Eroding Values: How Extremists Twist Baloch Culture To Recruit Women – OpEd
Recently, separatist groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) have started using Baloch women as suicide bombers. This is a troubling change in their tactics. Although these groups say they are fighting for resistance, they are actually exploiting women and twisting Baloch culture, which has always respected the honor and dignity of women.
In the past, the Baloch society was known for protecting women. Now, however, terrorists twist cultural values to radicalize young people, target university students, and push vulnerable women into violence. This shows an apparent attempt to weaken the community’s core values.
This exploitation happens because of both manipulation from within and help from outside. The arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was linked to a foreign intelligence agency, shows that outside forces fund, train, and support these groups. With this outside help, the groups have stepped up their tactics, including using women as weapons to create a bigger impact.
Zarina Rafiq, also known as Tarang Maho is a tragic example of these methods. She started as a volunteer with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). However, she was slowly radicalized, cut off from others, and secretly taken to a terrorist hideout under the false promise of a “workshop.” There, she was threatened and broken down mentally. She died with her handlers when she tried to carry out a suicide attack in Nokundi.
Zarina’s story is not the only one. In 2022, Shari Baloch, a teacher and mother of two, carried out a bombing at Karachi University. Mahil Baloch was arrested in Quetta with explosives, and Adeela Baloch was stopped in Turbat and later said militants had manipulated her before she was rescued. These stories show a pattern of grooming, brainwashing, isolation, blackmail, and psychological control.
Using women as bombers shows how desperate and weak these terrorist groups have become. It means they have fewer male recruits and are under more pressure. Women are used because they attract less suspicion, can move more freely, and make a bigger impact in propaganda. This is a cold, calculated decision that shows a lack of morals.
At the same time, terrorist leaders stay safe and far from danger. Dr. Allah Nazar lives abroad, calling for “revolution” while sending Baloch girls to their deaths. Propagandists praise female attackers, ignore their suffering, and only get angry when the state investigates. This selective outrage is meant to protect the guilty and blame those who try to keep people safe.
These tactics have two primary goals. First, they are meant to get attention and destabilize Pakistan through hybrid warfare, with help from foreign intelligence and psychological operations.
Second, these tactics are meant to weaken Baloch society from the inside by destroying honor, breaking family ties, and harming cultural identity.
Groups that use women as bombers are not fighting for freedom. They are predators working for foreign interests. They attack families’ minds and manipulate young women. The stories of Zarina, Shari, Mahal, and Adeela show a harsh reality: Baloch women suffer most from this terrorism. This is not just a series of tragedies, but a planned method: break women emotionally, cut them off, threaten their dignity, brainwash them, and use them as disposable tools.
This attack on women goes against both Baloch tradition and fundamental human values. In Islam and Baloch culture, women stand for honor and life. Wars have been fought for the respect of one woman. Now, those who claim to defend Baloch identity are disgracing themselves. Zarina’s story is a warning: How long will Baloch daughters be sacrificed for militants’ ambitions, while leaders send women to die and keep their own children safe abroad? The real courage must come from those who exploit others, not from the vulnerable.
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