Gordon Brown condemns murder of Khyber Agency teacher
UN Special Envoy for Global Education calls murder of female teacher a 'Malala-style incident.'
UN’s Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown. PHOTO: AFP
Calling it a “Malala-style incident,” UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown condemned the killing of Shehnaz Ishtiaq, a teacher who served students in Khyber Agency for 22 years, BBC reported.
On March 26, Daniyal, 14, was taking his mother – Shehnaz - to school when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire, leaving her severely injured.
Following the incident, Shehnaz was shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex but she died three hours after being taken for surgery.
In a statement, Brown said that Shehnaz fought for girls' education in Pakistan and that he had written to President Asif Ali Zardari calling for heightened security measures to protect girls and teachers going to school.
The former British prime minister said that he "feared a wave of threats, intimidation, burnings and bullets" following the killing of the 41-year-old teacher.
"No one should be shot for wanting to go to school or wanting to teach girls," the statement said.
"Sixty million teachers round the world will want to condemn the assassination of a woman just because she wanted girls to be educated."
Shehnaz was a headmistress at Community Girls School in Shahkas. Prior to that, she was working for a government primary school for girls in Bara, but because of security problems, the school was shifted to Shahkas in Jamrud.
On March 26, Daniyal, 14, was taking his mother – Shehnaz - to school when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle intercepted them and opened fire, leaving her severely injured.
Following the incident, Shehnaz was shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex but she died three hours after being taken for surgery.
In a statement, Brown said that Shehnaz fought for girls' education in Pakistan and that he had written to President Asif Ali Zardari calling for heightened security measures to protect girls and teachers going to school.
The former British prime minister said that he "feared a wave of threats, intimidation, burnings and bullets" following the killing of the 41-year-old teacher.
"No one should be shot for wanting to go to school or wanting to teach girls," the statement said.
"Sixty million teachers round the world will want to condemn the assassination of a woman just because she wanted girls to be educated."
Shehnaz was a headmistress at Community Girls School in Shahkas. Prior to that, she was working for a government primary school for girls in Bara, but because of security problems, the school was shifted to Shahkas in Jamrud.