Some time ago, I stumbled upon Dhurandhar on Netflix. It is a highly publicised Bollywood release nowadays. What followed was an exhausting, three-hour-plus marathon of blatant cinematic propaganda. While the film relies on heavily fabricated storylines, it also attempts something far more dangerous: it twists the highly sensitive geopolitical reality of Balochistan. The filmmakers, who are famous for making anti-Pakistan and pro-Modi movies, clumsily portray violent Baloch insurgents as romanticised, oppressed rebels fighting a tyrannical state. The genuine socio-economic grievances of the Baloch people are real, but the armed militants pulling the triggers are not their saviours. Proxies, driven by a calculated Indo-Israel nexus, are weaponising local suffering for external agendas. Dhurandhar attempts to sell a deeply flawed, manufactured narrative to a global audience through Netflix, which their media failed to do.
But the truth is completely different. On-ground reality is not a heroic cinematic struggle. It is a story of pure terror, cold-bloodedness, and external manipulation.
Let’s be clear that the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) does not protect Baloch citizens. Instead, it terrifies them. The group has moved away from old tribal codes. It now focuses heavily on soft civilian targets to create maximum fear. Brutal train attacks in Quetta are prime examples of this cruelty. Militants targeted innocent passengers and daily wage labourers at railway stations. These people had nothing to do with the state or politics. By killing regular citizens, the BLA has shown its true face as a ruthless terrorist group.
Dhurandhar attempts to sell a deeply flawed, manufactured narrative to a global audience through Netflix, which their media failed to do.
The most disturbing change in their tactics is using women as suicide bombers. This goes completely against traditional Baloch culture, which treats women with immense respect and keeps them away from war. BLA targets educated women in universities. Recruiters look for individuals dealing with personal grief or anger. They use intense psychological grooming and fake promises of glory to brainwash them. Majeed Brigade uses these radicalised women because they can easily pass through security checks. This practice destroys families and ruins the social fabric of Baloch society.
It’s an open secret that sophisticated weapons and large funds used by the Baloch insurgents do not come from thin air. ISPR has repeatedly shared evidence of foreign funding. This network aligns with the famous offensive-defence doctrine mentioned by Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who openly spoke about exploiting Pakistan’s internal vulnerabilities. BLA acts as a direct proxy in this regional geopolitical game.
This proxy war heavily targets economic progress. Militants continuously attack major development projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Reko Diq mining project. They murder foreign engineers and bomb local infrastructure. If these projects succeed, they will bring billions in investment, better schools, and thousands of jobs for Baloch youth. By stopping these projects, they intentionally keep the province poor. They need poverty to keep recruiting frustrated young people.
BLA has also formed an operational alliance with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Even though they have different ideologies, they share intelligence, hideouts, and explosive technologies. BLA has learned how to build complex vehicle bombs directly from these religious extremists.
At the same time, BLA and BYC run a massive online propaganda network. They use encrypted apps and slick videos to highlight the missing persons issue. While human rights concerns do exist, they use them as a shield. They use online campaigns to hide their own crimes and present themselves as freedom fighters to international audiences.
An organisation that blows up train stations, sabotages public welfare, and trains women to become suicide bombers is not a resistance movement. It is a heinous terrorist outfit. While countries like Pakistan, the US, and the UK have banned the BLA, it is high time for global bodies like the United Nations to step in. The international community must place strict global sanctions on the BLA and its proxies. Their global funding must be frozen, and their online propaganda tools must be shut down. True peace and development for the Baloch people can only happen when this brutal proxy network is permanently dismantled. It’s time to sanction and clear this menace!
The writer is an alumnus of QAU and FUI and takes an interest in social issues. He can be reached at fa7263125 @gmail.com.