The Taliban in Pakistan has a long history of hindering polio eradication campaigns. The recent suicide bomber attack on a polio vaccination center in Quetta, Pakistan is a stark reminder of that.

The Taliban has used violence as well as misinformation tactics to manipulate the already afraid local population and slow down the polio eradication progress in Pakistan. They have spread false information about the polio vaccine, such as that it contains the HIV virus, or that it is an attempt by the West to sterilize young Muslim girls, or that it is challenging God’s will, hence haraam.

A suicide bomber killed 15 people outside the Quetta polio center. The attack was claimed by the Taliban.
Image: Reuters.com

Basically, the Taliban has been the cruelest adversary of polio vaccination campaign workers as well as the children of these regions.

But in their own ignorance and paranoia, these Taliban militants have left their own kids vulnerable to the poliovirus, and this article in TIME magazine covers the story of one such member, whose love for his child made him do something extraordinary.

Children living in remote villages and families of Taliban members are highly vulnerable to polio.
Image: Flickr: CDC Global


Jeffrey Kluger wrote about the one-on-one experience of Aziz Memon, the chairman of Rotary International’s campaign in Pakistan, with a Taliban chief whose 18 month-old son contracted polio.

In his conversation with TIME, Memon mentioned his encounter with the Taliban chief at a hospital where he was dropping off some wheelchairs. He stopped to take a tea break at the hospital, and according to him, a hospital worker told him that a Taliban chief was in a nearby room with his son.

Aziz Memon, the Chairman of Polio Plus National and a leading figure in Pakistan's polio eradication campaigns.
Image: Flickr: Polio Plus Pakistan

Seeing this as an opportunity, Memon went inside the room and struck up a conversation with the militant. Eventually, he brought up the child’s health, and quite fearlessly said the following:

“ If you had given him the two drops, he’d be running now.”

And of course, the Taliban chief, a guy who showed up to the hospital wearing a gun on his hip according to Memon’s account, got visibly angry. He told Memon with aggressive conviction,

              “ It was his destiny to suffer this way, and now you are challenging me.”

In that moment Memon realized it wouldn’t do well to continue, and they both fell silent. And as if nature was on Memon’s side, the hospital room got quite hot, making the child who was wearing multiple layers, uncomfortable. Memon asked the Taliban chief to remove the child’s sweater, but he refused. He told Memon that they’re from a region where it is severely cold, so wearing multiple layers is protection against diseases like pneumonia. Memon saw his chance and seized the moment.

                 “But wouldn’t that be his destiny?” and added “Now I AM challenging you!”

Perhaps it was the act of being challenged with reason, or just the concern of a father, the Taliban chief found himself reduced to tears as he looked at his son, who was unable to use his legs anymore. In a moment of desperation, he asked Memon,

            “Could you give him four drops now?

This man who was responsible for spreading so much terror broke away from his convictions in that moment for his child’s well being.


Memon had to tell him the unfortunate reality that it was too late for his son, but because he was able to witness and share the moment where a Taliban chief became a loving and concerned father, he extracted a promise from the man.

A promise to deliver oral polio vaccines to other children in his family, and offer the drops to his neighbors as well.

Without access to the polio vaccination, children in vulnerable regions are denied a healthy childhood.
Image: Flickr: RIBI Image Library

Memon’s account says that the man confirmed the fulfillment of his promise via a text that he requested Memon to delete.

Now the skeptic in me wants to challenge this story, but the optimist in me wants to believe that love did win that day.

This one story might never be able to make this father a sympathetic figure to the world, but it does show that progress can be made in softening the resistance to the fight against polio. And, also, what a concerned parent is willing to do despite personal convictions or social dangers.

This story is a reminder that despite the hardships being faced by polio campaign workers in areas under the vicious control of militant groups like Taliban or Daesh, there is hope after all. And that is something all global citizens can celebrate!


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