QUETTA, BALOCHSITAN: Dr. Shalee Baloch, organizer of the Baloch Women’s Forum, has criticized security arrangements in Turbat, alleging that road closures for VIP protocol and the harassment of doctors and other employees expose what she called a “manufactured narrative” of peace in Balochistan.
In a statement shared on social media platform X, Dr. Baloch alleged that state security forces have repeatedly brought TikTokers from other parts of Pakistan to Turbat, surrounding them with heavy security, restricting their movement, and facilitating what she described as staged content intended to project an image of normalcy, peace and development.
She characterized the practice as a “deliberate colonial tactic,” arguing that authorities tightly control the region, suppress residents’ actual experiences and then produce curated spectacles for public consumption. She said the content presented to cameras does not reflect the reality of Turbat but is instead, in her words, “a carefully managed performance designed to conceal repression.”
Dr. Baloch further said that Baloch civilians continue to face enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, intimidation, militarization and systematic restrictions, claiming that “state-backed death squads” operate with impunity. She said doctors, employees and ordinary residents face harassment and restrictions in their own city, while visitors are escorted through streets she said are cleared and secured for their convenience.
She argued that a city cannot be described as peaceful when its residents are denied basic freedoms while a “manufactured version of peace” is staged for visitors and cameras, adding that no amount of state messaging, security protocol, or staged social media content can conceal what she described as coercion, repression, and control imposed on the people of Balochistan.
