Dr. Mahrang Baloch Recognized in Time Magazine’s 2024 Time100 Next List
Dr. Mahrang Baloch, the leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, has been honored in Time magazine’s ‘2024 Time100 Next’ list for her peaceful advocacy for Baloch rights, as reported by the magazine on Wednesday.
The Time100 Next list highlights 100 young individuals making significant impacts across various fields, including art, sports, and social advocacy. According to the magazine, this list aims to recognize that influence can come from various backgrounds and that leadership has evolved beyond traditional forms.
Dr. Mahrang was selected for her peaceful activism and for organizing a notable march in December 2023, where she led hundreds of women to Islamabad, demanding justice for their missing family members. Expressing her gratitude on Facebook, she stated, “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 enforced disappearances.”
Her journey into activism began at a young age when her father, Ghaffar Longove, disappeared in December 2009 outside a Karachi hospital. Mahrang was still a primary school student at the time. As the eldest of six siblings, she publicly protested by burning her school books at the Quetta Press Club, demanding her father’s return. Tragically, his mutilated body was discovered in 2011.
In December 2023, Dr. Mahrang played a pivotal role in organizing a large march and sit-in in Islamabad to raise awareness about enforced disappearances. According to a report published in July, 197 cases of missing persons were reported in the first half of 2024, with a significant number occurring in Balochistan.
Among other notable figures on the Time100 Next list are Bangladesh student leader Nahid Islam, who led protests resulting in the ousting of former premier Sheikh Hasina, and Gazan food blogger Hamada Shaqoura, who has become a “wartime food blogger” by creating recipes from aid package ingredients amid ongoing conflict in Gaza.
While expressing his honor for the recognition, Shaqoura stated, “I do not particularly feel like celebrating, in a time when my Palestinian people and Lebanese brothers and sisters are still facing death 24/7. But I’ll take this moment to emphasize to the whole world that we—Palestinians—are here, and will always be!”
