Mama Qadeer
{{Short description|Pakistani human rights activist}}
Abdul Qadeer Baloch ({{langx|ur|{{Nastaliq|عبدالقدیربلوچ}}}}), better known as Mama Qadeer ({{lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|ماما قدیر}}}}), is a human rights activist from the Balochistan province of Pakistan.
Life
In 2013, Qadeer traveled more than 2,000 kilometers from Balochistan to Islamabad along with other Baloch men and women to protest against the issue of Baloch missing persons.{{Citation needed|date= June 2022}} Qadeer's own son, Jaleel Reki Baloch, had been found dead in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-28759-72-year-old-Mama-Qadeer-Baloch-breaks-record-of-Gandhi-after-84-years |title=72-year-old Mama Qadeer Baloch breaks record of Gandhi after 84 years |author=Hamid Mir |date=25 February 2014 |publisher=The News |accessdate=25 April 2015}} He had been a member of Baloch Republican Party that is declared a terrorist organisation.
In March 2015, Qadeer was barred from leaving the country from Karachi Airport at the last minute. He was traveling to New York City to participate in a human rights conference to highlight the plight of Baloch people and the issue of missing Baloch persons.{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2015/04/silencing-the-lone-voice-on-balochistans-missing-persons/ |title=Silencing the Lone Voice on Balochistan's Missing Persons |date=6 April 2015 |publisher=The Diplomat |accessdate=25 April 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-305230-Mama-Qadeer-barred-from-foreign-travels |title=Mama Qadeer barred from foreign travels |date=6 March 2015 |publisher=The News |accessdate=25 April 2015}}
On April 9, 2015, Qadeer was scheduled to give a talk titled "Unsilencing Balochistan" in an event at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. The event was cancelled at the last minute by the administration citing "order from government" as the reason behind the cancellation. The incident was followed by protests from the students and faculty of the institute against the "academic censorship".{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1175151/lums-under-pressure |title=LUMS under pressure |date=11 April 2015 |publisher=DAWN |accessdate=25 April 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1175025/lums-students-protest-academic-censorship |title=Lums students protest 'academic censorship' |date=10 April 2015 |publisher=DAWN |accessdate=25 April 2015}}
Following the cancellation, an event titled 'Unsilencing Balochistan Take 2: In Conversation with Mama Qadeer, Farzana Baloch and Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur' was held at T2F Karachi.{{cite web |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1177956/director-t2f-sabeen-mahmud-shot-dead-in-karachi |title=Director T2F Sabeen Mahmud shot dead in Karachi |date=24 April 2015 |publisher=DAWN |accessdate=25 April 2015}}
Later on, in September 2015, Mama Qadeer was allowed to leave the Pakistan.{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1205744|title=SHC allows Mama Qadeer to travel abroad|accessdate=9 September 2015|publisher=Dawn news}} After that he visited India in 2018.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/varanasi/baloch-leader-seeks-india-help-against-pak/articleshow/62829931.cms|title=Baloch leader seeks India help against Pak|access-date=8 February 2018|publisher=Times of India}} In an interview with Indian news channel, News 18, Mama Qadeer asked Indian government to provide them 'with weapons, so that they can kill their enemies'.{{cite web|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WDBNWEE29A4|title=Mama Qadeer request for weapons from India|website=YouTube |accessdate=19 April 2018}}
See also
{{Portal|Pakistan}}