The voice of Sabeen Mahmud, a prominent member of civil society in Pakistan and a champion of rights of the missing persons in the restive province of Balochistan has been silenced forever. Mahmud was killed by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen on April 24 soon after hosting a seminar titled 'Unsilencing Balochistan' (Take 2)' at her The Second Floor (T2F) cafe in Karachi.
Her tragic deathsis another chilling reminder of the earlier killings of prominent Pakistan investigative journalists like Shehzad Saleem on May 30, 2011, or the serious attempts made on the lives of prominent television personalities and tlk show hosts like Raza Rumi on March 28, 2014 and on Hamid Mir on April 19, 2014 to silence the independent voices who have become too embarrassing for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
These voices of dissent have raised questions about the Pakistan security establishment's high-handedness and its bid to suppress the Baloch freedom movement.
Civil society in Pakistan has repeatedly condemned and criticized the pressure tactics being adopted by the ISI to stifle opinion makers.
In the case of the murder of Mahmud, the backdrop of the killing has to be linked to the Pakistan security establishment (read ISI) denying permission to hold a seminar on April 9 on the current situation in Balochistan at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The ostensible reason for the cancellation of the talk was the presence of Baloch nationalist leader and human rights activist Mama Abdul Qadir Baloch as one of the guest speakers.
Reacting to the cancellation of the talk, Beena Sarwar tweeted: "Those trying to silence Mama Qadir dialogue in Balochistan are quick to slam India for doing that in Kashmir."
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Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States and now foreign affairs analyst Hussain Haqqani tweeted: "Pakistan must take lesson from its East Pakistan fiasco and listen to dissidents than to brand them separatists and kill them in Balochistan."
The cancellation of the talk on Balochistan at LUMS, convinced Mahmud to take the lead and organize a talk in Karachi, which was attended by a number of civil society members, students and human rights activists including Mama Qadir.
Just hours after the talk, unidentified assailants killed her while she was on her way home with her mother.
Both Raza Rumi and Hamid Mir survived attacks made on them in broad daylight, but Sabeen Mahmud was not that lucky.
The Karachi-born civil society activist, who would have turned 40 this June, was a talented media activist and had set up The Second Floor (T2F) in 2007.
Earlier too, she had supported the suppressed and persecuted minorities in Pakistan, including Shias and Ahmedias.
It is interesting to note that Major General Asim Bajwa, the head of the Pakistan armed forces Inter-Services Public Relations Division, strongly condemning Sabeen Mahmud's killing, and assuring that intelligence agencies would provide assistance in capturing the perpetrators of the crime.
More interestingly, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has also denied responsibility for the attack.
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