Pakistani rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch has been included in Time magazine's Time100 Next list for 2024. She has been recognised for her peaceful advocacy of Baloch rights.
The prestigious list spotlights 100 emerging leaders globally who are shaping the future of various fields, including politics, science, health, and human rights. Candidates were selected across various categories including artists, phenoms, advocates, leaders and innovators.
Dr Mahrang, a 31-year-old doctor and ethnic Baloch activist, first became involved in human rights activism after the enforced disappearance of her father, Abdul Gaffar Langove, in 2009. Langove, also a prominent activist, had been abducted when Mahrang was just 16. Two years later, his tortured body was found. Since then, Mahrang has been at the forefront of the Baloch rights movement, advocating for the safe return of missing persons and demanding justice for families affected by enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.
Mahrang Baloch leads the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a civil rights movement advocating for justice and accountability for victims of enforced disappearances. In December 2023, she led hundreds of women in a march to Islamabad to protest the disappearances of their male relatives, drawing widespread attention to the ongoing crisis in Balochistan. Earlier this year, she also organised the Baloch Raji Muchi gathering in Gwadar, a strategic port city, aiming to unite the Baloch people against state-led human rights abuses.
Including Mahrang Baloch in its list of advocates but not leaders, Time noted: "With many of the community’s men missing or dead, women like Mahrang are now at the helm advocating peacefully for Baloch rights."
Mahrang told Time that the momentum she has built will carry on. “There is a lot of threat. There is a lot of oppression,”
Despite the ongoing challenges and threats, it said Mahrang remains steadfast in her commitment, telling the magazine, “Still ... we will struggle for humanity.”