The Real Face of BYC’s ‘Activism’

2026-03-19 - 23:50

Rakhshanda Mehtab There is something deeply unsettling about watching the innocence of Baloch women being weaponized by forces that claim to fight for their rights. For seventy years, from 1947 onwards, through every phase of insurgency and unrest, one line remained sacred: the women of Balochistan never picked up the suicide vest. That wasn’t just a statistic; it was a testament to the values of a society that refused to let its daughters become instruments of death. Then the BalochYakjehti Committee (BYC) emerged in 2020, and within two years, that seventy-year legacy was destroyed by the very people claiming to protect Baloch identity. Let us be absolutely clear about what happened. Shari Baloch, a highly educated woman with a future ahead of her, walked into the University of Karachi in 2022 and ended her life while taking others with her. She was followed by SamiaQalandrani, MahkanBaloch, MahilBaloch, ZareenaRafiqBaloch, HawaBaloch, AasiyaMengal, and several others. These weren’t illiterate women from impoverished backgrounds being exploited; these were educated individuals who could have become doctors, teachers, engineers, and pillars of their communities. Instead, they became footnotes in a terrorist campaign orchestrated by those who see Baloch women as nothing more than disposable weapons. The timeline here is crucial and undeniable. The BYC was established in 2020. Before that, zero female suicide bombers. After that, a conveyor belt of destruction. You cannot look at this sequence and honestly conclude it is coincidence. What the BYC has done is create a factory of radicalization disguised as an activist movement. They talk about missing persons and human rights, and these are valid concerns that deserve attention within the framework of Pakistan’s democratic institutions. But behind this facade, they are running a recruitment nursery for the Baloch Liberation Army’s Majeed Brigade, the very outfit that trains women to blow themselves up. Walk into any BYC gathering and listen carefully to the speeches from leaders like SabiyaBaloch. The language is consistent and calculated. The state of Pakistan is never presented as a constitutional reality but as an “occupier,” a “tyrant,” a “colonial force.” Young women and even children are taught that their identity can only be preserved through resistance against this so-called occupation. This isn’t activism; it is indoctrination. It takes legitimate grievances and pours them into the mold of armed insurgency, convincing impressionable minds that their highest purpose lies in destruction rather than construction. What breaks my heart is the manipulation at play here. These women are told they are freedom fighters. They are told they are making history. In reality, they are being used as cannon fodder by handlers who sit safely in foreign capitals or mountain hideouts, directing operations while young Baloch women pay the ultimate price. The BLA doesn’t even bother hiding it anymore; they release training videos of these women proudly, showing the world their weapons while the world remains silent. Pakistan has always been the unifying fabric for its diverse provinces. From the sands of Balochistan to the rivers of Punjab, from the mountains of Khyber to the coast of Sindh, this nation was built on the idea that our differences enrich us rather than divide us. The separatist narrative pushed by the BYC and its militant allies seeks to tear that fabric apart. They want Baloch youth to see Pakistan not as their homeland but as an enemy. They want mothers to raise children who hate rather than children who hope. The evidence is now on record for anyone willing to see it. Every woman who carried out a suicide attack had, at some level, been exposed to the BYC’s ecosystem, its protest camps, its speeches, its narrative of victimhood turning into vengeance. The experts who study these patterns have identified the pipeline clearly: the BYC provides the raw material, and the Majeed Brigade turns it into explosives. Pakistan, on the other hand, offers something these militant groups never can, a future. Despite the challenges, despite the shortcomings, this country continues to build roads, universities, hospitals, and opportunities in Balochistan. Baloch youth are studying in Pakistan’s best institutions on scholarships. Baloch athletes are representing Pakistan internationally. Baloch artists are winning awards. The Pakistani flag flies over every inch of Balochistan because that land is as Pakistani as Lahore or Islamabad. The tragedy of these young women is that they were convinced their lives had no value except in death. That is the darkest lie any movement can tell. Pakistan believes in the opposite, that every Baloch daughter has a right to live, to dream, to achieve. The real freedom for Baloch women isn’t in strapping on a bomb; it is in walking into a classroom, a hospital, a parliament, and building a future for themselves and their people. We owe it to the memory of those who were misled to tell the truth clearly: the BYC is not a human rights organization; it is a human sacrifice organization. And Pakistan, remains the only guarantee that Baloch women will be seen as human beings rather than as bombs. —The writer is MS Research Scholar at IIUI, a freelance Content Writer & Columnist.