Balochistan on strike over political activist’s killing

Ghaffar Lango’s family blames security agencies for his disappearance and murder.

QUETTA:

A complete shutter-down strike was observed in most parts of Balochistan on Saturday in protest against the killing of political activist Ghaffar Lango, a day after his body bearing torture marks was found near Gadani, a coastal town with thriving ship-breaking industry.

The strike call was made by the Baloch National Front and backed by the Baloch Republican Party as well as Baloch Students Organisation.

Normal civic life, business and trade activities in Khuzdar, Turbat, Panjgur, Mastung, Awaran, Mangucher, Awaran, Pasni Mand, Oshab and other areas remained paralysed as most shops and establishments were closed for the day.

Heavy contingents of the police, Balochistan Levies and other law-enforcement agencies were deployed in sensitive areas.

Lango’s body was found from an abandoned restaurant near the Lakbado area in Gadani on Friday. He was listed as missing from Karachi around two years ago.

“The body bore multiple marks of torture. The cause of death is said to be a severe wound in his head caused by a hard and blunt object,” SHO Gadani police Amir Abdullah had said.

Lango kicked off his political activism on the platform of Baloch Haq-i-Tawar (Voice of Baloch rights), a debating forum formed by Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri. He was first arrested in 2000, but released after a few months.

However, in 2006, he was jailed again for three years. Not even two months after his release, on December 12, 2009, he was picked up once again outside a private hospital in Karachi where his wife was undergoing treatment.

Niaz Ahmed, a close relative of Lango’s, had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court stating that Lango was picked up by secret agencies while visiting his wife at a private hospital in Karachi.

Lango’s family, who had been protesting in Quetta, Islamabad and Karachi for two years, blamed security agencies for the killing.

Lango’s children never missed a chance to register their protest against what they termed the illegal detention of their father and actively participated in demonstrations outside the Supreme Court and the Balochistan High Court.

“Till two days ago – the day his mutilated body was found, there was no response from the superior courts,” a close relative remarked.

“Those who think that by killing and dumping bodies they will settle the issue or suppress the struggle are living in a fool’s paradise. This approach has fueled the hatred and vengeance among the Baloch youth,” the relative added.

In a statement, Lango’s sister said that her family will follow her brother’s example.

Meanwhile, the Baloch Student Organisation (Azad group) staged a protest demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club and paid tribute to Ghaffar Lango.

Protesters termed the killing as being part of what they called “ethnic cleansing” of Baloch political opponents.

Baloch missing persons

Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Person (VFBMP) Nasurallah Baloch said that Ghaffar Lango was among 8, 000 missing persons. “We had knocked the door of the courts, the government and judicial commissions, but to no avail. We, the relatives of missing persons, appeal to the international humanitarian organisations within the UN to intervene and play their role against this gross violation of human rights in Balochistan,” he added.

Mir Hasil Bizenjo, the vice-president of the National Party, told a news channel that more than 240 Baloch missing persons have been killed in illegal custody of security forces.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in a report released on Wednesday, also highlighted the supremacy of security forces in the province and said the provincial government “seems non-existent”.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2011.