* “Whatever liberties you could take, you have taken.”
* Their [PTM leadership’s] time is up!

The DG-ISPR’s “time is up” warning to PTM was no idle threat. Less than a month later, in what came to be known as the infamous ‘Kharqamar incident’, Pakistan Army soldiers fired indiscriminately at PTM protesters who were demanding release of innocent civilians rounded up after a terrorist attack near the Khraqamar check post, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 25 others. Two PTM leaders were imprisoned for allegedly inciting the protesters but were inexplicably released four months later without being charged.

Rawalpindi maintained that the army personnel acted in self defence after the protesters had fired at them killing one soldier and injuring a few others. But by preventing the HRCP team from visiting the incident site or questioning witnesses, it became evident that the army was trying to conceal the truth. With the government subsequently withdrawing this case without assigning any reasons for denying justice to a soldier who was allegedly killed and others injured by PTM protesters, this apprehension has acquired undeniable credibility.

The Pashtuns are indeed an unfortunate lot treated as children of a lesser God by Pakistan. When they protested against the influx of TTP fighters in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Army blamed them of using social media to spread “misperception.” When they protest peacefully against enforced disappearances and institutionalised marginalisation, they are accused of working at the behest of New Delhi. When they protest against a large-scale anti-terrorist operation in KP solely because it would displace thousands of locals and cause extensive ‘collateral damage’ to civilian life and property as had happened in the past, they were branded as TTP proxies. [As per an August 2025 media report, more than 55,000 people or roughly 20,000 families have already fled their homes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa].

And now even though Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are mercilessly being pounded by missiles and exterminated in the Pakistan Army’s war against TTP, the war is simultaneously being waged against the innocent Pashtun people. Innocent civilians losing their lives and limbs due to such irresponsible behaviour don’t seem to worry Rawalpindi, because for ISPR to portray a mangled corpse of an innocent Pashtun as the mortal remains of some fictitious “high profile” TTP terrorist commander like Aman Gul and Masood Khan, is no big deal! 

Why does ‘nuclear armed’ Pakistan Army fear Dr Mahrang Baloch?

Vivek Sinha
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Why does ‘nuclear armed’ Pakistan Army fear Dr Mahrang Baloch?

They boast of a ‘strong’ army replete with an array of fighter jets, naval warships and submarines, all armed with nuclear weapons and yet they fear students carrying books, doctors with stethoscopes, writers with a pen, poets reciting poetry, advocates fighting for justice; and Baloch women with a microphone. Yes, you guessed it right, these are the Generals, Colonels and Brigadiers of the Pakistan Army! These pygmies, struggling with an inferiority complex ’cause they’ve never won a war in their lives, get anxious whenever a Baloch women speaks to the world about murder, rape, abduction and other war crimes committed by the Pakistan Army across occupied-Balochistan.  

Five years ago, when GHQ Rawalpindi orchestrated the murder of Banuk Karima Baloch in Canada they had expected that with her death the Baloch voice has been silenced at the international fora. However, after Banuk Karima Baloch her legacy has been ably carried forward by Dr Mahrang Baloch, a medical professional. Dr Mahrang Baloch is articulate and boldly calls out the clown show in Pakistan and in Pakistan-occupied Balochistan. Ironically, Mahrang Baloch has always sought relief within the ambit of Pakistani regime’s constitution and laws, despite understanding that the rule of law doesn’t exist anywhere in Pakistan. Dr Mahrang Baloch’s non-confrontationist approach gave the GHQ pygmies an ego massage. 

Banuk Karima was exposing them at the international forums detailing Pak Army’s kill & dump policy, their liasoning with death squads, providing statistics about enforced disappearances. Karima Baloch was silently but steadily bringing Balochistan into the international discourse and instilling a crystal clear message that Balochistan is Not Pakistan, thus making the pot-bellied Qamar Javed Bajwa (then Pak Army chief) jittery. 

Karima Baloch and her assertive activism were rising with each passing day. Her forceful arguments and raw courage shook the audience in western hemisphere that had hitherto been spoon-fed fairy tales about Balochistan by the glib Pakistanis. And then boom! Karima Baloch was murdered by ISI on the night of December 21/22, 2020 in Canada. Activists and friends of Balochistan were stunned. But independence movements, revolutions and revolutionaries never die; they metamorphose. Dr Mahrang Baloch took it upon herself to step into Banuk Karima’s shoes. 

Baloch children pay their tributes to Banuk Karima Baloch during her funeral in 2020. ISI had killed Banuk Karima Baloch in 2020 at Toronto, Canada. (Photo: News Intervention)

During her initial activism years, Dr Mahrang Baloch campaigned for students rights, better facilities for Baloch girls in schools and colleges, filed petitions for Baloch ‘missing persons’, organised protests and sit-in; all within the ambit of law. In these initial years Baloch women, children, families of ‘forcibly disappeared’ Baloch rallied around Dr Mahrang Baloch and together they petitioned in the courts, participated in long marches, organised sit-ins, demonstrations and pleaded with the ‘establishment’. 

Rawalpindi felt relieved that Dr Mahrang’s opposition was within the ‘boundary’, but their euphoria was short-lived. Unlike the polite-but-firm Karima Baloch, Dr Mahrang’s voice was shrill and forceful. Through her relentless campaign Dr Mahrang Baloch put “enforced disappearance” into international news. Dr Mahrang drilled the message loud and clear that it’s not by chance that thousands of Baloch have gone “missing” rather they have been abducted and “disappeared” by the Pakistani forces. “Enforced Disappearance” is the correct phrase, she thundered during protest rallies. International media, activists and human rights organisations began to question the Pakistani regime. 

Rawalpindi pygmies became uneasy and were desperate to strike back. They knew that they would have to frame Mahrang Baloch because her protests, speeches and demands were well within the constitutional framework. The Jaffar Express hijack by the BLA sarmachaars (freedom fighters) on March 11, 2025 gave them the opening. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) routinely drubs Pakistani soldiers across Pak-occupied Balochistan and through the Jaffar Express hijack the BLA sent a message to the world that Pakistan has illegally occupied Balochistan and that the BLA sarmachars are engaged in a freedom struggle. 

The newly crowned Pak Army chief (read pygmy-in-chief) Gen Asim Munir could see the narrative about Balochistan slipping away from his hands and wanted a face saver. And so, the Rawalpindi pygmies decided to arrest Dr Mahrang Baloch and other activists from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on March 25, 2025, slamming fictitious charges. When the fictitious charges could not stand scrutiny in the courts the Paki regime resorted to cheap trickery of extended remands. Since their arrest in March, Mahrang and other BYC activists Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch continue to be under arrest till date, under one pretext or the other. 

If the Rawalpindi’s pygmy-in-chief Asim Munir feels that through these actions he can suppress Balochistan’s voice then he needs tutorials about revolutions and independence movements. “I will come back and we will be millions” read the posters during Banuk Karima Baloch’s funeral in 2020. Five years later the soft-spoken Banuk Karima Baloch has evolved into a fiery Dr Mahrang Baloch. 

A Baloch girl inspired by Dr Mahrang Baloch holds this banner at a protest rally in Pakistan-occupied Balochistan. (Photo: News Intervention)

Pakistan continues to face international embarrassment over Kashmir

Nilesh Kunwar
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Pakistan continues to face international embarrassment over Kashmir

Psychological problems are known to degrade mental faculties, and this phenomenon even seems to afflict nations. Pakistan is one such country, where this malady seems to have acquired incurable proportions and history is replete with instances of how the habit of those who matter invariably end up putting their foot in their mouths by an uncontrollable urge to score a point. While former Pakistani Prime Minister and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto using the UN Security Council podium in 1965 to declare a “1000 year war” against India is but one such example let’s confine ourselves to the present.

In the aftermath of New Delhi’s August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Pakistan approached the UN to declare this move null and void on the grounds that it violated UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. As Islamabad’s contention lacked legal or material substance, the UN didn’t respond positively, and hence Pakistan’s “iron brother” Beijing cobbled a face-saving “informal” discussion on Kashmir in which neither would the proceedings of the meeting be recorded nor would any joint declaration or statement be issued. 

By outrightly refusing to entertain Islamabad’s request for intervention on the Kashmir issue, it’s apparent that the UNSC outrightly rejected Islamabad’s untenable Kashmir narrative and selectivity in applying provisions of UNSC resolutions on Kashmir. And by ruling that no statement would be issued after the meeting, the UNSC once again buttressed India’s logical stand that Kashmir is and will forever remain a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan with no scope of any third-party intervention. 

So it’s no big surprise that Islamabad’s incredulous decision to challenge the right of a democratically elected government to legally amend the constitution of its own and then expect the UNSC to intervene in what’s clearly an internal matter of a sovereign nation, failed. Islamabad did try to conceal its abysmal failure at the UN by rejoicing that Kashmir had come up for discussion at UNSC even though it yielded no results. 

How did Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry make such a big diplomatic blunder?

Islamabad knew all along that nothing would come out of its much-hyped decision to take the Article 370 abrogation issue to the UN. In fact, even before the meeting was held, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi forewarned his countrymen that “You should not in live fool’s paradise [since] nobody will be standing there [at UNSC] with garlands in hands…Nobody will be there waiting for you.” So, by approaching the UN on the Article 370 abrogation issue, didn’t Pakistan put its foot into its own mouth?

Qureshi’s pompous declaration that the government of Pakistan had “decided to take the Kashmir case to the International Court of Justice [ICJ]” is another manifestation of the ‘foot in the mouth’ syndrome. 

Readers would recall that Pakistan’s ICJ lawyer Khawar Qureshi went on record to say that this could only be done in case of a genocide but there wasn’t any significant evidence to support Islamabad’s claims of genocide in Kashmir. He concluded that “In absence of this evidence, it is extremely difficult for Pakistan to take this case to the ICJ.” So, while the idea of going to ICJ did Pakistan no good, it definitely helped India by unmasking Islamabad’s false propaganda on alleged genocide in Kashmir.

A month later, during the Asian speakers’ summit on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals [SDG] hosted by the Maldives Parliament, the Pakistani delegation created an avoidable embarrassing situation by raking up the completely unrelated Kashmir issue. 

However, leaders at the South Asian Speakers’ Summit “unanimously” felt that Kashmir was an “internal matter” of India and so Pakistan’s attempt to embarrass India came to naught as the reference to Kashmir was expunged from the record of proceedings. Furthermore, this issue expectedly found no mention whatsoever in the Malé Declaration leaving Pakistan with its foot in its mouth.

During a virtual meet of the 57 member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation [OIC] in May 2020, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram accused India of promoting Islamophobia, and with great flourish called upon on member states to create a “small informal working group” for ensuring concerted action against New Delhi at the UN. Islamabad probably thought that by arousing religious passions, it could beguile OIC members into collectively supporting its puerile and self-serving interests. However, its expectations of scoring a spectacular diplomatic victory were dashed to the ground.

The Permanent UN Representative of Maldives outrightly rejected Islamabad’s puerile suggestion stating that “Targeting a specific country will be like side stepping the real issue.” And with her perceptive observation that “singling out India, the largest democracy in the world and a multi-cultural society and home to over 200 million Muslims, alleging Islamophobia would be factually incorrect,” Islamabad once again ended up with its foot in its mouth. 

Regrettably Islamabad refused to learn any lessons from its Maldives fiasco and just days later it once again demonstrated scant regard for the stipulated agenda by raising the issue of rights in Kashmir at the UNICEF South Asian Parliamentarian Conference on Children Rights Convention in Colombo. Pakistan probably expected that despite being irrelevant it could drag the Kashmir issue into this meeting. However, its hope of being supported by the other members proved delusional as no one showed any interest in the out-of-place mention of the Kashmir issue and Pakistan was left with egg on its face.

Just the other day Pakistan experienced yet another ‘mother-of-all’ foot in the mouth moment, thanks to UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organisation that monitors performance of the UN “by the yardstick of its own Charter.” During a discussion on the recent Israeli attack targeting the Hamas leadership in Qatar at the UN, its human rights lawyer and executive director Hillel Neuer questioned the UN’s double standards.

When Neuer highlighted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s unbounded praise for the 2011 killing of Al Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by the US and his criticism of Israel’s recent targeted attack on leaders of the Hamas terrorist group in Qatar, he was brusquely interrupted by the Pakistani delegate. Apparently stung by the reference to Laden’s extermination in Pakistan, he asked the UNHRC chairperson to ensure that no speaker violated the UN Charter principles and territorial integrity of member states while rejecting what he claimed were “unfounded accusations and allegations.” 

Once the Pakistani delegate finished speaking, the UNHRC chairperson asked the UN Watch speaker to continue, reminding him that he had just four seconds to complete his speech. Undeterred, Hillel Neur used this inordinately short time window allotted to deliver the coup de grâce by concluding “Mr President, Pakistan is another state sponsor of terror.” 

In retrospect, the Pakistani delegate must have realised that since Neur had never made any accusations or allegations against Pakistan and what he said was just an undeniable statement of fact, silence would have been more appropriate. Perhaps he may even have been admonished by his superiors for an intervention that seriously embarrassed Pakistan. 

But when the top leadership in Pakistan itself is suffering from foot in the mouth disease, why blame the poor delegate for shooting off his mouth and inviting a brutal verbal response that made Islamabad the laughingstock within the international community creating a foot in the mouth situation. Didn’t Pakistan Army chief and the country’s de facto ruler Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir’s recent “dump truck” remark do the same?

Karma effect: Afghanistan rubbishes Pak claim of hosting TTP and BLA

Nilesh Kunwar
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Karma effect: Afghanistan rubbishes Pak claim of hosting TTP and BLA

They say Karma works like a boomerang in that what you give out always comes back to you- and this is exactly what’s happening in Pakistan. In 2018, while addressing the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Pakistan’s then army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa claimed that there are no safe havens for terrorists in his country and had asked the US to stop blaming Islamabad for its own failures in Afghanistan.

Since seven years have since elapsed, one would have forgotten about this incident had Afghanistan’s Defence Minister Mullah Mohammed Yaqoob not resurrected this very argument in his recent interview with BBC. Outrightly rejecting Islamabad’s allegation that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [TTP] and Baloch Liberation Army [BLA] were operating from safe havens located inside Afghanistan he also made it clear that even “If terrorists of TTP and BLA come from Afghanistan and carry out car bombings and targeted killings inside Pakistan, it shows their [Pakistan Army’s] failed internal security system.” Doesn’t the blunt reply of Afghanistan’s Defence Minister validate the Karma-boomerang analogy? So, while Pakistan is definitely a victim of terrorism and blames all and sundry for the same, isn’t this the backlash of the Pakistan Army’s proclivity for keeping snakes in its backyard?

Rawalpindi has a lot to answer to its people for the burgeoning spate of terrorism afflicting the country and Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir cannot evade responsibility for his army’s abject failure to tackle this menace just by blaming “foreign powers” and “[poor] governance” for the prevailing chaos.

So, while the Field Marshal Asim Munir’s emotional query about “How long will we continue to fill the governance gaps with the blood of the armed forces of Pakistan and the martyrs” may attract sympathy, his demand that Pakistan be turned into a “hard state” is a brazen attempt to conceal the Pakistan Army’s abysmal failure in fighting home-grown terrorism by blaming the government of functioning “in the style of a soft state.”

The Pakistan Army chief needs to remember that it’s the army’s inviolable responsibility to ensure the safety of its citizens. Hence, if Rawalpindi is so certain that Kabul is providing sanctuary to the TTP and BLA and claims to have specific information regarding the exact locations of the same, then why doesn’t it undertake a comprehensive military operation to strike and destroy these safe havens instead of taking token actions through sporadic drone strikes? Is he serious or merely playing to the domestic gallery? 

Though it blames New Delhi for sponsoring TTP without furnishing any credible evidence in support of its allegations, Rawalpindi’s own track record of its dealings with TTP is appalling. Even though this terrorist group perpetrated the heinous 2014 Army Public School Peshawar carnage in which nearly 150 students and staff members were brutally murdered, yet the Pakistan Army meekly accepted a ceasefire offered by this terrorist group in 2022.

As part of this shameful deal, Rawalpindi also unconditionally released more than 100 convicted TTP fighters responsible for the death of several army men, members of law enforcement agencies as well as innocent civilians. One of the TTP commanders released was Muslim Khan who in 2016 had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for killing 31 Pakistanis including security force personnel and civilians.

However, the most alarming development was something unthinkable that Rawalpindi did. In 2022, large scale protests erupted in Swat Valley against the rapidly increasing presence of armed TTP fighters. Instead of dispelling fear amongst the locals by taking immediate action to evict these terrorists, and preventing future infiltration, the Pakistan Army instead stooped to a new low. Believe it or not, it actually covered-up the mass intrusion of TTP cadres into Swat Valley by denying TTP presence in Swat Valley and outrightly rejecting irrefutable reports of the same by calling them “grossly exaggerated and misleading.”

There are many other instances where Pakistan has been struck by the Karma ‘boomerang’. Readers would recall that Pakistan’s ex-president and former army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf revealed that “Kashmiris who came to Pakistan received a hero’s reception here,” adding that “We used to train them and support them. We considered them as mujahideens who will fight with the Indian army.” 

He subsequently admitted that after 9/11, “These very mujahideen groups whose orientation was Kashmir, they turned their guns inwards, and they developed a nexus with Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Now, this is the bigger problem area [sic], that they are involved in terrorism in Pakistan.”  Isn’t this a classic case of Karma hitting back?

Next, isn’t Gen Musharraf’s revelation that “We introduced ‘religious militancy’ to flush out [the] Soviets” and his lament of how “Religious militancy has now become militancy [and] now we also are a victim of terrorism” reflective of rapidly escalating communal and sectarian violence in Pakistan and yet another physical manifestation of Karma’s backlash? Lastly, let’s not forget that it was Rawalpindi’s refusal to end its sponsorship of the Haqqani network in 2018 that prompted US President Donald Trump to Tweet “They [Pakistan government and army] give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan”. With the Afghanistan Defence Minister outrightly refusing to entertain Pakistan’s request to evict TTP from safe havens on its soil, hasn’t Kabul done to Rawalpindi exactly what Rawalpindi had done to the US seven years ago?
Karma is unforgiving and has a long memory!

Pakistani regime extends Mahrang Baloch’s illegal custody by 5 more days

News Intervention Bureau
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Pakistani regime extends Mahrang Baloch’s illegal custody by 5 more days

Pakistani court extends Dr Mahrang Baloch’s custody by another five days under frivolous sections. Dr Mahrang Baloch was presented in the courts on September 6 — a public holiday due to Eid Milad-un-Nabi and Pak Defence Day — and the puppet Pakistani judges immediately signed the orders to extend Mahrang Baloch’s custody by five more days. Mahrang Baloch has been illegally detained by the Pakistani regime since March 22, 2025 and her arrest remand continues to be extended in installments on direct orders from the GHQ Rawalpindi.

“Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) were supposed to be presented in court yesterday. They were not produced. Instead, they were quietly presented today without informing their families or lawyers. An additional five day remand was granted. At the same time, internet services were suspended to block information. We are deeply concerned about the safety of BYC leaders who are being detained on false charges,” said Nadia Baloch, sister of Dr Mahrang Baloch, in her statement.

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) is a conglomeration of activists and intellectuals who are fighting for the human rights violation of Baloch by the Pakistani regime. A day before on September 5, 2025, the Balochistan High Court had ordered that the Baloch Yakjehti Committee leaders (including Dr Mahrang Baloch) must not be shifted outside district Quetta in Balochistan until the next hearing. However, in a country where Pakistan Army controls every aspect of life the judges remain mere stamping officials. Dr Mahrang Baloch was presented in the empty courts on a public holiday on September 6 and her illegal custody was extended for another five days.

https://twitter.com/BalochYakjehtiC/status/1963674561427476930

During the last two decades more than 250,000 Baloch have gone “missing” or have been forcibly “disappeared” by the Pakistani armed forces. Another 15,000 Baloch have been killed under the “kill and dump” policy of Pakistan Army. Balochistan continues to be under illegal occupation of the Pakistan Army so the entire administration, provincial government and even the courts are mere puppets at the hands of GHQ Rawalpindi. There being no rule of law, the judgements and orders are typed in Rawalpindi/Islamabad and stamped by the puppet judges installed in the courts of occupied Balochistan.

India’s foreign policy on right track in the emerging multi-polar world

Brig Brijesh Pandey (Retd.)
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India’s foreign policy on right track in the emerging multi-polar world

During the era of Cold War, India professed a non-aligned foreign policy. It worked because there were two clear cut poles (US versus USSR) and New Delhi could gain substantially from both. Post Cold War, unipolarity emerged in the 1990s and NAM (non-aligned movement) lost its relevance. There was a marked shift towards US, without formally getting allied. Now, with emergence of multipolarity, surge in India’s growth story and rise of strong, aspirational leadership of Modi, Russia-Ukraine conflict and rise of middle powers, India sees an increased maneuver space to show case its economic, technological and military prowess. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), border clashes of Doklam (2017), Depsang, Chumar, and Galwan changed the security dynamics and India needed new partners. It led to India joining Quad, Indo-Pacific Partnership and mini-laterals with Japan-Australia-US.

Moreover, sensing that the power game has shifted to semiconductors, AI, Space, Clean Energy, telecom, and advance defense systems, which are not the fiefdom of any one power, it had no choice but to explore multiple partners. Resultantly, India engaged US for ICET & Jet Engines; Russia for energy security; France for Rafael and Space; and Japan for supply chains. Perhaps, time for NAM (non-aligned movement) style partnership was up and ‘multi-alignment’ was the flavour of the season. Building overlapping coalitions such as Quad, I2U2, BRICS+, G20, SCO, etc. were need of the time. In current times, India is looking for solution to two risks –unresolved border with China including the collusive threat and episodic friction with US, particularly in Trump times.

Major Transformations in India’s Foreign Policy
* Multi-Alignment: India forged associations with Western, African, Eurasian and Southeast Asian groupings. Consensus declaration of G20 is a pointer towards success of this strategy. IMEC (India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor) was proposed as a counter to BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) and Joe Biden had to acknowledge it as “real big deal.”
* Joint Development & Co-production: US-India iCET agenda, GE-HAL F414 jet engine deal and efforts in semiconductors, telecom, space and aviation are key to self-reliance, which in turn is key to the Strategic Autonomy.
* Mini-laterals in West Asia and Europe: I2U2 and IMEC, though facing a pause due to Gaza war, are big ticket projects waiting to be revived.
* Maritime Power: India’s partnership for extending its influence in the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions is meant to secure Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOCs), logistics chain and HADR. Experts also see these initiatives as acts of balancing China at sea.
* Trade Crafts: The UAE-India CEPA for non-oil trades, the EFTA-India TEPA ensures tariff opening of over $100 billion. Add to this, the FTA with UK and one with EU, India would overcome the punitive actions of West against India’s multilateralism. These agreements are also meant to anchor manufacturing, skills, and value chains. It is these measures that are enabling India to achieve a GDP growth of 7.8% in the first quarter of 2025-26 at a time when most of the developed economies are battling with less that 3 to 4% growth rates.
* Voice of the Global South: India positioned itself at the core of expansion dynamics of G20 and BRICS+. India was instrumental in induction of African Union into these organizations, making India the automatic leader of the Global South.

SCO Summit: Real Handshake, not just the Optics
At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, PM Modi met Xi Jinping on Chinese soil first time after seven years. Timing was crucial due to the no holds bar bombardment by Trump and his advisors with narratives such as “Modi’s War” and “Brahmins profiteering from Russia-Ukraine War.” The winning edge of the summit was visible sidelining of Pakistan, inclusion of Terrorism in the declaration and commitment towards border resolution.

Striking show of solidarity between Modi-Putin- Xi Jinping and special expressions between Modi-Putin were unmissable. The postures, gestures and embraces caught the eyes of the world. The declaration adopted new development strategy with energy cooperation, establishment of new centers (cyber security, anti-terrorism, and more) and creation of SCO development bank. Unified condemnation of Pahalgam terror attack became a rare text of solidarity within a group, infrastructure with sovereignty (direct counter to CPEC model) and invocation of “One Earth, One Family, One Future” were the most commendable achievements of PM Modi.

Other highlights of the geostrategic indicators were India’s continuation of import of Russian oil despite US offensives against India, dismissal of the summit as largely “performative” by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and tirades by others were
deliberately ignored giving a shut up call to those who matter in Trump administration. While India never challenged the US actions, silent manoeuvres said a lot.

India’s Foreign Policy Challenges
* Managing US Friction while Protecting Tech Ties: It requires a fine balancing the relations with Washington at a time when US is professing the philosophy of “with US or against US.” Recent tariff spikes to 25% and additional 25% in the form of sanctions due to import of Russian oil need compartmentalization of relations so that iCET, defense co-production and critical minerals can be protected.
* Deterrence against China: Back in 2014, with emergence of Mr Narendra Modi in the national scene, China hoped to extend its BRI to India and push the products of China’s enhanced manufacturing capacities into Indian markets. China attempted to coerce India through series of border skirmishes starting from Doklam in 2017 and going upto Galwan in 2020. India stood firm in responses and in strength. Likewise, India has to build maritime capacity and supply chains in a sustained manner. Hence, moving from de-risking to achieving credible deterrence, is the way forward.
* Re-activation of IMEC: IMEC (India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor) has to be re-activated as soon as Gaza situation stabilizes and different segments and components of the corridor have to be put on fast track. Once, these are in place, the corridor will provide leverage in Gulf as well as Europe.
* BRICS+ to Develop without Anti-West Perceptions: BRICS+ is a major platform for widening India’s South-South connect. It should be restricted to financial and standards grouping without being viewed as anti-west.

    Key Takeaway
    India’s foreign policy is on the right track for the emerging multi-polar world. India has developed adequate economic, military and partnership heft. New Delhi has carefully navigated the tough terrain of geostrategy ensuring strategic autonomy, multilateralism, diversified partnership and selective issue-based coalitions. India has so far ensured that it doesn’t challenge hegemonic approaches and falsehood of US rudely. Alongside, India is also pursuing bilateralism based on win-win scenarios and mutual respect. India does not believe in demanding respect but in commanding respect, and very soon the world will
    realize India’s rise and openly acknowledge it too.

    Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns and POK-Kashmiris seek British PM intervention on Paki atrocities

    News Intervention Bureau
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    Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns and POK-Kashmiris seek British PM intervention on Paki atrocities

    The Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) brought together oppressed Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns and Kashmiris for a protest at 10 Downing Street–the official residence of the British Prime Minister— against the Pakistani regime’s policy of abduction and murder of common civilians. Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) had organized the demonstrations on August 30–the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances– and representatives from Voice of Missing Persons Sindh, Balochistan National Movement (BNM), Balochistan Republican Party (BRP), Pashtoon Tahafuz Movement (PTM) and National Equality Party JKGBL used the occasion to highlight Pakistan’s policy of ‘enforced disappearance’ seeking British Prime Minister’s intervention in the release of ‘missing’ persons.

    “Our joint protest clearly indicates that our common enemy is the Panjabi Pakistani regime that has committed innumerable atrocities on Sindhis, Baloch, Pashtuns and Kashmiris since 1947. This Pakistani regime continues to inflict wounds on Sindh, Balochistan, Pashtunistan and Kashmir. We want freedom from Pakistan,” said Sohail Abro, chairman Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement during his address to the demonstrators at 10 Downing Street in London. 

    Sohail Abro, chairman Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM), Sajjad Raja, chairman National Equality Party JKGBL, Mansoor Hab, central executive committee member JSFM, Ahmed Baloch, activist Baloch National Movement (BNM) and Sarang Sindhi, activist Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh (VMPS) submit their joint memorandum to British Prime Minister. This joint memorandum was signed by the representatives of Sindhi, Baloch, Pashtuns and POK-Kashmiris who sought direct intervention from the British PM in pressurizing Pakistan to release the abducted ‘missing’ persons. (Photo: News Intervention)

    The JSFM protest was also addressed by Khan of Qalat Agha Suleman Dawood Jan, Sajjad Raja chairman National Equality Party JKGBL, Sarang Sindhi of Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh (VMPS), Mansoor Baloch leader of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) UK, Abdul Malik Ahmadi coordinator Pushtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) UK, Ilyas Anwer Baloch activist of the Baloch National Movement (BNM)–Manchester, Jasim Baloch from BNM, Ahmed Baloch, Aomar Karim and several others.

    All the speakers and representatives of Baloch, Pashtun and Kashmiris strongly condemned the ongoing human rights abuses in Pakistan and highlighted the rising cases of ‘enforced disappearances”. Over the past three decades more than two lakh Baloch, over 6,000 Pashtuns and thousands of Sindhis have been forcibly abducted, and they remain untraced till date. Thousands of Kashmiris from the Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (POJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (POGB) have been illegally kidnapped by Pakistani security forces and are being held in torture cells. Thousands of such ‘disappeared’ victims have been brutally killed, and their mutilated bodies have been dumped in open fields.

    The speakers explained that when families of these ‘missing’ people seek justice from the Pakistani courts they are ‘greeted’ with complete silence and there’s zero action from the Pakistani Police and political leadership. The speakers and all representatives from Sindh, Balochistan, Pashtunistan and Kashmir agreed that Pakistan is a large military garrison and every state institution is monitored and run by the Pakistan Army. 

    “Under such circumstances the only way forward is total freedom from Pakistan and all the oppressed nations (Sindhudesh, Balochistan, Pashtunistan, and POJK/POGB) under illegal Pakistani occupation shall now peacefully and jointly work for total independence from Pakistan and will not rest unless this objective is achieved,” said the declaration agreed upon by Sindhi, Baloch, Pashtun and Kashmiri representatives.

    Sindhudesh demands action against Pakistan for ‘enforced disappearance’ of Sindhi Nationalists

    Subhash Sindhu
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    Sindhudesh demands action against Pakistan for ‘enforced disappearance’ of Sindhi Nationalists

    On August 30– the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances– the entire Sindh mourned with the families whose hearts are torn by unrelenting terror of Pakistan’s rogue agencies, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). These forces have orchestrated a campaign of state-sponsored brutality, abducting, torturing, and killing Sindhi nationalists to crush the Sindhudesh movement. Since Pakistan’s occupation of Sindh in 1947, this systematic assault has aimed to obliterate a civilization older than the Indus itself, silencing its ancient language, suffocating its vibrant culture, and erasing its identity through enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and political persecutions. These atrocities, cloaked as ‘counterterrorism’, violate the Rome Statute on war crimes and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, signed by Pakistan in 2010 but blatantly disregarded.

    Picture a mother clutching her son’s worn-out photograph, its edges frayed from years of desperate hope, or a child staring at an empty chair where a father once sat, stolen by a midnight raid. This is the soul-crushing reality for countless Sindhi families, where enforced disappearances leave scars that time cannot heal. The Sindhudesh movement, ignited by the intellectual giant revered Saeen GM Syed—challenged Pakistan’s colonial grip. Rejecting its electoral charade, Saeen GM Syed’s vision for a sovereign Sindh inspired millions, though he paid with house arrest until his death in 1995. His legacy birthed parties like Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), but Pakistan’s deep state answered with terror, turning peaceful protests into graves. Even students demanding clean water in Sindh’s universities face sedition charges from ISI, MI, Rangers, and CTD, labeled terrorists to justify their erasure.

    Saeen Ghulam Murtaza Syed (Saeen GM Syed) was a prominent Sindhi nationalist and founder of the Sindhudesh movement. (Photo: News Intervention)

    Sindh’s crisis is nowhere reflected in the official numbers released by Pakistan. The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances reported 125 new cases nationwide in early 2025, but groups like Paank documented 785 disappearances and 121 killings, where Sindhis were disproportionately targeted. Amnesty International’s 2024 report notes 2,332 enforced disappearances, with victims returning shattered and broken or never at all. Human Rights Watch’s 2025 World Report details escalating attacks on minorities and activists in Sindh, where impunity thrives. Dawn and The News International have several times exposed the dumped mutilated bodies of nationalists, as with Muzaffar Bhutto in 2012. The US State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report confirms state-sponsored disappearances hitting Sindh hardest. X posts under the hashtag #EndEnforcedDisappearancesInSindh reveal families’ anguish, sharing videos of empty homes and tear-soaked pleas.

    Have a look at the gravest atrocities committed in Sindh, the extrajudicial killings after disappearances, where dreams dissolve into despair. Samiullah Kalhoro, a senior JSMM leader, was abducted in the early 2000s during a nationalist crackdown. Tortured in ISI cells until his kidneys failed, his bullet-riddled body was dumped in March 2005—a stark message to dissenters. Dawn reported his custodial killing, leaving his widow to raise children alone, haunted by loss. Amnesty’s 2008 report “Denying the Undeniable” documented the case.

    Syed Asghar Shah, a Sindhi nationalist, was reportedly abducted in February 2005, kept for months in torture cells and faced years in political persecution, reflecting the broader pattern of state targeting of Sindhi activists.

    Muzaffar Bhutto’s was abducted on February 25, 2011, near Saeedabad. This was the second time he was being abducted and this the JSMM secretary-general vanished for over a year. His tortured body surfaced on May 22, 2012, near Hyderabad, riddled with bullets and marked by unspeakable cruelty. Amnesty International demanded investigations, but impunity prevailed. His widow, Saima, told The Express Tribune of sleepless nights and fatherless children, living under constant threats.

    Afzal Panhwar, a student leader, was killed in a staged encounter on August 15, 2013, in Kotri, Sindh, a date mocking Pakistan’s Independence Day. A leaked video exposed the fabricated operation, sparking outrage. UNPO and AHRC reported his family’s devastation, his mother collapsing at his grave. Sajan Malookhani, a law student at Sindh University, was abducted on September 1, 2023, from Hyderabad. After a year of his family’s futile court petitions, he was killed in a fake encounter on October 6, 2024, in Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab, with friends Sarmad Bhayo and Vinesh, labeled “terrorists.” Voicepk.net captured his mother’s wail: “He was my light, stolen in darkness.”

    Niaz Lashari, a veteran JSQM activist, was abducted in April 2019 from Karachi, having survived earlier kidnappings. His tortured body was dumped outside Jinnah Hospital on June 16, 2020, prompting protests, as reported by Dawn and the World Sindhi Congress.

    Long-term disappearances—six to ten years or more—are a living nightmare in Sindh. Safdar Sarki, a prominent leader of Jeay Sindh Tehreek, was abducted in 2005 and reported missing for two years by 2006, as noted in reports from the time. His disappearance, alongside other Sindhi nationalists, fueled protests and highlighted the state’s targeting of activists, with no resolution despite family pleas. Asif Baladi, a JSQM leader advocating non-violent struggle, vanished in 2006, his fate unknown, leaving his family in anguish, as documented by The News International. Allah Wadhayo Mahar, an 11th-class student, was kidnapped in 2014 from Malir, Karachi, by ISI agents, and his aspirations were snuffed out. His mother spoke of endless searches despite her failing health. Mohan Meghwar, a student, vanished in 2013, his fate unknown despite family pleas. Suhail Raza Bhatti around 2015, Ayub Kandhro disappeared in April 2017 from Khairpur; Aijaz Gaho, Murtaza Junejo, and Insaf Dayo in May 2017 from Larkana; Pathan Khan Zuhrani in November 2019 from Karachi (It was his second such abduction) and Kashif Tagar, a young government primary school teacher in 2018—all remain missing, their families harassed, as per OHCHR submissions. Human Rights Watch’s 2014 report noted Sindhi nationalists’ disappearances, a pattern persisting. Every third Sindhi family bears this burden, far beyond reported figures.

    Sindhis demanding the release of their family members illegally abducted by Pakistani forces in Karachi. (Photo: News Intervention)

    In 2025, the terror surged, particularly in August’s annual crackdowns. Advocate Aamir Umrani Adv, a former central committee member of Jeay Sindh Mahaz, former student leader, and practicing lawyer, was abducted from his home in Sakrand, Sindh on February 21, 2025, and tortured in a secret cell. Released on February 27 after Sindh-wide protests by students, nationalists, and advocates, his ordeal—amplified by Facebook campaigns and YouTube videos—exposed Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department’s (CTD) brutality. The Express Tribune reported Jeay Sindh Mahaz’s highway blockade in Shaheed Benazirabad, demanding his release. August 26th saw Sajad Babar vanish from Karachi; Saqlain Sindhi, a student, abducted then prosecuted; Arbab Bheel, Sikandar Arijo, Basit Cholyani, and Bilawal Shar sentenced to over 20 years. X posts under #ReleaseAllMissingPersonsofSindh show families’ anguish, with videos of empty homes and desperate pleas.

    Pakistan’s ISI, MI, and CTD operate unchecked, using anti-terror laws to raid homes, torture in black sites, and stage “encounters.” The UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances reviewed hundreds of cases in 2025, demanding accountability, yet impunity persists. This fuels radicalization, closing paths to peace.

    The Sindhudesh movement’s call for sovereignty is justified by this oppression. Pakistan plunders Sindh’s resources—diverting Indus waters to Punjab while local Sindhis remain thirsty—eroding identity through forced conversions and land grabs. GM Syed’s non-violence met with bullets, yet his vision endures in the fighters for Sindhudesh. Sindhudesh is a cry for self-determination, echoing global indigenous struggles.

    Sindhudesh beseeches Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN Human Rights Council, and the International Commission of Jurists to act. Investigate these crimes, impose sanctions, and enforce convention ratification. Prosecute ISI, MI, CTD, and their enablers. Let not another mother bury her child in silence—the world must heed to Sindh’s blood-soaked pleas for justice.

    Why is the Pakistan Army scared of Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s X-Space?

    Vivek Sinha
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    Why is the Pakistan Army scared of Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s X-Space?

    What’s there to be scared of in an “X- Space”? Well, Ask the Pakistan Army. An army that boasts of nuclear weapons and 650,000 soldiers got so scared of the “X-Space” programme scheduled by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on August 30, 2025 that GHQ Rawalpindi suspended all internet services across Balochistan so that the Baloch are not able to speak to the world. “X-Space” is an audio-only digital conference on the microblogging site ‘X’ that allows people to speak with audiences across the world. 

    Hundreds of Baloch women, children and elderly under the aegis of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) continue to protest for the last 46 days braving intense heat, humidity and rain in Islamabad demanding that their family members and friends “disappeared” by the Pakistani forces be released. 

    Social media is flooded with stories of how innocent Baloch men, women and children were abducted by the Pakistani regime and continue to languish in the Pakistani prisons. Hundreds of Baloch mothers have made fervent appeals to the Pakistani authorities that if their family members have been killed in custody the Paki regime at least inform them about such deaths so that the family members perform last religious rites for them. Yet the heartless Pakistani regime has turned a deaf ear to all mercy petitions, tearful appeals by Baloch mothers and children. The mainstream Pakistani media and a large section of the international media have chosen to ignore the issue of Baloch ‘Missing Persons’. 

    It was in this backdrop that the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) was formed under the able leadership of Dr Mahrang Baloch, who became the voice of thousands of vulnerable and powerless Baloch women, children and the elderly. As Mahrang Baloch’s voice echoed throughout the world it petrified Field Marshal Asim Munir. The jittery supremo of Pak Army was running out of explanations for the ‘disappearances’ of Baloch. And Whoosh! The diktat came from GHQ Rawalpindi and Dr Mahrang Baloch, along with other BYC activists, was swiftly arrested on March 22, 2025 and continues to remain in Pakistani prison on frivolous charges. 

    The Baloch have nowhere to go. Entire Balochistan is a prison and every Baloch is a suspect in the eyes of the Pakistan Army. Hayat Baloch, a teenage student was shot dead by the Pakistani forces in 2020 for possessing a pen and a notebook! Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, a practicing doctor, “disappeared” in 2009 and remains “missing” till date. Zarina Marri, a 23 year old school teacher was kidnapped in 2006 along with her child and remains “missing”. Eyewitness accounts say Zarina Marri continues to be repeatedly raped by the Pakistanis in prison.

    Mother and Father of Hayat Baloch crying over the body of their son. Hayat Baloch was a student and was murdered in cold blood by the Pakistani security forces in occupied Balochistan. (Photo: News Intervention)
    Hayat Baloch’s mother and father crying over the body of their son. Hayat Baloch was a student and was murdered in cold blood by the Pakistani security forces in occupied Balochistan. (Photo: News Intervention)

    Over the last two decades more than 250,000 Baloch have gone “missing” or have been forcibly “disappeared” by the Pakistani armed forces. Another 15,000 Baloch have been killed under the “kill and dump” policy of Pakistan Army. These numbers aren’t mere statistics, mind you. Each one of those two lakh fifty thousand Baloch who’s gone “missing” or murdered in cold blood leaves behind a grieving family and a tragic story that remains buried. And buried because Pakistan wants them to remain underground, hidden from the world’s eye and public scrutiny. The Paki regime knows that X-Space called by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) will open a pandora’s box of their crimes. When the brave Baloch women and children pour their hearts out on the X-Space it will become extremely difficult for the world to turn a deaf ear. 

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