A video is being widely shared, claiming to show Baloch human rights activist Mahrang Baloch declaring Balochistan, in Pakistan, an independent country. One of the posts sharing the video is captioned, "Mahrang Baloch is not merely a voice. She is a symbol of Baloch resistance & the aspirations of the #Baloch people. Today, she has declared #Balochistan an independent country a bold assertion of Balochistan’s long-standing demand for freedom."Amrita News also shared the same video with a similar claim. An archived version of this claim can be found here.An archived version of this claim can be found here.(Archived versions of similar claims can be found here and here.)Is it true?: No, the video is from 2024 and is being shared with a false claim. Fact-Check: Italy Didn’t Issue a Statement Over Rahul Gandhi’s Remarks on MeloniHow did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens and found a video shared in 2024 with similar visuals. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 29 January 2024 with a caption that reads, "Dr Mahrang Baloch Huge Jalsa in Quetta, Balochistan". The video was uploaded in 2024. We observed that the video shared recently with the claim has a watermark. We ran a reverse image search and found that it is the logo of the online news network, The Balochistan Post. Following this, we went through The Balochistan Post's official X account and found the original post.The video was uploaded on 27 January 2024 and is captioned "The roar of the lioness! Tens of thousands respond to Dr @MahrangBaloch_'s chants."The roar of the lioness!Tens of thousands respond to Dr @MahrangBaloch_'s chants. pic.twitter.com/0C9utEXwEI— The Balochistan Post - English (@TBPEnglish) January 27, 2024 After running a keyword search, we found two reports on the gathering. According to News Intervention, Dr Sabiha Baloch, a human rights activist, addressed the crowd at Shahwani Stadium about the history of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). The report was published in January 2024. Dawn, a Pakistani English-language newspaper, published a report on 28 January 2024. According to the report, the BYC leader Dr Mahrang Baloch addressed a gathering on 27 January and stated that a 'revolution' was brewing in Balochistan.The gathering was at the Shahwani Stadium in Quetta. The report was published by Dawn. We also found that Mahrang Baloch was sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court in Quetta on 22 June 2026 over the killing of a paramilitary soldier. Conclusion: The video is old and does not show Mahrang Baloch declaring Balochistan an independent country.BJP Shares Misleading Claim About Rahul Gandhi 'Insulting' the National Anthem(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)