The move is seen as part of Ukraine's efforts to reinforce its army as soldiers struggle to hold positions against Russia
A Pakistani dissident and woman rights activist who died in exile in Canada last month was brought home and laid to rest in her home village in the southwestern Baluchistan province under tight security, activists said on Monday.
Only the immediate family of 37-year-old Karima Baloch were allowed to attend her funeral on Sunday in the village of Tump in Baluchistan.
Her supporters claim that Pakistani troops had sealed off the village and prevented them from attending her burial. Her remains were brought to Pakistan from Canada earlier on Sunday.
Baloch’s body was found on December 22 near Toronto’s downtown waterfront, a place that she liked and often visited, a day after she was reported missing. Toronto police have not treated her death as suspicious though there were allegations by her supporters that she was killed.
A fierce critic of Pakistani spy agencies that are often accused of abducting activists in Baluchistan and elsewhere in Pakistan, she was granted asylum in Canada in 2016. Her death has raised suspicions among rights activists, who on Monday denounced authorities for holding the funeral in near secrecy.
“It is appalling to see how Karima Baloch’s body was treated,” said Mohsin Dawar, a lawmaker from Pakistan’s former tribal regions who campaigns for Pashtun minority right but like Baloch, has also criticised Pakistani spy agencies.
“It is not difficult to understand how this will deepen the divide and fuel separatism,” he tweeted. “Is this the strategy to deal with the Baloch insurgency, to sprinkle salt on the wounds of Baloch?”
There was no immediate comment from the government, but a video that surfaced on social media shows soldiers turning back several mourners who are heard in the footage saying they wanted to pay their last respects to Baloch.
Angered over the situation, a Baloch nationalist group — the Baloch Solidarity Committee — issued a call for a daylong strike and complete shutdown in Baluchistan on Monday. Its statement said Pakistani troops spirited Baloch’s coffin on its arrival from Canada and foiled a move by her supporters to hold her funeral in Karachi, instead taking her remains to her home village.
The move is seen as part of Ukraine's efforts to reinforce its army as soldiers struggle to hold positions against Russia
The Jamaican currently holds world records in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m with times of 9.58s, 19.19s and 36.84s respectively
Total property income posted year-on-year growth of 10% to $74m, highest value ever
All official donation channels however remain open through the outlets announced by government agencies
The Starlight Park is a four-building freehold community in Meydan
The 22-time major champion admits his farewell tour hasn't been as enjoyable as he would have hoped
Eating out, poor hand hygiene and erratic weather may be among causes, say medics
The goal-scoring striker is suffering from a muscle injury sustained during the Champions League quarter-final loss to Real Madrid