The Architecture of Betrayal: From Nawab Nouroz Khan to Dr Mahrang Baloch
A History of Broken Promises, Faceless Courts, and Military Violence in Balochistan
By Rasal Jan Baloch
Eighty years of occupational rule have exposed the deep structural cowardice of the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani military establishment. This regime consistently hides its atrocities behind a manufactured myth of bravery and guardianship. In reality, its control over Balochistan is sustained entirely through terrorism, deception, and brute force. The latest testament to this systemic fear is the 14-month arbitrary detention of Dr. Mahrang Baloch. A medical doctor by profession and an unyielding voice for human rights, Dr. Baloch was arrested during a peaceful sit-in protest in Quetta. Alongside her Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) companions, Beebow Baloch, Gulzaadi Baloch, Beebarg Baloch, and Shahji Sibgatallah, she remains locked away with no formal charges and zero credible evidence. In the eyes of this artificial state, her only “crime” is her fearless exposure of the military’s ongoing campaign of enforced disappearances, systematic torture and extrajudicial killings. Under the inverted logic of this regime, demanding the basic right to live is branded an act of terrorism.
State-Sanctioned Torture in the Dark
The cruelties inflicted upon Dr. Mahrang Baloch and the BYC leadership extend far beyond unlawful incarceration. The state has weaponised the prison system to systematically break their spirits and bodies. Dr. Mahrang Baloch has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, entirely cut off from meaningful human contact. Despite suffering from a severe, agonising spinal condition that directly threatens her permanent physical mobility, prison authorities intentionally withheld necessary medical treatment for over six months, forcing her to self-medicate in a dark cell. Only when her condition became critical was she secretly transferred to a hospital, hidden completely from her family and legal counsel. This deliberate denial of medical care is not mere negligence; it is slow, state-sanctioned torture disguised as detention.
Furthermore, the state has unleashed a relentless campaign of psychological and legal terror against the broader BYC movement. Fabricated, draconian charges of terrorism, sedition and murder under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance have been slapped onto peaceful human rights defenders. The state’s security apparatus routinely fabricates First Information Reports (FIRs), falsely accusing unarmed women and students of leading “armed mobs,” even when video evidence clearly proves that state forces were the only ones firing live ammunition into peaceful crowds. To entirely isolate these prisoners of conscience, the military has extended its wrath to the legal community, handing down retaliatory, multi-year prison sentences to independent human rights lawyers who dared to defend the BYC in court.
Colonial Exploitation and the “Kill and Dump” Policy
While the ruling elite in Islamabad dismantles and sells off the country’s assets piece by piece, their exploitation of our homeland follows an even more predatory, colonial pattern. The military establishment treats Balochistan as a mere commercial transaction, trading our ancestral land over the spilt blood of the Baloch people. Our soil is exceptionally rich in rare earth minerals and natural resources, yet the Baloch nation is deliberately left starving, stripped of the basic means of survival, civil liberties, and fundamental human dignity. To sustain this economic plunder, the occupying forces rely on a cold-blooded “kill and dump” policy designed to silence dissent and crush an indigenous resistance that has burned fiercely since the forced annexation of our sovereign territory on March 27, 1948.
To hide these atrocities from the international community, the state has enforced a total media blackout across Balochistan, heavily militarising the region to block any independent investigation. When on-ground human rights defenders and the leadership of the BYC stepped forward to document these state-sponsored abuses, the regime responded by throwing them into secret prisons. Today, they remain confined within the walls of Hudda District Prison in Quetta, completely cut off from the world.
The Sham of “Faceless” Trials
The absolute collapse of the state’s legal framework is laid bare by the farcical court trials now being weaponised against the BYC leadership inside the jail. These are faceless, non-transparent proceedings where the judge, the prosecutor, and the accused remain entirely invisible through forced, broken video-link setups. The public, international observers and independent journalists are completely barred from accessing these secret trials. This is not a judicial process; it is a grotesque display of institutional lawlessness designed to formalise the intimidation of political prisoners, prompting our detained leaders to launch internal sit-in protests against these sham trials.
The state’s reliance on cowardly deception remains entirely unchanged. Recently, Nadia Baloch, the sister of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, organised a sit-in protest outside the Hudda Jail in Quetta, demanding a brief meeting with her detained loved ones. Authorities promised that if the protest were dismantled and the road were opened, the meeting would be facilitated. Yet, as soon as the road cleared, the promise was broken. The families were turned away, insulted, and met with a heavy deployment of security forces.
A Legacy of Treachery
This betrayal follows a deeply entrenched historical pattern of state treachery. During the 1950s, resistance against the state’s oppressive policies, the legendary elder, revolutionary freedom struggler and tribal chief Nawab Nouroz Khan Zarakzai took to the rugged mountains to lead a guerrilla campaign for Baloch sovereignty against the tyrants who sought to occupy Balochistan. Unable to defeat him on the battlefield, the Pakistani state resorted to holy deception, sending representatives with the Holy Quran to swear a solemn oath promising amnesty, safety and negotiations if he laid down his weapons.
Trusting the sacred oath, Nawab Nouroz and his fighters descended from the mountains. The state immediately betrayed its word, capturing the ageing leader and throwing him into prison. His sons and closest companions were subsequently sent to the gallows and executed on July 15, 1960, at Sukkur and Hyderabad jails, while Nawab Nouroz himself died in captivity on December 25, 1962.
From the martyrdom of Nawab Nouroz’s family in 1960 to the illegal cage holding Dr. Mahrang Baloch today at Hudda Jail, the artificial state of Pakistan has offered the Baloch nation nothing but broken oaths, institutional exploitation and bloodshed.
The Death of Justice: A Puppet Verdict
The Pakistani military establishment has now orchestrated the life imprisonment of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other BYC leaders through a puppet Anti-Terrorism Court, signalling the absolute, final and catastrophic collapse of justice in Balochistan. Following 15 months of draconian detention and secretive, “faceless” trials, this verdict stands as a brutal, desperate establishment move to suppress indigenous dissent.
This monstrous ruling lays bare an undeniable, agonising truth: in the eyes of the military state of Pakistan, the Baloch people are treated strictly as a threat and a liability, while Balochistan is viewed solely as a profitable asset to be plundered.
There is absolutely no space for justice within this corrupt legal apparatus. The judiciary operates not as an independent branch of law, but as a direct extension of military tyranny, designed to systematically crush human rights defenders, silence peaceful political movements and criminalise anyone who dares to stand in solidarity with the Baloch nation.
We completely and unequivocally condemn this barbaric act by the military state of Pakistan and its submissive, weaponised court of law. This is a grotesque caricature of a judicial process a chilling warning that under this occupation, demanding basic human dignity is met with life behind bars. Yet, the military regime must understand that ideas cannot be imprisoned, and freedom cannot be shackled. The Baloch nation will continue to resist this tyranny with unrelenting intellectual clarity and fierce determination until complete dignity, respect, and liberation are achieved.
About the Author: Rasal Jan Baloch is a pro-freedom Baloch political & Human Rights Activist
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Baloch Warna News. The publication provides a platform for diverse perspectives.
