Today as the nation listened attentively to the Prime Minister’s address, there was a small yet very significant change happening inside the premises of the Red Fort. It was the first time in independent India that an ‘all female’ SWAT team was part of the security apparatus protecting the venue.
The team comprising of thirty-six (36) women went through more than a year of harsh training. The training module included but not limited to weapons handling, counter-terrorism and Krav maga for fifteen months.
This SWAT team is representative of the new India, which is inclusive and serves as an indicator of the changing mindset within the country. Special operation forces in the police or the armed forces have always been male-dominated and not only in India but throughout the world. The all-female SWAT team was inducted into the Delhi police by Home Minister Mr Rajnath Singh on last Friday.
The 36 women constables are all from north-eastern states. They will shield the city from harm by serving alongside five other male commando units of the Delhi police. Today, this unit was deployed at the red fort area. The women donned blue uniforms and guns as they protected the outer perimeter of Red Fort.
Pramod Kushwala, a senior Delhi police official while speaking to Thomson Reuters Foundation about the importance of such initiative and induction of this team into the police force stated:
“These women have broken into a male bastion”.
He further added that this team will prove to be an anti-thesis to the various arguments put forth by people about women not being suitable enough for certain kinds of jobs. Kushwala said that there is a misconception about women’s capabilities in certain roles but this team is at par with other male commandos and in certain cases, these women are better.
This SWAT team will be posted in different locations of South and Central Delhi and also will be a part of the security in the high alert zone in the capital. The induction of this all-female swat team comes days after an all-female navy crew onboard INVS Tarini travelled across the globe in a short period of eight months. INVS Tarini travelled across the Equator twice.
