Why Are Educated Baloch Women Turning to Militancy? 

The Corps Commander of Balochistan asked the question. He may not like the answer.

Thousands of protesters participate in a rally organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee commemorating those killed in the crackdown on the “Baloch Raji Muchi,” Aug. 13, 2024.

During a recent conversation with a group of newly recruited civil servants in Pakistan’s emerging port city of Gwadar, the Corps Commander of Balochistan, Lt. General Rahat Nadeem Ahmed Khan, the province’s highest-ranking military official, asked about the factors driving young, educated women toward militancy. 

In the same discussion, he briefly mentioned prominent Baloch rights activists, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch, both of whom are women. According to those familiar with the exchange, Khan said Sammi Deen’s activism is relatively moderate, acknowledging her stated commitment to addressing the issue of Baloch missing persons within the framework of Pakistan’s Constitution. Despite this admission by a top military official, her name remains on the country’s domestic anti-terrorism watch list, locally known as the Fourth Schedule, for over six months. 

Khan was more critical of Dr. Mahrang Baloch. He called her more radical, while in the same breath, he expressed some hope that she may have changed in prison, where she has been since March 2025. He referenced her recent op-ed in The Guardian, in which Dr. Baloch wrote that the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), the civil rights movement she leads, has remained firmly within Pakistan’s constitutional framework and is committed to resisting human rights violations through peaceful political means. In the same op-ed, Dr. Baloch reiterated that she has consistently condemned all violence in Balochistan and any group that harms innocent people. 

The corps commander later gave a presentation in which he mentioned my name and framed me as a national security threat.

Later, I was asked the same question that Khan had raised by some who were part of that conversation: what is driving young, educated Baloch women toward militancy? 

My short answer is this: the primary driver behind this trend is oppressive state policy, implemented by the military in Balochistan through its proxies. A more detailed explanation points to the disconnect between ordinary Baloch people and policymakers, especially those in Punjab and Islamabad, which has created a dangerous communication gap. The treatment of critical voices – political dissidents such as Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen, as well as rights activists and journalists – as national security threats has further intensified the problem.

For years, the military has tried to control Balochistan through handpicked politicians, often described locally as “artificial leaders,” “war beneficiaries,” or “proxies of the military.” They have always misled power brokers in Punjab and senior military officials about the province’s ground realities. 

It is important to note that the majority of military officers come from Punjab, meaning they have limited understanding of Balochistan’s long-standing grievances and its contentious relationship with the state of Pakistan since 1948. Balochistan has seen four insurgencies in the past; the current one is the fifth and longest, and it represents a continuation of previous cycles of unrest. The province’s artificial leadership, however, has consistently framed the insurgency as purely foreign-driven.

In recent years, this leadership has routinely labeled critical Baloch voices as sympathizers of armed groups, anti-Pakistan elements, or proxies of hostile agencies, and often silenced them through bans, crackdowns, or imprisonment. For example, since March 2025, Dr. Mahrang Baloch has remained behind bars on what many consider weak terrorism-related charges. 

The communication gap between Balochistan and Punjab widened after the controversial 2018 general elections, when the military establishment created the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) overnight and brought it to power.

These politicians lacked public legitimacy and remained disconnected from the real issues facing the people. Instead, they focused on accumulating wealth through corruption and misuse of power, often in the name of patriotism. It was during this period that the insurgency took a more violent turn, and the possibility of meaningful negotiations with disgruntled Baloch youth began to shrink, pushing more young people toward militancy.

A similar, even more troubling, pattern emerged during the 2024 general elections. The elections were widely rigged. The current chief minister of Balochistan, Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, was then part of the caretaker government responsible for ensuring free and fair elections, but resigned just weeks before the vote, apparently violating Article 224(1B) of Pakistan’s Constitution, which bars caretaker officials from contesting elections. Despite this, he ran and won the election to become chief minister. 

Once in office, he has used significant state resources to target Baloch rights activists, the BYC, Baloch nationalist parties, and journalists, branding them as anti-state, militant sympathizers, or agents of hostile agencies.........

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