Posted on 05/11/2008 7:40:46 PM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
Border Patrol To Get Taste Of Woman Power
Till a few weeks ago, the Wagah border in Punjab (India) was nothing more than a picnic spot for 20-year-old Neha and her friends. It meant packing food and travelling the 85-odd kilometres to watch the fanfare of the retreat ceremony, a daily affair on the India-Pakistan border near Amritsar.
All that has changed with the (Indian) Border Security Force (BSF) programme to recruit and train women constables. The Indo-Pak border is now "serious stuff" for Neha. "It used to be a fun outing to see the parade," she says. "It is now a challenge greater than any other. It is about risking everything to safeguard one’s country."
The BSF has allotted 685 posts of constables to women. Of these, 25 are for Punjab. The constables will be deployed in 14 battalions along the 553-km-long border in the state. Their job: to check drug smuggling, infiltration and, more specifically, monitor women farmers at the border.
"I am elated. Fighting at the border to serve one’s country is an adventure," says Mandeep Kaur. When Kaur’s father, Surinder Kumar, encouraged her to join the BSF, the rest of her family and the entire village were up in arms. But Surinder stood firm and helped Kaur realise her dream of being independent. "I am aware of the social pressure and that is why I am determined to make it good. Once they see me in uniform, they will come around," she says.
The women were recruited for an expense-free training at the city’s District Sainik Welfare Board. The six weeks of training was not easy. It involved rigorous sessions, strenuous physical exercises and coaching in languages, mathematics and general knowledge.
Ranjit, who is preparing for the test after completing her graduation from Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, sees the BSF’s move as admission of the fact that women are at par with men. She is not fretting about the "light duty" concept. "Even if we are given easy tasks, it would be an opportunity to be where our country needs us. The drug menace is no less dangerous than terrorism or an enemy in flesh and blood." She, however, hopes the BSF will allow them "an actual fight" on the border.
In fact, 18-year-old Reema Rani — who was coaxed into it because her parents wanted to see her protect the country like a son would — says it is not about fighting like men or sons but to make it on their own.
This is an advantage, says Ritu, another trainee, because women can strike a balance between emotion and determination. She makes her intentions clear: "Once we are deployed on the border, we will take the enemy to task and not spare anyone who is detrimental to national interest."
Board director Manmohan Singh, a retired colonel, is smug about the women trainees’ performance. "Our women’s force will keep a tab on women farmers’ activities and ensure our borders remain safe," he says.
Yep, putting women out in the middle of no where to stop an illegal invasion is a very good idea. Besides, a 95 pound woman can do anything a 250 lb body-building man can do, right?
< /sarcasm mode off>
Yours is an interesting perspective.
They are reducing the likelihood of rape, by having women cops patrol women farmers.
That helps keep the women from being taken advantage , out in the field, by lonely male patrolmen.
Sounds like a good plan.
...ever seen the bumper sticker, “nobody raped a .38” ? (!)
How gay this is indeed. We need men with balls to do this.
That helps keep the women from being taken advantage , out in the field, by lonely male patrolmen.
Sounds like a good plan.
No lesbos in the lot of them, eh?
Maybe. Maybe not. But (it seems) you miss the point.
I’d like to see the women BSF perform the Wagah ceremony.
The Pakistanis would be mortified!
Do we have a problem with our patrolmen being rapists? I sincerely doubt it.
What this has done, in the interest of being PC, the gov't has decided that dangerous jobs can be handled equally well by both men and women.
About 10 years ago, San Francisco decided that women firefighters are equally capable of doing the same job as men. They relaxed the requirements so that the women didn't have to carry a fire hose and an unconscious body, so if you pass out in a fire, I hope you are lighter than 90 lbs, instead of the male limit of 225 lbs. They also promoted untrained and inexperienced women into the roles of Fire Chief.
The result is that women who were unfit for the job, were placed in a position where they got other 'qualified' people killed. A woman firefighter who cannot simultaneously carry a firehouse and an unconscious body down a ladder means that she has to team up with someone who can do his work, and her work for her. There were many cases where the Fire Chief women ran out of burning buildings, leaving their party behind. Other cases where because the woman was not as strong as a man, and couldn't carry the fire hose up the ladder, someone had to go into the building to get her back out. Face it, most men are stronger than most women - it's the way the good Lord made us. The exceptions make the rule.
So, here I see the opportunity for the same sort of problem. Who is an illegal more likely to assault, a 95 lb blond women, or a 275 lb blond man? Or, conversely, who can better defend themselves, a man or a woman?
Partnering a man and a woman up together means that the man now has to do his job, as well as protect his partner. There are times when you need to retreat and get help. It's tougher to do when you have to worry about a weaker individual who may not arrive at the same decision you have - so the man ends up getting killed trying to protect the woman. This would hardly be the first time this has happened. Or, we end up having cases of where the female officer shots the unarmed suspect because she was 'afraid'. Yup, that will be millions of tax dollars sent across the border to the widow of an illegal.
Thanks.
I guess I should expect a lot of knee-jerk reactions by those who read the title of an article, and nothing else.
They all have the same story.
“It’s an evil plan by the government to take away our rights”.
Funny how they don’t see they are just like the democrats and liberal aging hippies who think Iraq is Vietnam redux.
As most people know, the Israeli’s have their ‘tough women’ deployed on the front lines with the men, and have had successfully for years.
Actually, I am surprised I didn’t see those posters screaming, “just build the wall, already”.
Or should I just give them time?
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