Little do the disapprovers realise that peace keeping in the family has always been the preserve of women.
By joining the armed forces, women have only expanded the scope of looking after this increasingly difficult job, in the society at large.
Poetry in motion is what the marching women in the Rapid Action Force (RAF) unit now in Adilabad seem to be as the crunch of their steps matches those of their male counterparts.
“It is a tough job yet there is the satisfaction of having done something to enforce peace,” observes Geeta Bhatt, Sub Inspector from New Delhi, who leads the team in the RAF here.
Incidentally, she is also with the elite armed unit since it was carved out of the Central Reserve Police Force in 1992, especially to control communal clashes.
“Often, rioters try to out smart security forces by pitching in women in the front during crises. It is to tackle such situations that the female units are deployed,” reveals the veteran policewoman about the underlying factors of agitations.
The uniformed women also have to face dangerous situations quite often.
Close call
“In Rohtak, Haryana, I was surrounded by a murderous crowd a few years as we went there to tackle the law and order problem. I could escape only by firing tear gas shells,” recalls constable R.B. Nayak of the ordeal she had faced.
Hum sabheene bahut dande bhi chalaye hain, Ms. Bhatt intervenes in an effort to say that female members also deal stringently with trouble makers when needed. Hame public aur Government ka nuksan rokna hota hai, she adds, justifying the use of force.
P.K. Bindu, constable from Bangalore in Karnataka and Salma from Chandrayangutta locality in Hyderabad give out a smug smile when they are asked about the factors that motivated them to join the armed forces.
“Pride of donning the uniform is perhaps the strongest among the factors,” the SI answered for her colleagues.
