New Delhi: As Canada accuses India of involvement in the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar — an accusation denied by India — the Baloch Human Rights Council of Canada (BHRC) has questioned the “lack of action” in the kidnapping and alleged murder of exiled Baloch human rights activist Karima Baloch.
The BHRC accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of playing politics and ignoring the death of Karima Baloch, who was living in exile in Canada after being slapped with terrorism charges in Pakistan, reportedly for defending the human rights of the people of Balochistan against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan Army.
The BHRC, in a letter to Trudeau Saturday, pointed out that there had been “perceived inconsistencies” in the Canadian government’s response to the “mysterious death of Balochistan rights activist and protected individual, Karima Baloch, in December 2020, in Toronto”. ThePrint has a copy of the letter.
Baloch’s body was recovered on 22 December, 2020, by the Toronto Police near Lake Ontario on Toronto Island, the letter said.
Drawing a “stark contrast” with the Canadian government’s actions on the Nijjar killing, the letter stated that Trudeau’s “conspicuous silence regarding the high-profile, unexplained death of Karima Baloch stands in stark contrast to his impassioned speeches in the House of Commons and extensive media coverage concerning the shooting death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada”.
The BHRC went on to question the Canadian government’s consistency and fairness, particularly with regard to the handling of Balochistan’s alleged ongoing human rights violations by the Pakistan Army.
Nijjar was shot dead in Canada on 18 June. He had been designated a “terrorist” by India in July 2020.
In an emergency statement to Canada’s House of Commons last week, Trudeau said the country’s security agencies have been “actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjar’s death”.
India has denied the allegation.
‘Electoral considerations’
Calling out the Canadian government’s “apparent reluctance” to address Baloch’s death, the letter by BHRC claimed it “impartially may be linked to electoral considerations”.
“The Baloch community in Canada is relatively small and lacks the electoral influence to significantly impact the selection of representatives in Parliament,” the letter alleged.
It further added that correspondences and appeals over the past two years had gone unnoticed, “possibly due to electoral considerations”.
According to a BBC report, Baloch was living in Canada for five years in exile. She was a campaigner from Western Pakistan’s Balochistan region and was a vocal critic of the Pakistani military and state.
She left Pakistan after she was charged with terrorism and was the first woman head of the Baloch Students’ Organisation (BSO) — an activist group that has been banned by Pakistan, the report added.
According to media reports, the group was officially banned by the government in 2013, but its existence continued and Baloch became chairperson in 2015.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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