Office of education secretary becomes battleground

Officials say 2 primary teachers were summoned over harassing a female education officer

KARACHI: The office of the education secretary, Fazlullah Pechuho, turned into a battleground on Wednesday when his private guards and primary teachers had a scuffle during an inquiry.

Officials told The Express Tribune that two primary teachers belonging to Qazi Ahmed Town of Nawabshah district were summoned over harassing a female education officer. During the inquiry, a heated argument started. The secretary ordered his private guards to arrest the teachers and hand them over to the anti-corruption establishment. The teachers, who are office-bearers of the Sindh Primary Teachers’ Association, attempted to escape from the office but the guards followed them, caught and manhandled them, and brought them back. The administrative work at education department came to a standstill during all commotion.

The Sindh Primary Teachers’ Association gave a strike call in the province, calling it a criminal act on part of the education secretary. "The secretary, who is the brother-in-law of PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, is behaving like a dictator," said Liaquat Deedar, the president of Sindh Primary Teachers’ Association. “Teachers have not faced such situation even in the tenure of martial law. We will agitate until his removal.”

Meanwhile, Pechuho was of the view that these teachers who had also been working as local journalists were threatening him and other staff of the education department, which is why he ordered his guards to arrest them.

After a few hours of keeping them in custody, the education secretary ordered his private guards to release the teachers.