Assaults on polio workers depict an awful image of the country and we need to change that
KHAIRPUR: Seven policemen guarding polio vaccinators were shot dead in twin attacks in Karachi on April 20. This is not the first time innocent polio vaccinators, or the policemen guarding them, have been killed brutally. It appears that polio-related deaths are outnumbering the deaths from the disease itself.
I recently watched a video, where a cleric addressing a group of people in a Friday sermon in a remote area of Sindh, said that polio vaccination is a Western conspiracy against Muslims to make them sterile. He instructed the attendees of the congregation to do whatever they can to stop polio workers from undertaking their duties. He talked about how they can even abduct polio vaccinators for a couple of days or train dogs to bite or kill them. Where does this mindset originate from? Who are they? Why do they want our kids incapacitated, begging in the streets? These are some genuine questions that the government needs to answer.
The government needs to acknowledge its obligations. Assaults on polio workers depict an awful image of the country and we need to change that.
Syed Safdar Shah Lakyari
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2016.
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