On Friday, March 28, online newspaper Balochistan Times revealed its editor-in-chief, Sajid Hussain has been missing since March 2. The 39-year-old was last seen at 11am on March 2 in the Swedish city of Uppsala.
“Sajid Hussain fled Pakistan in 2012 after receiving death threats, having his home raided, his family interrogated and surveilled. Between 2012 and 2017 Hussain moved through Oman to the United Arab Emirates and Uganda before finally seeking refuge in Sweden,” read the statement by International Federation of Journalists.
Reporters Without Border,—an International organization safeguarding the right to information and free speech—held Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI(Inter-Services Intelligence) responsible for the disappearance of Mr. Hussain.
“According to confidential information obtained by RSF, a list of Pakistani dissidents who are now refugees in other countries is currently circulated within Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the most powerful of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies,” read the statement by Reporters without Borders, also known as Reporters Sans Frontiers.
A similar case was reported in 2018 when a human rights activist Mr. Rashid Hussain was gone missing in UAE and according to multiple sources, he was then moved to Pakistan and reportedly remains under secret detention of Pakistani authorities.
However, in Sweden, The Swedish police are yet to submit a final report about their findings regarding the case of Mr. Sajid Hussain. If it turns out a doing of Pakistani authorities, who are being accused of it by journalist organizations, then there will be no doubts that no place on earth is safe for Baloch activists and journalists who highlight the sufferings of their land.
A famous Kurdish saying “No friends but the mountains” reflects on the harsh conditions that Kurds have been living in and finding no allies among the civilized world, they have made friends with mountains. With increasing crackdown against Baloch activists and journalists, it is feared that Baloch are too left with no friends but mountains.