QUETTA, Aug 05 2006: The brother of Munir Mengal, the missing managing director of the Baloch Voice Television, announced on Aug 04 that he would begin a hunger strike from August 10 in front of the Karachi Press Club to protest what he described as Munir’s illegal abduction by the country’s intelligence agencies. Dr Ali Akbar Baloch told Daily Times that he was prepared to “starve to death” to protest his brother’s disappearance. “If something happens to me, the present government would be responsible for it,” Baloch warned. Baloch said that his brother had been whisked away by intelligence agencies on April 4 at Karachi Airport on his return from Bahrain.

“The family has adopted all protest tactics but to no avail,” Baloch said. “We observed a hunger strike in Islamabad for 40 days, in Karachi for 80 days and for 70 consecutive days in Khuzdar, to lodge our peaceful protest against the illegal abduction. But we got nothing except void promises from the government authorities,” he said. Baloch said he feared that the intelligence agencies’ personnel might kill his brother.

“It is strange that the government, on one hand, contends to be the champion of freedom of expression, and on the other hand, it is humiliating the managing director of a television channel. This is a gross violation of human rights and freedom of expression,” he said. “His [Mengal’s] sole crime was the decision to establish a channel to promote Baloch culture,” Baloch said, and appealed to national and international media and human rights organisations to take notice of the journalist’s illegal detention by government agencies. When contacted, Baloch Home Ministry denied having any knowledge of Mengal’s whereabouts. staff report
Source: Daily Times
Date:8/5/2006