Karima Baloch, The Woman who refused to bow down!
By: Ambreen Baloch
Tags: Balochistan, Karima Mehrab, Toronto, Karima Baloch, Canada

Banuk Karima Baloch

“I knew that I was safe and that I did not have to hide from anyone in Canada”, were the Words of Karima Baloch when she landed in Toronto ripping the niqab off her face. Little did anyone knew that Karima Baloch will be killed in the country she saw as a safe haven for herself and her family. Karima Baloch was a staunch voice of Balochistan against Pakistan’s state sponsored disappearances and ‘Killing and Dumping’ of innocent Baloch people. She stood tall against the repression of Pakistan Government.

Karima Baloch was elected as the Chairperson of Baloch Students Organization (BSO) — Azad, when Zahid Baloch the then Chairman of BSO — Azad was abducted in 2014. She became the First female Chairperson of the Organisation, and she stood up to her words, that, “A national liberation movement without the participation of women is incomplete”. Karima Baloch always stood up against the wrongdoings of the Pakistan Government. Neither Karima Baloch bowed down before the Suppressor state of Pakistan, nor did she let her fellow Balochs kneel. Karima Baloch was a hope to many as she stood firm with many people whose family members were either abducted or killed.

Karima Baloch at UNHRC 40th Session of Human Rights.

Karima Baloch was a Prominent Baloch Woman as she raised her voice for Baloch people not only in her Homeland but also at international stages like the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). In 2016, BBC named Karima Baloch one of the World’s Most Inspirational and Influential Women. She was indeed an inspiration to many Baloch girls who are trying to fight their way through the oppressive nature of the Pakistan Government.

The same year when BBC named her one of the World’s most influential Women, Karima Baloch fled Pakistan and took refuge in Canada after being underground for some time. Karima Baloch wrote in her asylum claim that the Pakistani Military had attacked her family with mortar shells at least three times and a cousin of her was abducted and tortured by the Pakistani Military to know her whereabouts when she was in hiding. Then also the Pakistan government wasn’t in the mood to make anything easy for Karima Baloch, as the Pakistan High Commission was sternly against Canada giving refugee status to Karima Baloch and her family.

Suddenly, 4 years later, on Sunday, 20th December 2020, Karima Baloch went missing from near her House in Toronto, Canada and was later found dead on 22nd December 2020.

This is not the First time a Baloch Activist was killed on a foreign land, in March this year Sajid Hussain (Founder and Chief Editor of the Balochistan Times), who was also very vocal against atrocities and Human Rights violations that Baloch people were subjected to at the hands of the Pakistan Government and Military, was found dead in Fyris River near Uppsala in Sweden after having gone missing for days.

Banuk Karima Baloch may not fight with us but she will always fight within us and her words, “We Will Never Kneel. We Will Prevail.”, will keep her alive in this Baloch struggle.