Baloch activist Karima Baloch has been found dead in Toronto, Canada according to a report published in Balochistan Post. She has been living in Canada as a refugee after having escaped from Pakistan in 2016.
Karima Baloch was a critic of the Pakistani government and had actively worked to highlight human rights violations perpetrated upon people in Balochistan.
Karima Baloch had placed emphasis on fighting for the rights of Baloch women, and highlighted how the legal system and religious groups in Pakistan use state and government machinery to intentionally target women, particularly from vulnerable groups.
She made headlines in India after she praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 on the day of Raksha Bandhan and appealed to him to look at the plight of the people living there in Balochistan.
She had wished PM Narendra Modi on ‘Raksha Bandhan’ and sought his help in addressing the plight of people living in Balochistan, in the year 2016. She had urged PM Modi to be the voice of their struggle.
In her message to PM Modi, Karima Baloch said “On this day I have come to you and would like to say that we consider you as our brother, and we expect that you become the voice of Baloch genocide, war crimes in Balochistan, human rights violation in international forums and become the voice of those sisters whose brothers are missing.”
According to The Balochistan Post, Toronto police had stated that Karima Baloch was last seen on December 20 in the Bay Street and Queens Quay West area in Toronto and had sought public assistance in locating her. Karima Baloch’s family later said that her body had been found and requested for privacy, the news publication reported.
Balochistan has been in news over the Pakistan Government and military atrocities and human rights violations. The resource-rich province has been gripped by an insurgency for more than 15 years.
The Baloch National Movement has announced 40 days of mourning for Karima Baloch.
