From children to the elderly men to women, and ordinary folks to intellectual minds, no one is safe in Balochistan. People of all ages remain vulnerable to the iron grip of this ruthless state apparatus, enduring enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, fake encounters, and gross state mistreatment. This is no longer unusual—it has become a routine, a norm, a disturbing trend. What makes it even more concerning is when the oppressed begin to internalize this oppression as normal and accept this subjugation as an inescapable fate.
The recent extrajudicial killing of Allah Dad, an MPhil scholar of Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, and the targeted assassination attempt of Sharif Zakir, a prominent educationist from Turbat, are part of a broader trend of eliminating Baloch intelligentsia—intellectuals, scholars, educationists, journalists, poets, political thinkers, and students. By boldly challenging state narratives, exposing state brutality, and speaking truth to power, the Baloch intelligentsia has perpetually invited state wrath, becoming a prime target of state-sponsored oppression.
From Saba Dashtiyari to Zahid Askani, Abdul Razaq to Sajid Hussain, and Rauf Baloch to Allah Dad, the list goes on—the Baloch nation has lost some of its brightest minds under the shadow of this repressive structure. They were the treasures of knowledge, wisdom, creativity, and consciousness. As the brain trust of the nation, they were the architects of national intellectual development. Their irreparable loss is a severe blow to the collective consciousness of the Baloch nation.
The question remains: Why is the state so petrified of the intelligentsia? Because they inspire revolution, mobilize movements, challenge the status quo, question state narratives, and unmask the monstrous nature of the state. They use literature and academia as powerful weapons to resist tyrannical rule. They use knowledge and consciousness as potent tools to encourage oppressed people to question state policies and fight for their rights.
As British Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm once said, “The job of the intellectual is to help people understand what is happening to them.” This is precisely why the Baloch intelligentsia is consistently falling prey to state barbarism—because they are shaping public discourse through their writings, speeches, and activism to expose the colonial machinery among the masses.
The hideous strategy and deliberate tactic of annihilating the Baloch intelligentsia constitute three forms of violence. First, physical violence, such as extrajudicial abductions and assassinations of Baloch intelligentsia. Second, non-physical violence, such as suppressing literacy, academic, and political consciousness. Third, psychological violence, such as creating a climate of fear and compliance to suppress dissenting voices and muzzle enlightening thoughts.
Thus, the recent nefarious state policies do not merely revolve around an assault on intelligentsia but extend beyond that to an assault on education, culture, history, literature, political consciousness, and national identity. It is a coordinated strategy designed to render the Baloch nation educationally, literarily, culturally, intellectually, and politically dull and hollow. The very foundations of the nation are under threat. Silence would be considered a surrender to this impending existential extinction.
Should we wait for the international community to intervene and stop the ongoing Baloch genocide, given the fact that the world is driven by interests? No third party or foreign pressure can guarantee the safety of our national identity and survival. The nation must rely on its own strength, unity, and collective resistance. It is a lonely fight that third parties will join only if it serves their interests. Therefore, we must fulfill our national responsibility by playing our part in protecting our precious intelligentsia and halting the Baloch genocide.
