CRPF's Mahila Battalion a hit in Liberia

The Ladies from India have landed in Liberia. It is a job that they are more than at ease with.

But when they arrived in Monrovia, capital of the West African nation, last month, the Indian women's peacekeeping contingent was an object of much curiosity. They were in an occupation not generally considered a suitable job for women.

The 130-odd women drawn from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are going to handle the peace in Liberia after a prolonged civil war.

Seema Dhundiya, commandant, Mahila Battalion "" as the world's only women wing of a para-military force is called "" said, "We felt happy and so welcome when President of Liberia, a woman herself, called us on telephone on the first day of our arrival here."

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is said to have taken instant liking to the Indian girls and asked for their deployment around her workplace and residence "" a challenging responsibility in the scenario of insurgency. Within three weeks of their arrival, the Indian women are already looking after security of key areas in Monrovia, their bosses, mostly males, proudly say.

CRPF Director General S I I Ahmed said, "Reports from Liberia suggest that the women contingent has created a positive impression and it is being entrusted with important responsibilities."

Of the 600 applicants clamouring to go to Liberia, the 125 selected women of the Mahila Battalion had left for Liberia last month. The United Nations had termed New Delhi's positive response to its request for women para-military for peacekeeping in Liberia as "unprecedented."

Ahmed said, "Guarding the President's office is a prestigious task for which one platoon of the contingent has been put on duty."

The CRPF is the world's largest para-military force and the only one in the world to have a women's battalion. They have been providing support to the Jammu and Kashmir police force in counterinsurgency operations for nearly a decade now and conduct independent cordon and search operations as well in the insurgency-hit Valley.

In Monrovia, in their first action against rebels, "the CRPF girls rounded up 30 suspects from an orchard from whom they recovered currency and arms too," a report sent by Dhundiya said.

Last week, the CRPF women doctors and paramedics rushed to an accident site near Congo town and provided treatment and emergency care to seven critically injured persons. The gesture has won the women laurels from the locals.