Dr Murad Baloch urges Sweden to find missing Baloch journalist Sajid Hussain

The Secretary-General of Baloch National Movement Dr Murad Baloch on Sunday said that the Swedish government, organisations of journalists and other international human right organisations should play their role in finding missing Baloch journalist and writer Sajid Hussain.

Sajid Hussain is a senior journalist and writer who has gone missing since March 2 and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Dr. Murad said that Sajid Hussain is one of the gifted journalists of Balochistan. He has worked in renowned Pakistani daily newspapers, 'The News' and 'Daily Times' as an assistant news editor and city editor respectively.

Pakistan Army has been abducting and killing several journalists in Balochistan, Hussian escaped from Balochistan after facing threats of persecution and sought asylum in Sweden according to Dr Murad.

Before escaping, Hussain was Chief Editor of the online magazine "Balochistan Times" and had been highlighting and covering the actual position of Balochistan through his website.

He was residing in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden for the last four years and getting a master's degree in Balochi language at Uppsala University. Due to his educational ambitions, he shifted to Uppsala on March 2 and the same day he went out of contact.

The local police and related authorities had been informed about his mysterious disappearance.

The Secretary-General said that Sajid Hussain is the nephew of Shaheed Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, the founder of the Baloch National Movement.

The family members and relatives of Baloch political leaders and workers had always faced state brutalities and barbarism in Balochistan.

Baloch National Movement had named that policy of the state as "collective punishment".

He added, "Sajid Hussain besides belonging to a political family is a renowned journalist. He has played a vital role in showing the true face of the humanitarian crisis in Balochistan in front of the world. He has been writing in both Baloch and English languages in his online newspaper Balochistan Times. Furthermore, Balochistan Times also broadcasts a radio channel to give a voice to the voiceless Balochistan. His mysterious disappearance extremely shocked us and we have a concern that Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) is behind his abduction."

Dr. Murad Baloch said now the political and human rights situations in Balochistan are far worse than the last two decades.

Thousands of Baloch political activists in order to avoid persecution escaped from Balochistan and are compelled to seek asylum in European counties; journalists and human rights activists are among these asylum seekers.

The disappearance of Sajid Hussain has created an environment of mental uncertainty among thousands of Baloch political asylum seekers in Europe. The mysterious disappearance of a journalist would raise questions on the country that are proud of protecting refugee lives and having a great record of human rights and values.