The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has released a photograph of Mahikan Baloch, claiming she was part of their elite Majid Brigade that led an attack on a military convoy in Kalat, Balochistan. This comes amidst intensified operations by the Pakistan Army in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The BLA claims Mahikan Baloch joined their suicide squad four years ago. This incident is part of a series of attacks by Baloch fighters and the TTP against Pakistani security forces in recent weeks.
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00:00Good evening, the Baloch Liberation Army has released a photograph of a female suicide
00:06bomber who was a part of the attack on a military convoy in Kalat in Balochistan.
00:13So the Baloch Liberation Army claims Mahikant Baloch led the attack on a military convoy
00:18in Kalat and that's the image that you see on your television screen.
00:22Are these part, is this a part of a wider psychological warfare that the Baloch freedom
00:27fighters are waging against the Pakistan Army?
00:31The BLA released this picture saying Mahikant Baloch was part of their elite Majid Brigade
00:37and this is the name that the Baloch Liberation Army has increasingly been talking about.
00:42The Majid Brigade is a suicide squad that the BLA calls its elite squad, the elite Majid
00:48Brigade.
00:49The BLA has claimed Mahikant Baloch is from Gwadar or was from Gwadar and had joined the
00:54Majid Brigade of the BLA four years ago.
00:58The Pakistan Army in recent days has intensified its operations both in Balochistan and in
01:04Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
01:05There are additional areas that are now being placed under curfew, there are internet curbs
01:09that are being put in place ahead of sustained military operations as part of Pakistan Army's
01:16Azme Ishtekam or that's the latest operation.
01:18But as Pakistan Army intensifies its military operations and crackdown on Baloch activists
01:24including Dr. Maharang Baloch, the military arm of the Baloch resistance, the Baloch Liberation
01:30Army has released these pictures of Mahikant Baloch, a young Baloch woman from Gwadar.
01:36The Baloch Liberation Army claims she joined the Majid Brigade in 2021.
01:41She is believed to have detonated herself in front of a military convoy in Kalat.
01:47The Majid Brigade has also released a video of her action.
01:51Incidentally, this month, the month of March has seen intense operations by the BLA, also
01:57the TTP, that's Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and that is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against
02:03the Pakistani security forces.
02:04So it wasn't just the hijack of the Jaffar Express, they've targeted a military convoy.
02:09There have been a series of strikes that have taken place, more than 50.
02:14And this is what Pakistani media is reporting, more than 50 strikes on Pakistani security
02:19forces in Balochistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
02:23Some reports are talking about coordinated attacks being mounted by Baloch fighters in
02:28Balochistan and TTP in KPK.
02:32But this isn't the first time that Baloch women suicide bombers have led the fight against
02:38Pakistan Army and Pakistan's occupation of Balochistan.
02:42Take, for example, Shari Baloch.
02:44On the 26th of April in 2022, Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two and an educated
02:52woman.
02:53Now most of these suicide bombers are educated women.
02:56Now Shari Baloch was a mother of two and she carried out a suicide bombing that happened
03:00at the Karachi University's Confucius Center and that killed three Chinese nationals and
03:05their Pakistani driver.
03:07The BLA claimed that Shari Baloch was their first female suicide bomber and that marked
03:14a significant shift in Baloch operations against the Pakistan Army.
03:17Then Sumaya Kalandari Baloch.
03:19That was in 2023.
03:21On the 24th of June, Sumaya targeted a Pakistan military convoy in Turbat in Balochistan.
03:27Again, the Majid Brigade claimed responsibility, identifying her as the Fidaeen or the suicide
03:34squad lead.
03:35Casualty details, of course, vary in that attack.
03:38Pakistani officials reported one policeman was killed, two were injured, but BLA claimed
03:42that the Pakistani casualties were much higher.
03:45Then there was Mahal Baloch and this was in 2024, 26th of August 2024, Mahal Baloch attacked
03:53a Pakistani paramilitary base and this was in Belap.
03:57This was again a coordinated BLA multi-pronged offensive.
04:01The group released a photograph confirming her as the suicide bomber.
04:05And this is an indication, and there have been others, this is an indication that increasingly
04:10there are women who are leading this offensive.
04:15And as Pakistan Army prepares to fight this war on ground, unleashing a wave of harsh
04:20repression as the Baloch fighters put it in Balochistan, shooting at, killing at point
04:27blank range in some instances, unarmed protesters, arresting unarmed resistance or people like
04:35Dr. Maharaj Baloch, an activist nominated for a Nobel Prize for peaceful protest for
04:41an independent Balochistan or calling for the stopping of Pakistan Army's atrocities
04:47in Balochistan for the release of those who have been a part of enforced disappearances.
04:53Many say that the Baloch fighters are now intensifying their operations and the worst
04:59is still to come for the Pakistani security forces, not just in Balochistan, but also
05:05in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
05:07In midst of all this, Pakistan Army is talking about, or at least some voices considered
05:12very close to the Pakistani military terror complex or Pakistani deep state, they're talking
05:17about airstrikes in Afghanistan.
05:20So Pakistan is now preparing to fight a war on multiple fronts in Balochistan, against
05:26Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in KPK or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and strike inside Afghanistan.
05:34Joining me for more on this is Professor Brahma Chilani, a very well-respected strategic
05:38affairs analyst who keeps a hawk eye on developments across the region, he's a geostrategist on
05:44the show.
05:45Professor Chilani, BLS released the picture of a woman suicide bomber, Mahikant Baloch.
05:50There have been other women suicide bombers that we were talking about, but is this a
05:54message, the timing of this release of this picture, the operations on ground, the peaceful
06:00protests, what do you make of what's happening in Balochistan, sir?
06:04The use of suicide bombers by Baloch militant groups is actually a relatively recent development.
06:14Only in recent years have Baloch militant groups employed suicide bombers.
06:21They began with male suicide bombers, and most recently it's the female suicide bombers
06:28that have been pressed into service.
06:31The reason is obvious, increased desperation and frustration among Baloch people, and coupled
06:40with that is the increased Pakistani military repression in Balochistan.
06:46So these two factors have contributed to the increasing use of suicide bombers, and now
06:55the role of female suicide bombers is becoming important, especially to inflict maximum damage
07:02and generate widespread fear, because it's very difficult to control female suicide bombers.
07:12The tension of security forces tends to be on young males, but when females also engage
07:20in suicide bombings and suicide attacks, that makes the task of security forces in Balochistan
07:28or for example in Karachi and Sindh far more difficult.
07:33And in fact, this is the only way that Baloch Liberation Army and other Baloch militant
07:38groups have been able to target Chinese interests, because to target Chinese interests, they
07:44have to rely on increasingly sophisticated methods, because the Chinese interests are
07:51protected by rings of security, not one ring, two rings, at times there are four or five
07:57rings of security around any Chinese project or even around Chinese nationals.
08:02So to penetrate several security rings, Baloch militant groups need to use innovative methods.
08:14Mr. Chilani, has the Pakistan Army so far been caught flat-footed and without any new
08:20ideas on how to deal with this fresh wave of freedom struggle, highly educated, middle-class
08:27men and women, you know Dr. Allahnazar Baloch for example, Dr. Mehrang Baloch, a doctor,
08:34so both the armed resistance and the peaceful resistance are being led by educated people.
08:40Does the Pakistan Army have one, ideas and two, adequate funds to mount operations like
08:48either Zarb-e-Azm in the past or Radd-ul-Fasad, what do you make of this Azm-e-Ishtikam operation,
08:54has that yielded any results or is that likely to yield any results the way Pakistan security
08:58forces are moving forward?
08:59Well, you raise a very important issue, there are two aspects to it, one that the Pakistani
09:08military is pretty stretched in Pakistan, it's involved in operations in several parts of
09:16Pakistan because there is widespread discontent in Pakistan against the Pakistani state,
09:22especially the Pakistani security establishment. The resentment against the Pakistan military is
09:29apparent across Pakistan apart from Punjab, so the Pakistan military is already pretty
09:39stretched. The second is that the repression by the Pakistan military in Balochistan is only
09:46fueling greater resentment and greater resistance to Pakistani occupation of Balochistan the way
09:56most Baloch see the presence of Pakistani forces in Balochistan. They see their province under
10:05illegal occupation of Pakistan and the Baloch conflict as we all know is deeply rooted in
10:11grievances related to the province's political and economic marginalization as well as the
10:19exploitation of Balochistan's natural resources. Balochistan has been kept underdeveloped
10:26and marginalized, so these two factors together are making things very difficult for the Pakistani
10:32military because the more and more forces they pour into Balochistan and the more repression
10:37they let loose, the more human rights abuses they commit, they're only facing greater resistance
10:45to their presence there.
10:47So tell me this, sir, you talk about the Pakistan army being stretched already from Gilgit to
10:53Gwadar, they appear to be stretched barring of course Pakistan's Punjab province for now at least
10:58but Pakistani commentators are already talking about mounting airstrikes inside Afghanistan
11:04and may not just be along the AFPAC border or the Durand line. If Pakistan is to mount
11:11intelligence-based operations deeper inside Afghanistan and in KPK and in Balochistan,
11:17can they afford to open so many fronts given that their convoys, their routes, their supplies
11:23would be so vulnerable to attacks both in Balochistan and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?
11:30It's a good point because as far as the Baloch problem is concerned for Pakistani state,
11:37the Baloch problem actually also relates to Iran. A part of Balochistan is also under Iran's
11:47rule and Pakistan has blamed Baloch groups operating across the border in Iran for carrying
11:57out attacks on Balochistan in Pakistan. So carrying out airstrikes in Afghanistan is not going to do
12:06much even carrying out airstrikes in Iran as Pakistan did in response to Iran's airstrikes
12:14on militant sanctuaries that Iran said were being nurtured, were being actually
12:24facilitated by the Pakistani military establishment. Even those airstrikes did little
12:31to contain the Baloch problem. I think the real issue is this, that the root causes of the
12:39conflict in Balochistan need to be addressed by the Pakistani state otherwise we will see what
12:45we have seen in the last couple of years or last three four years which is growing escalation of
12:51this conflict. And that's escalating not just in Balochistan but also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
12:57of Pakistan where Imran Khan's supporters continue to remain aggressive. Pakistan army hasn't even
13:02been able to tame Imran Khan who is in jail, remains defiant and that's another Achilles
13:08heel for the Pakistan army. Professor Chilani for joining me here on India Today, many thanks.
13:13The Punjab and Haryana high court has come down heavily on the Punjab police for the delay
13:17in registering an FIR in the case of assaulting an army officer and his son in Patiala. The high
13:23court has directed the Punjab police to file an affidavit explaining the delay in the registration
13:28of the FIR and name the officer responsible for this delay. We reiterate the need for a fair and
13:36honest investigation in a transparent and a very time-bound manner to punish the guilty and restore
13:46faith in the system. All possible steps are being taken to ensure that the Indian army officer
13:55Colonel Pushpendra Singh Bhat who was assaulted upon by the police personnel gets due justice.
14:02I would like assure all that the Indian army remains fully committed to pursuing the case to
14:12its logical conclusion. The continuous contact between the army authorities and the civil
14:17administration has helped in speedy resolution of the matter and ensuring delivery of justice to the
14:22aggrieved army officer. The concerned police officials have been placed under suspension
14:27and departmental proceedings for major penalty have been initiated. The police officials have
14:31been transferred out of district Patiala in order to ensure that the investigations can be
14:36conducted in a fair manner. Any person who has assaulted the serving army officer shall be
14:41dealt with severely in accordance with law. The criminal investigation shall be completed swiftly
14:46so that the culprits are brought to book soon.
14:51And joining me now on Five Live, Jaswinder Kaur Bhat, wife of Colonel Bhat who's led
14:56this fight for justice. Also with me is Shashikant, former DGP of Punjab and Kapil
15:02Sankhla, an advocate in the Supreme Court for a legal perspective on this big story.
15:09Ms. Bhat, first glimmer of hope that you will get justice with the Honorable High Court
15:14directing the police to explain the delay in filing the FIR?
15:19Yeah, Devgavind, I have appealed because I was not getting any way out. I have finally
15:25approached the High Court and I'm looking for justice for my husband and his uniform
15:31and his pride, which I will not leave until and unless I get the justice.
15:38Mr. Sankhla, does the police action smack of delaying tactics, assault that took place on
15:45the night of 13th and 14th and an FIR that was registered perhaps a week later and that too
15:50not on the basis of the complaint filed by Colonel Bhat, a decorated serving army officer
15:56but on the complaint of a dhaba owner? Well, this is wrong on so many levels I do not
16:04even know where to start. First and foremost, there was a delay in registering of the FIR
16:11and the poor lady in the middle of the night was made to run from pillar to post.
16:17This is in complete contravention to various judgments of the High Court and the Punjab
16:22Mariana High Court and the Honorable Supreme Court, including in Lalitha Kumari that said
16:28that the FIR will be registered irrespective of the jurisdiction, will be registered immediately
16:34without further delay and it would be a contempt of the orders of the Honorable Supreme Court if
16:39the FIR is not registered. Not only the delay here but the purposefully attempt of the police
16:49officers to digress the issue by getting a third party FIR and also making a lady run from pillar
16:56to post is absolutely shocking. What is even shocking today is that those 12 officers have
17:03merely been suspended and not arrested despite cogent evidence. You see that this is a case of
17:10attempt to murder, grievous injury, etc, etc. Let's take this step by step, sir. Since you've
17:19shed legal light on this, I want to bring in Mr. Shashikant. You know, the Punjab Police
17:24is so well respected. It's a police force that has tremendous experience in tackling terror,
17:31in keeping our country safe. Why would the Punjab Police behave in the manner in which it did?
17:38What is your appreciation, sir? You've led this police force.
17:42Yeah, to start with, I'll say that hats off to the lady, Mrs. Bhatt. She is really courageous
17:48in the way she has taken this particular fight. I'll say that hats off to her. May God bless her
17:54with a long and happy life. And secondly, talking about this particular incident,
17:59certainly it's shocking, it's horrible. But what happens is an ailment, I think, which has crept
18:06into not only Punjab Police, but I think most of the police forces all over the country.
18:11In each and every state, in each and every district, even, they always form a small group
18:17of this kind of persons, who are basically hoodlums, who just try to take law into their
18:23hands. And they are used for this kind of nefarious things like a shootout, like an
18:29encounter, etc. And then they are protected. And this power, this protection goes into their heads.
18:36They think that they become law unto themselves. And they behave, misbehave, and grossly misbehave
18:43on such incidents. Thank you.
18:46Ms. Baat, explain why, even though a magisterial inquiry was ordered and under tremendous pressure,
18:53considering you were running from pillar to post and on that night, you know, in the same clothes
18:58that you had slept in, because your husband had been assaulted, your son had been assaulted,
19:04charges that they were under influence of liquor was being levelled on them.
19:07But even after that, you did not get justice till the time you approached the governor.
19:13Why does that not give you hope that there is a magisterial inquiry that was ordered?
19:17Why is it that Colonel Baat and you seek a CBI investigation, madam?
19:22Yeah, I'll tell you, the way as I told you about the whole incident earlier,
19:27as a lady, my husband being into that post is not the question. Question is any lady
19:33who has run to save his husband or son, and has approached SSP the whole night. And when I go
19:41approach him, and I tell him, I'm sorry that I'm coming in my nightwear, but I didn't have any
19:45option. And he sends me from one police station to another police station, not feeling that how
19:51would she feel going in her nightwear right and left, who has to go and be with her husband.
19:57And the way of torturous thing SSP Nanak did with me was, it was so torturous that from night 11
20:05till 1 o'clock, he made me shuffle from one police station to another. It was shocking.
20:10The next day, they called the culprits to the office and then tell me to tell them to ask for
20:16forgiveness from me. And when they asked for forgiveness, I told them just go out, I am not
20:20going to forgive you for what you have done. And then in front of DSP Satnam, their own senior
20:26police officials, these guys tells me that you are going to be in Patiala, I'm going to be in
20:31Patiala and your son is here, so watch out. So inside the police station, they had guts to
20:38scare me. And then SSP Nanak has been informed by that. And still they were roaming around without
20:44their name being mentioned in suspension. And they were using the government vehicles and the guards
20:50and roaming around. The guard is not needed by people who guard us. Guard is needed to people
20:56who are being threatened by this. I want to say one thing on this. This is not a fight between
21:06army or police. It is a fight between these few police people who have made it into a gundaraj.
21:13And this is not their doing. It is their seniors who have not been able to groom them properly
21:18and giving them a shield that you can do anything and you'll be escaped. There are so many cases
21:24pending on these four officers in Patiala that justice is given to anybody or everything has
21:32been compromised and settled by SSP himself. That's a very pertinent point you're making
21:36Ms. Baatman. And he told me in his office, the SSP tells me compromise is only the option, ma'am.
21:43This is what he tells me after seeing that brutal beating of all these people.
21:48One uniform to another uniform. One uniform to another uniform. It just defies logic. But I want
21:55to once again bring in Mr. Sakhla for the legal perspective. It pains when SSP saw all the videos
22:05and evidence and still never, when he suspended, my husband could only recognize four SHOs.
22:11Rest were told that they were the officers who said the people were involved. But these four
22:17people, he could not take four SHOs name on suspension. He could not tell the media why SSP,
22:23who is the district law and order in charge in Patiala, could not take action and take their
22:28name. What was the reason? Mr. Sakhla, that's a very pertinent point, you know, Ms. Baat is making
22:34that fine, the inspectors made a mistake. Fine, the inspectors were seen as these, you know,
22:40encounter specialists. But at least an SSP, a senior police officer, an IPS officer is expected
22:47to restrain them. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. So this is a failure of the system,
22:52sir, is it not? This is an absolute disgrace, as I was saying. You see the senior officers,
22:59only because the lady had the gumption, the power to make some noise and take help of media,
23:06is now in a way threatening her that you settle this, otherwise your family will also stay here.
23:14This officer should also be suspended, strict action should be taken. His worthy should be
23:19taken off because this gives the wrong message to the police that don't worry, we'll suspend you
23:24for some time, but your officers will take this. Understand this attempt to murder with dangerous
23:29weapon is punishable with up to 10 years of imprisonment. And the officer is saying doesn't
23:37matter, compromise this. And even now they are only getting suspended and nobody's getting
23:42arrested. What happens if some action, some illegal action is taken by them? I don't even
23:48understand how under the circumstances, the hospital could have given them a clean chit.
23:53So that also needs to be checked because you also know with the other case that took place,
23:58that how even the hospitals are being manipulated when that boy was arrested.
24:02So they've done this because now they're saying there were two people who were arrested. This was
24:08the team which was DIG in the morning had awarded 10 lakh rupees for an encounter and he had given
24:15them promotions that they will be promoted. And these were the same team which had come to Rajendra
24:21Hospital and then they were drunk, stayed wearing their khaki trousers and civil shirts. And then the
24:26police have to make up a story that they had come there in their civil dress to catch a drug peddler
24:32with a headlight, with a police vehicle because they didn't want to tell their identity and but
24:38then identity was to be hided with the police vehicle which was flashing on the light. You can
24:43see it in the video. You know who better than Mr. Shashikant to shed light on whether this is a
24:48systemic failure, not just of you know police personnel high on their power but even an IPS
24:56officer who's expected to rein them in, sir. Is this a failure? I will not say collapse but a
25:03failure of the system up the chain of command. Loyalty to lanyard became more important than
25:08loyalty to justice, sir. It's a totally failure of system. I'll admit there. And to add this thing,
25:16I'll say that these hoodlums, some of these hoodlums, they become so powerful. In the past,
25:21I have seen several incidents where these hoodlums have the audacity of getting the SSP and
25:27even DIGs transferred out because they refuse to fall in their line. This is the state of affairs.
25:33That's why I say it's a systematic failure which I think unfortunately nobody is taking any action
25:39on it. There have been innumerable sort of reports on how the police morale should be increased,
25:46their training, etc. etc. These reports are just catching dust. No action is taken. And again,
25:52it's all leading to a systematic failure. Seeking a CBI inquiry, I hope truth prevails.
25:58For joining me here, Ms. Bhat, Mr. Sankala and Mr. Shashikant, many, many thanks.