‘Kidnapped’ teachers released

They were whisked away on Nov 21 for allegedly allowing polio vaccination teams inside a private school.

BARA: The teachers kidnapped for assisting an ongoing anti-polio drive in Khyber Agency have been set free, officials said on Tuesday.

Seven teachers were whisked away on November 21 for allegedly allowing polio vaccination teams inside a private school in the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency.

Nasir Khan, the assistant political agent (APA) of Bara, confirmed to The Express Tribune that the incident occurred when anti-polio teams launched a campaign in the tehsil and local schools welcomed the drive despite receiving threats from militants.

The APA identified the freed teachers as Qasim Khan, Samad Khan, Nisar Khan, Abdur Rauf, Kismat Khan, Sharafat and Jan Bahadur.

One teacher Qasim Khan told The Express Tribune that they were not kidnapped. He said the Lashkar-e-Islam council had called them to explain why they had forced students to participate in the anti-polio drive.

“We have made our point clear before them and convinced them that a polio team immunised the children [and not us],” Qasim added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2013.