The Indian Army has deployed ‘rifle women’ from Assam Rifles along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir on national security duty.
This is probably for the first time in the history of the Indian Army that women have been deployed on regular security duty along with their male counterparts in the areas adjacent to the LoC.
According to reports, deployed at an altitude of 10,000 feet, at the top of the Sadhana Top of the LoC, nearly half a dozen ‘rifle women’, led by a woman officer of the Indian Army, have been tasked to guard the road going towards the LoC.
These women soldiers are from the Assam Rifles and have entered the Indian Army on deputation.
The newly deployed ‘Rifle Women’, which is part of Assam Rifles – the oldest paramilitary force of the country – had been entrusted with the task of guarding the national border close to the LoC.
They have also been asked to check smuggling of narcotics, fake currency and weapons through the Sadhana Pass, which is more than 10,000 feet high from the sea level.
Importantly, this area is very close to the Pakistan-Occupied- Kashmir from where Pakistan-backed terrorists make attempts to infiltrate into the Indian side.
The deployment of rifle women is important since there are nearly 40 villages between the Tangdhar and Tithwal areas near the Line of Control.
All vehicles coming from these villages cross the Sadhana Pass to enter other parts of Kashmir.