Baloch pro-independence leader Raheem Baloch Advocate has expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom of renowned journalist Lala Latif Jan, stating that the news of his killing has caused immense anguish. He said that Lala Latif’s murder at the hands of the Pakistani army is a continuation of the ongoing state terrorism and Baloch genocide in Balochistan.
According to Raheem Baloch, Lala Latif’s son and nephew were also abducted from their home in Mashkay in March and later murdered, with their mutilated bodies dumped. He said that for the past several decades, military operations, enforced disappearances, mutilated bodies, targeted killings, and mass graves have become a norm in Balochistan. Alongside the plundering of natural resources, the people of Balochistan are subjected to brutal repression.
Recalling Lala Latif’s lifelong struggle, Raheem Baloch said that he had known him since 1990 when he himself was the central vice chairman of the BSO (Baloch Students Organization), and Lala Latif was the president of the BSO Mashkay zone. After completing their education and student politics, Raheem Baloch chose law and national politics, while Lala Latif ventured into journalism, a path full of danger in a conflict-ridden region like occupied Balochistan.
He added that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he frequently traveled to Mashkay to attend party organizational programs, where he would often meet Lala Latif. At that time, Lala Latif was the representative of several newspapers, including Daily Intikhab, in the region. He was a very lively, cheerful, conscious, and genuinely patriotic Baloch.
Raheem Baloch remembered that during one of his meetings with Lala Latif about a decade ago, he noticed that Lala was limping. However, in Balochistan, age, gender, health, or profession mean nothing to the Pakistani army and intelligence agencies. Just being a Baloch and politically conscious is enough to justify imprisonment or execution in their eyes.
He remarked that the occupying state believes it can suppress the Baloch national freedom movement through state terrorism and genocide, but history bears witness that all occupiers and colonizers who held this belief were ultimately defeated and erased from the world map.
In conclusion, he expressed solidarity with the family of Shaheed Lala Latif Jan and prayed that Allah grants him the highest place in paradise and gives strength and patience to his grieving family.
