With fists flying, 125 Indian policewomen hone their riot control skills before heading to Liberia as UN peacekeepers -- the first time the world body has deployed an all-female unit.
WAZIRABAD: With fists flying, 125 Indian policewomen hone their riot control skills before heading to Liberia as UN peacekeepers -- the first time the world body has deployed an all-female unit.
The officers of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), aged 25 to 30, will leave next month for a tour of duty in Monrovia, capital of the west African nation just emerging from years of savage civil war.
"We're prepared to take casualties," said battalion commander Sunita Dhundia as the blue-dungaree-clad women -- all volunteers -- drill under a blazing sun.
"My girls know the hazards of the call of duty -- they have to do it, they're soldiers," she said.
Many of the policewomen have served in Kashmir.
Liberia's civil war, which claimed over 200,000 lives, ended in 2003 when African leaders persuaded warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor to step down. He is now on trial for war crimes in The Hague.
Since the conflict's end, the UN has stationed more than 1,000 police personnel, 14,595 troops and nearly 200 military observers to keep a fragile peace and try to restore normalcy in the devastated nation, where Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became president in January.
Sixty-four military personnel and seven police officers have been killed in the past three years in Liberia, which has a population of three million and was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
"We're no pushovers, you know," she said after the unit drilled with assault rifles and practised karate and kick-boxing at the training ground.
India is a longtime contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and has sent women as part of earlier units. But the UN this month described India's move to deploy female officers in policing as "unprecedented."
"We applaud it and think it is extremely timely and relevant to the policing needs in the years ahead," UN police advisor Mark Krocker said.
Female peacekeepers are seen as bringing a different style to international policing by appearing less threatening and more approachable for women and children.
"Since the (Liberian) president is a woman, we think we would be able to send a message to the Liberian women to come forward to help rebuild their nation," added Dhundia.
The women were this week getting an intensive refresher course in unarmed combat, anti-riot tactics, weapons handling and computer and language skills at the CRPF centre, said Gupta.
"They work 12 hours a day," Gupta said, adding they would carry 9-mm Browning pistols besides light machine-guns, AK-47 rifles, tear gas or batons.
"Our women going there will send two messages -- first, that women in India are on par with men, and inspire women... wherever they go," said J.K. Sinha, director of CRPF.
Thirty-year-old Tanushree Sinha "fought" four "enemies" with her fists and feet at a martial arts practice session.
"We're all very excited about Liberia and we hope we can help the country raise a women's police force," said Sinha, who served two tours of duty in insurgency-hit Kashmir.
"We have no fear,' she said after chopping down an opponent almost twice her size with a single blow of her booted foot.
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