Akhtar’s version of events, as recounted by him over a phone call, predictably differs from his colleagues’. Curiously though, his version doesn’t even reiterate the various news reports on the matter. He said he wasn’t beaten up recently (as news reports seem to suggest quite explicitly); he maintained the only time he was beaten up was on March 26, 2015. “I was persecuted because I hold liberal views and tried to reform many wrong practices like child marriage. He claimed his co-teachers are conspiring against him because he was a hard taskmaster and “disciplined” them. “I wanted to make the Madrassa like any other school – and fundamentalists with vested interests have targeted me for that.”