Women Commandos

Punjab may have little in common with Libya, if you were to discount the increasing number of Punjabi youth migrating to the country in search of employment opportunities. However, what seems to have attracted the rulers in Punjab to Libya is the model of security adopted by late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi. The Libyan dictator’s inner security cover used to be the onus of an elite group of women commandos.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Singh Badal, both of who have Z-plus security cover, will now also have specially trained women commandos in their security ring. It may be mentioned that two women constables deployed on the Indo-Pak border in the Punjab sector, had recently hit headlines when they gunned down a Pakistani smuggler. The BSF had deployed women constables for the first time on this active duty to keep vigil on the border.

President Gaddafi’s 30-odd female bodyguards were referred to as the Amazonian Guards. During an assassination attempt on the dictator in 1998, a woman guard had died while two others were injured. Gaddafi survived the attack, thanks to his female phalanx. The security officials in Punjab are now hoping that the addition of women commandos to the security cover of the father-son duo would meet the emerging safety concerns. 61 women constables were handpicked from recently-recruited 180 women constables for intensive training at Punjab police commando training complex at Bahadurgarh near Patiala. Senior police officers shortlisted about 100 women and then a final shortlisting deemed 61 of them to be fit for the job.

These women, with an average height of 5 ft 7 inches, are being trained in the use of latest weapons. These include the Glock (an Austrian pistol), INSAS assault rifles, light machine guns, carbines and sub-machine guns like the MP5 (German) and the MP9 (of Swedish–American origin). A group of 20 constables, some of who are married with kids, has been shortlisted for initial deployment; others would be put on active duty after the completion of their training.

The Punjab Police had recently decided to raise a Special Security Group on the pattern of the NSG at the centre to provide security cover to the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. These women commandos will be part of that elite group. They will be deployed in the Close Protection Team (CPT) which is the inner security ring (last line of defence of the VVIP). The CPT consists of seven police personnel armed with automatic weapons. While four members of the CPT carry the Glock that has 17 bullets in one magazine, two carry MP5 or MP9 sub-machine guns. The women would be initially on active duty in Chandigarh or nearby areas; further deployment would be made after closely monitoring  the new system.

According to senior officials, the need for women commandos in the inner ring was felt as a large number of women meet the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister. Presently, women security personnel deployed at their offices and residences frisk the female visitors.

“Women are best candidates to counter women involved in terrorist activities,” believes Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) S K Sharma. The glass ceiling may well and truly be shot down…