AN OPEN LETTER TO ELON MUSK TO ENABLE STARLINK IN THE REPUBLIC OF BALOCHISTAN AND RESTORE THE RIGHT TO GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY
To: Elon Musk, CEO
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.)
1 Rocket Road
Starbase, Texas 78521
United States of America
Dated: Friday, 9 October, 2026, Page; 1/3
Subject: An Urgent Appeal to Enable Starlink Across the Republic of Balochistan and Engage with Baloch Leadership on Licensing
Dear Mr. Elon Musk,
We, representing the sixty million Baloch people of the Republic of Balochistan and Baloch communities living across the world, wish to draw your attention to the ongoing situation in Balochistan under Pakistan’s control and the severe restrictions imposed on our people’s access to information, communication, and the outside world.
Balochistan has never been a part of Pakistan, according to our position. We maintain that it has been forcibly and unlawfully occupied by the Pakistani military through the use of guns, artillery, tanks, and military force. We estimate that approximately 400,000 Pakistani personnel are deployed across Balochistan, including the Frontier Corps, paramilitary forces, special forces, police, and other security agencies.
We have irrefutable evidences that Pakistan is massively involved in widespread gross human rights violations, the economic destruction of Baloch communities, the burning and destruction of agricultural fields and orchards, the destruction of livestock, and the disruption of livelihoods and other sources of income on which our people depend.
- Militarisation of Educational Institutions
The presence of Pakistani military personnel in Balochistan’s educational institutions has become a matter of grave concern. Entering the University of Balochistan, the only university in the provincial capital of Quetta referred to in this appeal, can feel less like entering an academic institution and more like entering a military cantonment.
Similarly, at the Balochistan Medical Complex, military personnel are more visible than students. Across other educational institutions, Baloch students face restrictions extend even to reading books. Pakistani forces are conducting frequent raids on student hostels, confiscate books, and detaining students alongside their confiscated reading materials in police lockups. - Repression of Peaceful Political Activists
We are deeply concerned about the treatment of peaceful Baloch political activists who speak out about the situation in Balochistan. Baloch activists who advocate for their people’s rights and raise concerns about enforced disappearances, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings of the Baloch people face severe punishment.
Among the cases cited in this appeal are those of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) activists Gul Zadi Baloch, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and Sibghatullah Shah Ji Baloch, who have received life sentences following proceedings described as faceless trials.
3. Prolonged Internet Restrictions and Their Humanitarian Consequences
For approximately two decades the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies have maintained a prolonged, undeclared internet shutdown or imposed severe restrictions on internet access across parts of Balochistan.
These restrictions have had devastating consequences for everyday life.
Students are unable to pursue their educational activities effectively, access online learning resources, or maintain uninterrupted academic communication.
Doctors and medical researchers face difficulties accessing modern research, medical information, and digital resources essential to healthcare.
Business communities and traders struggle to communicate with international partners and conduct import and export activities.
Families and ordinary citizens are prevented from maintaining reliable online communication with one another and with the outside world.
Journalists and human rights advocates face immense difficulties documenting and reporting events occurring across Balochistan.
Even in this era of rapid technological advancement, reports, photographs, and videos concerning military operations, alleged human rights violations, and abuses in Balochistan can take months to reach the outside world.
When people cannot communicate freely, their suffering becomes harder to document, their concerns become harder to hear, and their access to essential information is severely compromised.
4. Balochistan’s Information Blackout
Mr. Musk, the internet restrictions imposed in the Republic of Balochistan are not merely a political or administrative matter. They constitute a humanitarian and communications crisis.
We believe that the Baloch people have been pushed into an information black hole, isolated from the global community and deprived of reliable channels through which to communicate their experiences.
The sixty million Baloch people represented by this appeal do not have access to a dedicated television channel, a functioning radio station, or a local-Balochi language newspaper operating freely enough to ensure that their voices reach the international community.
Social media has therefore become one of the few remaining avenues through which Baloch people can communicate their concerns, share information, and seek international attention.
However, accounts belonging to Baloch activists and representatives including @miryar_baloch on X are subjected to mass reporting by individuals whom we associate with the Pakistani military and its intelligence networks, resulting in account restrictions or suspensions.
When traditional media channels are unavailable or restricted and social media accounts can also be silenced, internet access becomes more than a technological convenience. It becomes an essential means of communication, documentation, education, and connection with the wider world.
Mr. Musk,
Starlink has the technological capacity to provide internet connectivity to communities in remote and underserved regions, including areas where conventional telecommunications infrastructure is unavailable, unreliable, or restricted.
We therefore respectfully appeal to you to take urgent steps to explore the provision and activation of Starlink services throughout the Republic of Balochistan.
We request that Starlink engage directly with the leadership of the Republic of Balochistan to discuss the licensing, regulatory arrangements, and practical requirements necessary to make its services operational across the territory.
The Republic of Balochistan, through its stated position, expresses its willingness to grant Starlink the necessary licence to operate in Balochistan from Gwadar to Chabahar and to work towards establishing the arrangements required for service deployment.
- A Call for Digital Freedom and International Engagement
We maintain that the government in Islamabad has no legitimate legal or moral justification for interfering in Balochistan’s internal affairs. We call upon Pakistan to refrain from interfering in Balochistan’s defense, security, trade, diplomatic relations, and political affairs.
With respect,
THE REPUBLIC OF BALOCHISTAN
Mir Yar Baloch
(Truth Social; @miryar_baloch), blocked X account; @miryar_baloch)
