QUETTA: Baloch rights activist Abdul Qadeer Baloch passed away on Saturday in a Quetta hospital after a prolonged illness.

He served as the vice chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), which set up a camp years ago on Quetta’s Adalat Road, a site that has long stood as a symbol of protest against enforced disappearances in Balochistan.

VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch confirmed the rights activist’s passing to Dawn, saying: “He had been ill for a long time and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Quetta for the past two months.”

The group’s chairman added that the funeral prayers and burial would be performed on Sunday in Shaheed Sikanderabad district.

Baloch said the deceased’s struggle had remained prominent in human rights circles across the country.

In November 2011, Qadeer received the mutilated body of his son, Jalil Reiki, who was the information secretary of the Baloch Republican Party. The kidnapping and subsequent death of his son further galvanised the advocacy group, strengthening its efforts to support families enduring similar tragedies.

In 2013, the activist led a long march on foot from Quetta to Islamabad, joined by other Baloch men and women, to protest against enforced disappearances.

Since its inception, VBMP has raised its voice against the enforced disappearances of students, political activists and other civilians.

‘Legacy will endure’

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) mourned the death and paid homage to the deceased activist.

“His legacy will endure in the countless families he stood beside. We reiterate that the state must take concerted action to restore the rights for which Mama spent decades campaigning.”

Advocate Rahab Khan Buledi, chairman of the Balochistan Bar Council’s Executive Committee, paid tribute to Qadeer in a statement.

“Mama Qadeer Baloch had been peacefully struggling for the recovery of missing persons for a long time. His democratic struggle is commendable. He was a strong voice of the oppressed,“ he said, adding that the council also paid homage to him.

Balochistan National Party President Sardar Akhtar Mengal hailed him as a “symbol of resistance against state oppression, enforced disappearances and injustice.

”Despite immense personal loss and relentless hardship, he never abandoned the families of the disappeared or his demand for truth and accountability. Mama Qadeer’s struggle was not just personal, it embodied the collective pain and political resistance of entire people.“

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak said Qadeer “epitomised” the struggle for the recovery of all missing persons and would be remembered for his “fearless and valiant struggle”.

Advocate and human rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir said the “heartbreaking” news was a “huge loss” to the country’s human rights movement.

“Mama Qadeer will forever remain etched in our hearts and minds.”

“He will always be remembered for his struggle against enforced disappearances, for demanding justice for the Baloch and for standing bravely in the face of oppression,” said National Democratic Movement Chairman Mohsin Dawar in a post on X.

Journalist Kiyya Baloch said Qadeer left behind a legacy of “more than 16 years of non-violent struggle that continues to inspire today’s peaceful resistance against enforced disappearances”.

“He sat for endless days in front of the Quetta and Karachi Press Clubs and marched for countless miles all in the service of his people. May Mama Qadeer’s struggle to end the cruel practice of enforced disappearances someday be successful,“ said academic Nida Kirmani, a professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.