Karachi: On January 25, when 24-year-old Mahganj Baloch, buried her older sister, the Balochistan activist Karima Baloch, who had died in Canada in December 2020, she claimed that her family was harassed and threatened by security agencies.
“We arrived at Karachi airport at 3 am and were mocked by the forces as we received my sister’s body,” Mahganj told The Wire. “Two officers even high-fived each other and said: ‘Now, they have seen our power’. Then, when we buried her in our hometown, Tump, in Balochistan, they warned us that if we did not follow their instructions, they would bury her themselves and we wouldn’t be able to find her grave.”
Karima, aged 37, had been found dead at the Toronto city waterfront on December 21, 2020, after going missing a day earlier. Often referred to as ‘Banuk Karima’ (respectable Karima), she had challenged traditional politics in Balochistan and brought more women’s voices into politics. In 2015, after coping with years of threats and terrorism charges, she had taken refuge in Canada, where she continued her activism for the rights of Balochs. In 2016, she was named in the BBC 100 Women list of the most inspirational and influential women in the world.
Although the Canadian authorities said there was no evidence of foul play in her death, Karima’s family is convinced that she had been killed because of her activism.
“She had been receiving threats and the last time we spoke, she told me she had received a message that she would be ‘given a gift’ in December,” said Mahganj. “But she promised me she would come back. I waited and waited, but then I received a message that she was missing and then I learned she had died. But I can feel her through this silence – they cannot kill her memories.”
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‘The forces were disrespectful’
One of Mahganj’s most enduring memories of her older sister is Karima’s faith in the power of activism. “Once, I asked Karima why, when we struggle for Baloch rights, we are treated as untouchables,” Mahganj remembered. “She laughed – I still cannot forget her laugh – and hugged me and said that even if only one person supported us, we should raise our voices for the right issues.”
As Karima’s distraught family tried to give her a loving, respectful burial, Mahganj remembered Karima’s words in the face of the behaviour of the authorities.
“The forces were treating us as if we were Pakistan’s most wanted [criminals]; they did not care that a family had lost their daughter,” she said. “The officials insisted that we follow the plan they had made for the burial, but we refused. Later, they warned us that Karima’s body must be buried at midnight. When we refused again, they said if we did not follow their instructions, they would bury her themselves and we would never find her grave.”
The burial plan created by the authorities involved covering Karima’s body with the Pakistani flag and shooting a video in which Karima’s family stated that Karima had been loyal to Pakistan.
“It was such rubbish; how could they ask us to do that?” said Mahganj. “I thought: I have already lost my sister. Now what can they do? So I said, ‘No’. Then we were warned that we would see consequences in the coming days.”
The forces were disrespectful even of the Quran during the burial ceremony, added Mahganj. “One of the officers stopped us from reciting passages of the Quran at Karima’s grave,” she said. “He snatched the Quran from us, threw it away and then shouted at us to leave immediately. I asked him, ‘What will you answer to God?’ The officer responded, ‘I know what to say to God’.”
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‘We are being watched’
For years, Karima and her family had been harassed by the state. The harassment continued even after Karima’s death, Mahganj said. Their home in Tump was raided twice: first in 2004, Karima’s documents were taken away, next, on April 1, 2021. In the latest raid, their air-conditioner was stolen, said Mahganj.
Mahganj and her family have been warned not to speak to the media. “We know we are being watched,” she alleged. “The police wanted to establish a police chowki (booth) on Karima’s grave to stop people from paying her tribute and to encroach upon our house.”
Mahganj remains convinced that Karima was murdered. Since they are not citizens of Canada, they cannot pursue the case; nor can they afford to follow up.
“In Canada, the Pakistanis who are in politics do not want to investigate the case,” she said. “But I believe that the truth will reveal itself and Karima will one day receive justice.”
This is not the first time that a Baloch activist died abroad in mysterious circumstances. In May 2020, 39-year-old journalist Sajjad Hussain, who had been given political asylum in Sweden in 2012 after he received death threats in Balochistan, was found dead two months after he went missing. Though Hussain’s family claimed he had been threatened in Sweden as well, the investigation by the Swedish authorities ruled out the possibility of foul play.
