Name of Organization	Baloch Student Organization Azad (BSO-A)
Formation	The Baloch Student Organization Azad was founded by the separatist fighter and political activist Allah Nazar Baloch in the year 2002, [1] his organization has spread throughout Balochistan, and is known for being youth-centric. It was banned by the Pakistani state on the 15th of March, 2013 for allegedly being involved in terrorism.[2]
Leadership	Chairperson: Zahid Baloch Zahid Baloch was serving as the Chairperson for the BSO-A when he was picked up at gun-point and abducted on March 18th, 2014. The members of BSO-A have claimed that Baloch was kidnapped by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Subsequently, they have been organizing rallies and campaigns, demanding his release.[3]   Zahid Baloch    Leader: Banok Karima Baloch The current leader of BSO-A is Banok Karima Baloch.   Banok Karima Baloch[4]
School of thought/ Classification	Ethno-Nationalist, Separatist[5],Baloch-Nationalist
Ideology	The Baloch Student Organization-Azad rallies and fights for the liberation of Balochistan Province from Pakistan, who it considers to be colonial.[6]
Status	The group has been banned by Pakistan government on 15th of march 2013.[7]
Framework	Information about the organizational framework of Baloch Student Organization-Azad is not available.
Financial resources	No information about its financial resources is available.
Recruitment tools & demographics	The BSO-A is a movement that actively recruits youth members into the Baloch separatist movement. The youth of Balochistan are attracted to the struggle’s central premise of building an independent national identity and fighting against the perceived injustices and oppression of the Pakistani state and the army. There have already been four waves of uprisings since Pakistan’s inception in 1947; the BSO-A is a part of the fifth[8] one, which is currently in progress.
Connections & linkages	The founder of BSO-A, Allah Nazar Baloch, is leader of Baloch Liberation Front (BLF)[9] proscribed by government of Pakistan on September 8, 2010.[10]
Areas of Operation	Balochistan and Karachi[11]
Tools	Offline Tools The magazines and publications of BSO-A are available in English, Urdu, Balochi and Persian. These can be accessed online through the website of BSO-A.     Online Tools Website: The active website of BSO-A http://sagaar.org/joomla/ Suspended website of the BSO http://www.sagaar.net/   Facebook: The Facebook pages of BSO-A and their members https://www.facebook.com/BanokKarimaBaloch https://www.facebook.com/BSOLondon?fref=ts https://www.facebook.com/groups/BSOAAZAD/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baloch-Student-Organization-Azad/555216384562611?fref=ts https://www.facebook.com/BSOAZAD?fref=ts     Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSO__AZAD https://twitter.com/BSO_London https://twitter.com/BSOAzadLondon
Name Variations	N/A

 Who they are

The Baloch Student Organization-Azad is one of the most popular student groups who are currently active in Balochistan and are fighting for the independence of their province from Pakistan.[12] The group is now banned by the government.[13]

History

The history of BSO-A is deeply rooted in the Baloch-Nationalist struggle that has continued to persist since 1948, when Balochistan’s Khan of Kalat acceded his state to newly formed state of Pakistan[14]. There was widespread resentment from the local Balochs, many of whom did not agree with the idea of Pakistan, and feared marginalization and Punjabi dominance. There have been four local rebellions since; BSO-A constitutes the fifth one in a series that has claimed hundreds of Pakistani soldiers and at least 5000 Baloch.[15]

Organization’s Message

Baloch Student Organization-Azad is a student organization struggling for liberation of Baloch and restoration of independent Baloch national state.[16]

Target Audience

Baloch Student Organization-Azad is a student wing and aims to target youth. This organization engages youth through various social media platforms.

Tools

Website

The magazines and publications of BSO-A are available online

[17]

Facebook

Baloch Student Organization’s current leader, Banok Karima Baloch is on the social networking website Facebook. It seems inactive from the past two years. The following accounts of BSO can be accessed on facebook.

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

Twitter

[22]

[23]

[24]

Splinter Groups

Not available.

Annexure

Allah Nazar Baloch

Dr Allah Nazar is a Baloch separatist, nationalist leader from Balochistan. He is the new face of Baloch separatist leading, as he is from middle class while all other leaders are mostly from the elite class of Baloch society. He started his political career from BSO (Baloch students Organization). In February 2002, he founded his fiction of called BSO-Azad. He is the leader of BLF (Baloch liberation front), in 2003 he went underground to reorganise BLF. The killing of Chinese in Gawadar in May 2004 was blamed on BLF. He was picked by Intelligence Agencies from Karachi, during a raid on an apartment in March 2005. He made headlines after his arrest and became very popular. After his release he went into hiding again.[25]

Allah Nazar Baloch is referred to as “YouTube-Commander” as various folk singers, writers and poets dedicated Balochi folk songs to Dr. Nazar.[26] These folk songs are also available on YouTube.[27]

[28]

Ethno-nationalist

Nina Caspersen “The term ethnonationalism refers to a particular strain of nationalism in which the referent object is an ethnic group. This ethnic group, or rather its leaders, makes demands based on dissatisfaction with the existing political arrangement. Such demands can involve the pursuit of statehood, although more limited demands, such as cultural autonomy, are also encompassed by the term.”[29]

Baloch nationalist

Baloch nationalism is an ideology, which says that Baloch is a distinct ethno-linguistic group of people, leaving in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran should unite and should found their own state free from these countries influence.[30]