Mahrang Baloch featured on list of Time magazine’s “2024 Time100 Next”

Dr Mahrang Baloch, leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, has been named in Time magazine’s “2024 Time100 Next” list for her advocacy of Baloch rights.

The magazine announced her selection on Wednesday, recognising her peaceful activism and the December 2023 march to Islamabad, where she and hundreds of women demanded “justice for their husbands, sons, and brothers.”

"There is a lot of threat. There is a lot of oppression," she stated in her interview with Time.

Baloch Long March was a protest led by Mahrang Baloch and other women from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee in December 2023, aimed at highlighting human rights violations and enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

This march was prompted by the increasing incidents of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the region.

Mahrang shared the news on her official Instagram, posting a photo of the magazine featuring her name stating, "I am deeply honored and delighted to be named among the top 100 emerging leaders of the world by TIME. I dedicate this recognition to all Baloch women human rights defenders and families of victims of forcefully disappeared people."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mahrang Baloch (@mahrangbaloch__)

Mahrang became an activist at the age of 16 when her father, Abdul Gaffar Langove, went missing. During her early activism, she burned her school books in front of the Quetta Press Club to protest her father's disappearance.In July 2011, Abdul Gaffar Langove’s body was discovered, showing signs of torture.

Mahrang's brother, Nasir Ahmed, a student was forcibly disappeared on 15 December 2017. Through Mahrang's persistent efforts and campaigning, her brother was ultimately released after more than three months.

Other significant individuals featured on the Time100 Next list include Nahid Islam, a student leader from Bangladesh. He spearheaded protests that led to the removal of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Additionally, Hamada Shaqoura, a food blogger from Gaza, has taken on the role of a "wartime food blogger" since the onset of conflict in October. Shaqoura previously owned a restaurant in Gaza.