National Post (National Edition)
Pakistan activist's death in Toronto `not ... ordinary'
A prominent Pakistani activist living in exile in Canada has been found dead in Toronto. Police say they are not treating the death of Karima Mehrab, 37, as a criminal matter. Mehrab, widely known as Karima Baloch, had been reported missing Sunday in the city's waterfront area. On Monday, her body was pulled from the water.
“It is currently being investigated as a non-criminal death,” Toronto police said in a statement on Tuesday.
“There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances.”
Her death sparked anger, grief and suspicion from her wide network of friends, family and fellow activists.
“Karima was my sister,” said Mureed Baluch, 33, a close friend of Mehrab's for more than a decade and one of her first contacts in Canada when she arrived in 2015.
He is deeply suspicious about what happened to her, saying “150 per cent in my mind do I see foul play here.”
“This is not an ordinary case; she was not an ordinary person,” he said.
Mehrab was an activist in the Balochistan separatist movement in Pakistan, and a human-rights activist. She was the first leader of a student political organization fighting for human rights in the troubled insurgent state.
“She was known as a very brave woman when it came to … women's rights and girls' education,” Baluch says.
Another close friend and fellow activist told The Canadian Press that Mehrab had recently received death threats.
“Her husband got messages from unknown people saying they would give a Christmas gift to Karima she will never forget,” Lateef Johar said in an interview.
While police offered no details about the death, Johar said officers had told her family she was found drowned in the water.
“We respect whatever the police says, but we will never believe and accept that it was an accident,” Johar said.
Mehrab's sister told BBC Urdu on Tuesday that her death was “not only a tragedy for the family, but also for the Baloch national movement”.
“She didn't go abroad because she wanted to, but because ... open activism in Pakistan had become impossible,” Mahganj Baloch said.
She is the second known Balochi activist to be found dead in the last nine months.
In a statement, the Pakistan High Commission office in Ottawa said it has approached the Canadian government for more details on Mehrab's cause of death. “An official response is still awaited though some media reports quoting the Toronto police have claimed that the death is being treated as “non-criminal at this stage. We express condolences with the family of the deceased.”
Mehrab fled Pakistan in 2015 amid terrorism charges and death threats, arriving in Canada in November that year, where she successfully applied for refugee status. In Canada, she married fellow Balochi activist, Hamal Baloch.
In exile, Mehrab continued her activism on social media and in media interviews and speaking opportunities in Canada and abroad. In 2016, the BBC selected Rehab as one of its 100 most inspirational and influential women for her work in human rights.
At the news of her death, Amnesty International South Asia tweeted Tuesday: “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
This past spring, Swedish police found the body of journalist Sajid Hussain Baloch, who reported extensively on the separatist movement.
He had fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving threats for his coverage, and settled in Sweden in 2017. His body was found in April in Fyris River, north of Stockholm. Investigators said his autopsy indicated he could have committed suicide or his death was an accident.
Press freedom organization Reporters without Borders countered that assertion, and said he may have been abducted by Pakistani intelligence
Balochi activists say thousands of members of the movement have gone missing in recent years, although the Pakistani military denies accusations of brutality in the region and suppression of autonomy.
Bordering Afghanistan and Iran, Balochistan province has been rife with conflict, both from Afghan and Pakistani extremists, as well as from the region's own ethnic struggle for independence.
Balochistan is rich in natural resources. Since 1948, the Balochi separatist movement has ignited and fizzled in cycles, but there have been moments of bloodshed between the government and separatists.
People from the region have differing last names, but many take on the last name Baloch, which identifies them as being from that province.