Intelligent deployment of language is necessary to achieve specific political objectives. In Pakistan’s Balochistan province, the separatist voices are loud and intertwined to evoke the anti-state emotions of local people. These tactics have long been employed by the secessionist groups, such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch National Army (BNA), to manipulate facts and misguide the local people for their grand vicious agenda. In 2020, the former chairperson of the Baloch Student Organization (BLO), Karmia Baloch, died due to a tragic drowning incident. Her death was recognized as non-criminal by the Canadian authorities, and even her brother acknowledged it publicly. However, her death has now become a victimhood narrative, and it illustrates how legacy can be leveraged for influence, fundraising, and political asylum.   

On 22 December 2020, her body was found in Toronto’s downtown waterfront. The incident raised concerns as she was vocal about enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings carried out by Pakistan’s state authority. However, Toronto’s police department declared in a short statement: “The circumstances have been investigated, and officers have determined this to be a non-criminal death and no foul play is suspected.  During her lifetime, she strategically portrayed herself within a “victimhood” frame while projecting the image of a female leader, a rare identity that drew attention and loyalty in Balochistan.

Another uncomfortable but necessary discussion relates to the instrumentalization of identity that Karima Baloch was positioned, by herself and her sponsors, within an international advocacy framework that relied heavily on the “woman victim” and “oppressed activist” archetypes. This framing proved effective for fundraising, visibility, and ultimately political asylum. Whether intentional or structural, victimhood became a form of political capital.

Within this frame, she mobilized supporters, raised funds, and attracted followers, many of them educated Baloch youth whom she diverted from the pathway of education into the rhetoric of chaos and terrorism. This was the time when Indian intelligence agent Kulbhushan Yadav’s fuse was at full ignition in Balochistan. Karima’s gender played a significant role in this attraction, allowing her to build credibility and influence among her base. Once the funds were secured and networks engaged, Karima Baloch shifted her focus to personal objectives. She pursued her private life, including engagement and marriage, steps that, critics suggest, did not align with the broader political mission she had outwardly championed.

Her movement abroad effectively insulated her from the consequences of the political and social campaigns she had orchestrated, highlighting how “victimhood” and advocacy can sometimes serve as vehicles for personal security and mobility.

It is also essential to contextualize her broader political environment. BLA never recognized her as a leader, reflecting an ideological resistance to female authority. Within the BSO, a banned outfit, her leadership was similarly contested. Karima Baloch first rose to prominence as chairperson of BSO-Azad in Pakistan. She later fled to Canada, where she obtained asylum by presenting herself as a victim of human rights violations. In exile, she became actively engaged with the Baloch National Movement (BNM). Yet this trajectory placed her in a paradoxical position. On the one hand, she appeared to challenge the interests of BNM stakeholders.

On the other hand, she unsettled external actors who had invested in her activism within Pakistan; however, groups like Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) have been accused of glorifying BSO and BNM-linked leadership, implicitly aligning with BLA, BLF terrorists, and proxies. The broader lesson is about consistency in human rights advocacy. When narratives of victimhood are selectively amplified, the real victims, civilians, children, and communities affected by foreign intervention and proxy are sidelined.

Today, similar rhetorical patterns appear in the activism of newer figures: heightened claims, emotionally loaded storytelling. When Baloch grievances are taken to the international stage, there is often a striking silence about the violence that ordinary Baloch citizens face. Families have been attacked, children targeted, school students killed, laborers assaulted, and passengers murdered in front of their loved ones. Entire communities have been displaced. Yet these everyday tragedies rarely receive the same urgency or attention.

Human rights cannot be performative, selectively deployed for fundraising, asylum, or personal advancement; they must be principled, consistent, and evidence-based. Karima Baloch’s death itself was non-criminal, but the story that circulates today is less about truth and more about perpetuating an image that has become a template for other activists who similarly leverage gender and victimhood for influence, visibility, and international support.

Abdul Mussawer Safi has a master's in International relations, and is keen to explore the regional dynamics and Traditional and non-traditional attributes of South Asia. He can be reached at mussawersafi1999@gmail.com