Monday, January 25, 2021
Group: Pakistani Baloch dissident buried amid high security
ABDUL SATTAR
A Pakistani dissident and civil rights activist who died in exile in Canada last month was returned to Pakistan and laid to rest in her home village in southwestern Baluchistan province under tight security, activists said Monday.
Only immediate family members of 37-year-old Karima Baloch were allowed to attend her funeral Sunday in the village of Tump in Baluchistan.
Her supporters claim that Pakistani troops had sealed off the village and prevented them from attending her burial. Her remains were brought to Pakistan from Canada earlier Sunday.
Baloch’s body was found Dec. 22 near Toronto’s downtown waterfront, a place that she liked and often visited, a day after she was reported missing. Toronto police have not treated her death as suspicious though there were allegations by her supporters that she was killed.
A fierce critic of Pakistani spy agencies that are often accused of abducting activists in Baluchistan and elsewhere in Pakistan, Baloch was granted asylum in Canada in 2016. Her death has raised suspicions among rights activists, who on Monday denounced authorities for holding the funeral in near secrecy.
“It is appalling to see how Karima Baloch’s dead body was treated," said Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker from Pakistan's former tribal regions who campaigns for Pashtun minority right but like Baloch, has also criticized Pakistani spy agencies.
“It is not difficult to understand how this will deepen the divide and fuel separatism," he tweeted. "Is this the strategy to deal with the Baloch insurgency, to sprinkle salt on the wounds of Baloch?"
There was no immediate comment from the government, but a video that surfaced on social media shows soldiers turning back several mourners who are heard in the footage saying they wanted to pay their last respects to Baloch.
Angered over the situation, a Baloch nationalist group — the Baloch Solidarity Committee — issued a call for a daylong strike and complete shutdown in Baluchistan on Monday. Its statement said Pakistani troops spirited Baloch's coffin away on its arrival from Canada and foiled a move by her supporters to hold her funeral in Karachi, instead taking her remains to her home village.
Later on Sunday, hundreds of Baluch activists rallied in Karachi, denouncing the government for not allowing that Baloch's funeral be held in the city.
They chanted antigovernment slogans and demanded justice for Baloch, who they say was a “voice of the Baloch people” that was “silenced.” The activists insisted she did not die a natural death though they offered no evidence to support their allegation.
Baluchistan has for years been the scene of a low-level insurgency by small separatist groups and nationalists who complain of discrimination and demand a fairer share of their province’s resources and wealth.
Although there are also militant groups in Baluchistan that stage attacks on soldiers, separatists also often attack troops in the province, prompting authorities to detain suspects. Human rights activists often blame security forces of illegally holding people. Such detainees are usually not charged and do not appear in court, which draws protests from their families and rights activists.
https://news.yahoo.com/group-pakistani-baloch-dissident-buried-075614724.html
#Balochistan: Pakistani forces forcibly escorted Karima Baloch’s body to her hometown
The coffin of Karima Baloch was brought from Canada to Karachi on Sunday morning where hundreds of people had gathered to receive her corpse. The Pakistani forces, however, took the body into their custody and refused to hand it over to her family and supporters.
According to family sources, the body was later taken to Balochistan via a different route to her hometown Tump, Balochistan. She will be laid to rest tomorrow afternoon in Tump. People from different areas of Balochistan gather in her hometown to attend the funeral prayer.
The Pakistan military and local authorities laid a siege around Tump blocking all the entries to the town and shut down the communication system in most areas of Ketch district.
It is to be remembered that Karima Baloch disappeared from her home December last year and a day later her dead body was found n a lake in Toronto, Canada. Her family says Karima Baloch was allegedly murdered, but the Toronto police said they found no evidence of any ‘foul play’.
Her husband and brother expressed dissatisfaction about the police initial report and demanded a thorough investigation. Karima’s dead body was finally released from Canadian police custody and flown to Karachi on Sunday morning. The Canadian authorities have not made public any further details about her disappearance and subsequent death.
On Sunday her corpse was taken to district Kech by road escorted by several military vehicles and more troops joined them after they crossed Vindar Balochistan.
Despite heavy military presence and blockage by Pakistani forces cluster of Karima Baloch supporters including women and children gathered on roadsides and pay their last respect to her as the ambulance carrying her dead body passed through.
Mobile service of entire Kech region has reportedly been disconnected and Tump town has been put under a military siege.
The dead body of Banuk Karima Baloch was in the custody of Pakistan forces at the time of filing this report and according to Sameer Mehrab, brother of Karima Baloch, he has no contact with his family due communication system blackout. He said he was not aware of his family’s whereabouts.
CALL FOR SHUTTER DOWN STRIKE
The Baloch Solidarity Committee (BSC) in a statement called for a shutter down strike today January 25, across Balochistan and appealed the business community and transport administration to support their protest by voluntarily shutting their businesses.
The spokesperson of the BSC said that as soon as the dead body Karima Baloch reached Karachi on the morning of January 24, a large contingent of forces took the body into their custody and put it in an ambulance without the consent of the family members
“The state did not allow Banuk Karima Baloch’s funeral prayers and last rites to be performed in Karachi in violation of all human values, while the general public, who had been waiting for hours, were not given a chance to pay their last respects,” the statement read.
The BSC statement also confirmed all previous report that the Pakistani state forces shut down the communication networks in all areas of Kech Balochistan.
The BSC also said that general public who had gathered at various places along the route for last a glimpse of Karima Baloch were forcibly removed and a curfew was imposed in Tump the hometown of Karima Baloch, and all routes to Tump were blocked.
According to BSC statement, Banuk Karima Baloch has the status of a national leader and she is viewed with great devotion in Balochistan. Preventing the general public from paying their last respects to Karima and not allowing funeral prayers is tantamount to violating all human, religious and national values.
https://balochwarna.com/2021/01/24/balochistan-pakistani-forces-forcibly-escorted-karima-balochs-body-to-her-hometown/
It's Bakhtawar's wedding week - Here comes the bride and weeklong wedding festivities. — these are all the festivities planned starting tomorrow
Around 300 guests are expected at the baraat function on Jan 30 due to Covid-19.
Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari, who was engaged to the son of a US-based businessman in November 2020, is set to tie the knot with him later this month.
Weeklong functions have been planned for the wedding of the daughter of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and former president Asif Ali Zardari.According to PPP sources and spokesperson, Bakhtawar's nikah with her fiancé Mahmood Chaudhry would be held on January 29 and the function of baraat would take place the next day (Jan 30).
“Before these two functions, a milad will be organised on Jan 24 and a mehndi ceremony will take place on 27th,” said a source privy to the details of the ceremonies.
Meanwhile, a brief statement issued by Bilawal House said that some 300 guests were expected at the main function — baraat — on Jan 30 considering the arrangements under the standard operating procedures due to Covid-19 precautions.
The spokesman for Bilawal House also confirmed that all functions would be held in Karachi.
In a simple November 2020 engagement ceremony, the couple exchanged rings amid celebratory shouts and claps from the guests, who included a few senior politicians, PPP leaders, business giants, real estate tycoons, prominent lawyers, some legislators and close relatives at Bilawal House.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who was in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19 that time, had joined the engagement ceremony through video link.
There was plenty of conjecture surrounding Bakhtawar's engagement dress and when she uploaded her engagement portrait with her fiancé, under a glorious pink bougainvillea tree, fashion aficionados were quickly able to discern that her tea pink outfit, with an ornately embroidered shawl draped over it, was the work of designer Nida Azwer.
While we wait to see what else the bride will wear this week, you can read all about the quintessential Nida Azwer custom-made design here.
https://images.dawn.com/news/1186441
#Pakistan #PPP - Bakhtawar Bhutto humbled by ‘overwhelming birthday love’
Former PPP chairperson and slain ex-prime minister, Benazir Bhutto's daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari on Monday said she was “humbled” by all the “overwhelming birthday love” for her 31st birthday.
Taking to Twitter, she thanked her fans and followers for wishing her, joking that she was 30 years old since 2020 didn't count.