Another silenced voice

Abdul Razzak Baloch’s voice will never again be heard again. The body of the 42-year-old journalist, who went missing some five months ago, was found at a plot in Surjani Town in Karachi and finally identified by his family despite its poor condition. Another body was found next to it. Mr Baloch, who wrote for the Mastung-based Daily Tawar, had vanished in March this year while on his way to work in Lyari. His body was found still clad in the white shalwar kameez he had worn that day. We do not know what befell him after his abduction or what the motives of his abductors may have been. But it is not hard to guess that Mr Baloch’s awful death was linked to the opinions he expressed in his capacity as a journalist.

There are others who have been killed for similar reasons. Pakistan has already been termed one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists by international monitoring groups, and the pattern of rising rates of death is evident from the figures maintained by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Fifty-two media journalists died between 1992 and 2013 in Pakistan, 42 of them after 2003. The story is clear. The discovery of the body in Karachi brings the figure for this year to five, and we do not yet know how many more may perish or who is responsible for these deaths.

But we can say that they must stop. Silencing dissent can only add to frustration, anger and distrust in society. There have been far too many killings already and sadly, a significant number remain unexplained; the culprits unpunished. It can be no coincidence that most of those killed covered war, politics or human rights. Mr Baloch was among them; he spoke against the situation they were forced to live in. His tragic death must not be ignored and the people behind it brought to justice. Only then will we be able to prevent more such horrible killings and the anguish they cause.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2013.

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