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Pakistan: Human Rights Activist Sabeen Mahmud Murdered
Esteemed Pakistani human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud was killed on Friday in Karachi by unidentified gunmen.
She was killed as she left an event she had organized discussing government human rights abuses in Balochistan, the country’s largest province, which has an ongoing separatist movement. Ms. Mahmud was shot five times in the face and neck as she was driving away from the event with her mother, who was also wounded.
The discussion took place at T2F (formerly The Second Floor), a coffee house and forum founded by Mahmud to provide a safe space for dialogue and intellectual inquiry.
It describes itself as “a community space for open dialogue, T2F features a café and bookshop and hosts poetry readings, meetups with writers, talks, debates, theatre performances, film screenings, open mic nights, jam sessions, and standup comedy.”
This particular discussion, entitled ‘Un-Silencing Balochistan (Take 2)’, had seemingly previously been forced to shut down by the authorities, but went ahead on a later date. The event played host to leading Baloch activists including chairof the Voice of Missing Baloch Persons (VBMP), Mama Qadeer.
The Baloch people are culturally, linguistically and ethnically distinct from other Pakistanis and many believe they are an occupied people who deserve and need national self-determination.
According to friends and family she had been receiving death threats for several weeks. Threatening messages were left on her phone demanding that she "cease her activities." Although the case is being treated by the government as a terrorist attack, many suspect that Pakistan’s ‘deep state’ ordered the assassination in order to suppress discussion of the Baloch issue.
Sabeen Mahmud was also highly critical of totalitarian and radical Islamist movements and was a staunch defender of women’s rights.
An outpouring of grief has been expressed on social media for Sadeen Mahmud as civil society activists and journalists lined up to pay their respects.
Pakistani Journalist Sheema Khan shared her memories of Sabeen with Clarion Project.
She said “Like many people in Karachi, I too met Sabeen at her non-profit PeaceNiche's project 'The Second Floor (T2F)'. At T2F, discussions, talks, exhibitions and many more things would be held. I remember how she would introduce her guests to the audience and stand around till the end of the talk mostly. What she made out of T2F was more like a lounge where people could listen to things in a lively environment and wouldn't feel like they were at a very formal meeting or something.”
She added “She was a brave woman who wanted voices to be raised no matter how tough the circumstances were.”
In a blog eulogizing Sabeen Mahmud for the Express Tribune, Zainab Abdullah wrote:
“Sabeen chose not to be silenced. She chose to fight. She not only spoke out herself but also provided a space for people to raise their voices. Sabeen was a humble but fearless soul – cherished and loved by all, her impact has been boundless and continues to grow. Through the years she lived, she fought and supported many movements and visionaries and brought them all together – forming a voice that could’ve been abandoned or silenced by tyranny. Her tragic and unjust death continues to fuel the youth she carefully and generously mentored.”
Watch Sabeen Mahmud describing her group 'PeaceNiche'
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