Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan  — On February 24, 2015, Pakistan Rangers (an internal military security force) provided students of NED University of Engineering and Technology a day of self-defense training to prepare the students in the case of an emergency. The day was called a “day with Rangers” and took place at the Rangers Shooting and Saddle Club in Karachi, Pakistan. It was part of the Pakistani government’s measures to protect citizens by teaching them preventative measures such as emergency drills, self-defense, weapons training, bomb diffusion, and emergency medical assistance.

The training day took place not just for self-defense and emergency training, but also to chip away at the popularly held negative image of Pakistani Rangers as incompetent and corrupt. The training session helped to familiarize students on the role and importance of Rangers and their duties in society. Between 150 and 200 university students took part in the training session, and more sessions are planned for students at other Universities in Pakistan.

The goal of these training sessions is to protect and provide security to educational institutions because schools and universities are frequent terrorist targets. Last month, teachers in Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan were given firearms training and were permitted to have guns in the classroom following the December 2014 Taliban massacre at Peshawar’s Army Public School where 145 people (including 132 boys between ages eight and eighteen) were killed and over 130 injured. This was Pakistan’s largest and severest terrorist attack ever. Many pictures from the Ranger training day depict students being holding guns and receiving instructions on how to use them. However, a spokesperson from the Rangers made clear that the students’ training was far from limited to firearm instruction and that the guns students practiced with were strictly laser guns.

However, this Ranger training day and the firearms training of Pakistani teachers has sparked a heated controversy that hearkens back to disagreements over American Second Amendment rights as well as the age-old question of whether or not violence is the answer. Currently, some Second Amendment rights advocates argue that concealed weapons should be permitted and encouraged on American college campuses as a form of protection. Others refute that this would engender even more violence and that guns should just be banned entirely.

In the case of Pakistani self-defense mechanisms, some argue that Pakistani students and teachers should not be armed for several reasons. They argue that it could be even more dangerous and that the number of weapons should be reduced, not increased. They think that the weapons could pose even more of a threat of danger to students and teachers, and some argue that it is the responsibility of the Pakistani government, and not its citizens, to provide security and protection. There is a shortage of Pakistani police, and many, including some of the teachers who are now allowed to carry guns into school, say that more police should be hired and teachers should be allowed to teach; they make the point that an armed classroom setting will create an atmosphere that is scary and not conducive to learning for the students who have to see their teachers strapped with intimidating weapons. Other opponents think that resources should be spent on improving education and not on building an armory.

On the other hand, the opposition argues that the training and arming of students and teachers is an imperative safety and self-defense measure that must be taken. They reflect upon the previously mentioned Taliban massacre on the Peshawar Army Public School. These proponents of self-defense recognize that the arming of teachers and students might not be pleasant, but that it is necessary in the dire and dangerous situation that faces Pakistan. Some make clear that they wish these steps had been taken earlier in order to prevent the loss of life in tragedies such as the Peshawar Massacre.

While guns might not make sense on American campuses, it is important to see the issue from the Pakistani point of view. The country is under constant threat of deadly terrorism from the outside, and educational institutions are particular targets. This issue puts matters into perspective for both sides of the Second Amendment rights issue. Perhaps those who advocate guns on American campuses will see that compared to Pakistan, guns would be somewhat frivolous and problematic for American students and teachers, and perhaps those that denounce the presence of weapons on college campuses will understand the necessity of such on campuses in Pakistan.

However, the deepest question at hand is that of violence or nonviolence. Can fire be fought with fire? It can be concluded that that answer to that question is situational. If fire, or in this case, firearms in the arms of teachers, could have saved the lives of the 145 young boys and educators who were murdered in the Peshawar Massacre, perhaps some fires must be fought with fire. Guns might not always make sense in the United States, but in Pakistan, they may be imperative to the survival of not just educational institutions, but also those inside them.

Source: Dawn.com (http://www.dawn.com/news/1165846, http://www.dawn.com/news/1159796)

A student of NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan receives self-defense training from Pakistani Rangers.

Pakistani teachers receive firearm training and are now permitted to carry firearms into school with them following a massive, deadly attack on a Pakistani school in December 2014.