APROPOS the news item “Teachers’ community divided over arming (Feb 3). One of the teachers while engaged in target practice said that she hit the bull’s eye depicting a human chest as the target.

The problem my dear teachers is that you don’t have to kill a person physically; that is rather easy. The more difficult task is to change the mindset of your students and to make them tolerant, peace loving and enlightened human beings. The real bull’s eye lies there.

If all the teachers of this country had aimed at the “right bull’s eye” we would not have had to rue this day where everyone seems to want to settle their disputes through the barrel of a gun.

I would request all teachers to please give up your guns and equip yourselves with the powers of persuasion to convince people through logic, reason and rationality about the superiority of tolerance, diversity and freedom of thought over intolerance, violence and bigotry. In fact, that is the real “bull’s eye” that all patriotic Pakistanis must aim at.

Khayyam Durrani
Karachi

(2)

EVERYDAY begins with new hope, yet almost every day we take a step back and further tarnish our reputation.

The latest measure was to give handguns to schoolteachers and train them on how to use them. Think for a few moments and ask yourselves: are we in the stone age again? The world has been to the moon and about to land on Mars but we are still not doing enough to coexist peacefully on earth.

The strategy calling for “preventive measures” should not mean providing weapons to teachers. What are we teaching our children and how is this going to secure their future? What would be the impact on our children who see teachers with firearms? If sense prevails we need a better contingency plan to deal with terrorists who are far better equipped and trained.

The Peshawar tragedy is certainly beyond words but there are preventive and corrective measures. Teaching your children about the reality and how to face it in the future seems a much better option. We have always been told that the pen is mightier than the sword but this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

It is time we use the biggest blessing the Almighty bestowed on us, our brains. Let us promote education and awareness. Let us prove that the pen is mightier than the sword and we are better than those cowards!

Naziha Mehmood
Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2015

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