Karima Mehrab, a Baloch activist, left Pakistani Balochistan in 2015 and applied for political asylum in Canada. She had been living in Toronto. On Sunday, December 20, she left home for a walk, never to come back. Her body was found the next morning. She was 35. It was not clear where was Karima's body found--most probably floating in the water as the report suggests the cause of death was drowning; the police believe she took her own life. But many Baloch activists and Karima's friends believe she was killed. By who? Some say she was killed by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI--to silence her, and to teach a lesson to other Baloch activists living in western countries and feeling safe; others say she was killed by the Indian intelligence agency RAW--to eliminate evidence of Indian involvement behind terrorist activities in Pakistan. Who to believe? Till Karima's husband and other family members do their investigation and prove that the Canadian Police version of the story is incorrect, we have no choice but to believe the Canadian Police. Also, if Canada was such an easy place for foreign governments to carry out their clandestine operations, Israel would have taken care of all Palestinian activists living in Canada. Karima Mehrab was fighting depression; some patients of clinical depression do take their own lives. Karima's death being suicidal cannot be ruled out. Still, it is the second Baloch activist death by drowning in the last seven months, and that raises a red flag.
Photo, courtesy of The Guardian.
