Condemnation: Special persons want improved security for polio workers

Demonstrators said the government must improve security for anti-polio campaigns.

MULTAN: Several disabled people demonstrated here on Wednesday to protest against the attacks on polio workers in Karachi on Tuesday.

Demanding effective protection for polio teams, they said the government must improve security for anti-polio campaigns.

The demonstration was organised by the Society for Special Persons. Protesters gathered in front of the Multan Press Club.

Addressing the participants, Multan-based rights activist Asif Iqbal said that it was the children’s right to be vaccinated against polio. He said it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that the campaign was not halted.

He said it was natural under the current circumstances for families of polio workers to feel insecure for them and stop them from continuing their duties. He said it was a serious blow to both the children’s health and the workers’ security.

Iqbal said that being a handicapped person himself, he fully understood the significance of vaccination against a crippling disease.

“I would never want another person go through the pain.”

Protesters said that the attack on polio workers was a conspiracy against the well-being of Pakistani children and future generations.

All district association presidents of the Lady Health Workers Association Punjab will meet in Multan on Thursday (today) on the call of the association president Rukhsana Anwar to discuss security.

Security

Multan regional police officer told The Express Tribune that 1,500 police personnel were providing security to 140 polio teams in the district. He said that the situation in Multan was under control.

He said he was confident that there was no threat to workers in the district.

Police had been directed to stay alert, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2014.