New Delhi (NVI) In yet another suspected political assassination carried out by Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, prominent woman Baloch leader Karima Baloch has been found dead in Toronto in Canada, hours after she went missing in mysterious circumstances.
Karima, former Chairperson of Baloch Students Organisation (Azad), had taken refuge in Canada to escape the wrath of Pakistani authorities, especially the Army and its notorious intelligence agency ISI.
The leader, who was named by the BBC as one of the world’s 100 most “inspirational and influential” women in 2016, was last seen on December 20, 2020, at approximately 3 p.m, according to Balochistan Post.
The Toronto police had said that Karima was last seen in the Bay Street and Queens Quay West area in Toronto, it said.
Karima Baloch was instrumental in highlighting at international fora the plight of Baloch people under the repressive rule of Pakistan. She has also raised the issue of Balochistan in United Nations sessions in Switzerland.
Baloch people are struggling for freedom from Pakistan since the region was forcibly occupied by Pakistan in 1949.
The disappearance and death in mysterious circumstances leads to suspicion about involvement of ISI.
“The death of activist #KarimaBaloch in Toronto, Canada is deeply shocking and must be immediately and effectively investigated. The perpetrators must be brought to justice without recourse to the death penalty,” Amnesty International tweeted.
Karima’s case has striking similarities with an incident in Sweden in March this year when Baloch refugee and journalist Sajid Hussain went missing from Sweden and his body was found from a river days later.
His family, friends and acquaintances claim that he was murdered and ISI hand was suspected.
Reporters without Borders (RSF), a Paris-based journalists’ organisation, alleged that Mr Hussain’s mysterious disappearance and subsequent death could have been organized by the Pakistani intelligence agencies – ISI and MI – due to his work as a journalist.
