The lonely vigil of Pakistan's 'invisible man'

Like many others, Mama Qadeer's son disappeared then was found dead. Years later, he is protesting to know why.

Many have gone missing in Pakistan's insurgency-plagued Balochistan province 

Quetta, Pakistan - Few people want to talk toQadeer Rekhi - and even fewer want to talk about him.

The 75-year-old may be affectionately venerated as "Mama Qadeer" - mama meaning "uncle" in Urdu language - but many believe it is dangerous to be too closely associated with him.

For years, Mama Qadeer has protested something the authorities claim does not exist - the disappearance of people who oppose the Pakistani government in the restive southwestern province ofBalochistan, where security forces have battled an armed separatist movement since 2005.

Mama Qadeer counts his son among the casualties of this taboo conflict.

At 8am, the former bank employee arrives at his protest camp pitched outside the local press club for his daily nine-hour vigil. Some days are easier, spent in conversation with other protesters who may join in. But most days go by in silence, alone, behind the mass of pictures of missing men that line his makeshift tent.

At 5pm, Qadeer collects the images around him, stores them at the press club, and leaves. When he gets home he eats a small plate of rice with chicken, the only meal he consumes each day.

Maybe tomorrow will be better, he tells himself. Maybe tomorrow he will be more visible to the reporters who saunter across the street, exchanging story ideas over a quick cigarette.

"Journalists from the electronic media avoid even walking close to my camp," says Qadeer. "Cameramen don't make eye contact. As for newspapers, I routinely go to their bureaus with press releases, but I always get the same reply: 'Mama, we have a family to feed. Please don't insist.'

"I understand. I don't blame them."

For the last six years, Qadeer has tried to draw attention to the rising number of people who have disappeared in Pakistan's largest, least developed province.

Silenced

Since 1948, Balochistan has gone through five armed insurgencies. Rebel groups have waged a war against the Pakistan army seeking greater autonomy, a larger share in the natural resources extracted from the province, and complete independence.

But Qadeer wants none of those things. The men, women and children who join him have only one priority: to find relatives who have allegedly been snatched by intelligence and security agencies on the basis of "suspicion".

Human rights activists say paramilitary forces use enforced disappearances, secret detentions and a kill-and-dump policy to silence anti-state activities and dissent. The Pakistani government denies it is responsible for deaths or disappearances and has established a judicial commission to investigate reports of those gone missing.

Determining an exact headcount is tricky. The number of missing persons can run into thousands, hundreds, or less depending on whom you ask.

According to Qadeer's organisation, the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, about 35,000 men and 160 women have disappeared, while 8,000 mutilated bodies have been found in the province.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan puts the number of disappeared people at 955, while Balochistan's home secretary told the senate the official tally, as of May 2015, is 156.

Qadeer, a father of three, bristles at the official number. His organisation, he says, has the most accurate figure, which is collected through its regional coordinators.

It was set up in 2009 after Qadeer's 32-year-old son, Shahid Jalil Ahmed Rekhi - the information secretary of the nationalist Baloch Republican Party - was abducted. Rekhi's body turned up two years later with bullet wounds and cigarette burns.

Mama Qadeer said the former chief minister of Balochistan, Aslam Raisani, admitted to a visiting delegation that Rekhi was taken away by intelligence agencies. Raisani, who was sacked as chief minister in 2013 and now faces corruption charges, did not respond to request for comment.

Qadeer, meanwhile, has organised roadside sit-ins in three major cities. In 2013, he and 20 protesters, mostly women, walked 3,000 kilometres from Balochistan's capital Quetta to Karachi, and then from Karachi to Islamabad - only to return home with scant media coverage and empty promises. 

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During their stay in Karachi, Qadeer says Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif assured them their relatives would be produced in court soon to face alleged charges. Asif never kept his word, he says.