Ever since the 1970s, the Baloch people have faced oppression, death and killings at the hands of the Pakistani state. The extent of the atrocity and the reactions of the Baloch have both been suppressed in Pakistani media.
On May 26, an incident occurred that sent shock waves throughout the population of Makran. News emerged of the violent death of a woman and her 4-year old daughter from Turbat, the largest city of Makran.
What appeared to be an armed robbery was actually a death squad, supported by elements of the Pakistani deep state, seeking to eliminate anyone who spoke out. Malik Naz, the mother, was one such person and so the squad had been sent to silence her. At 3 am armed men, entered a home, ordered all the men outside and shot at Malik Naz. The locals prevented anyone from leaving and captured one of the ‘robbers’ and he turned out to be a member of the death squad.
The Pakistan army and intelligence services have increasingly outsourced the job of “killing and abduction” to these death squads: criminal groups who are paid and allowed to carry heavy weapons and terrorize local people.
While Baloch social media activists are using #JusticeForBramsh and #JusticeForBramshBaloch hashtags to demand justice, like any other news from Balochistan, there is no discussion of this on prime time Pakistani media slots.
