Apart from the largest foreign military exercise, there’s another thing for every Indian to be proud of! Any guesses? Yes, probably you reached the answer!
We are talking about none other than 35 years old Lt Col Sophia Qureshi, the first ever lady officer to lead an Indian Army contingent at ‘Exercise Force 18’. It’s the largest foreign military exercise our country ever hosted.
Not only this, another remarkable point about it is that out of 18 contingents who have taken part in this exercise, Lt Col Qureshi is the one and only female leader. From a group of peacekeeping trainers, Sophia had been chosen for leading the contingent.
The lady belongs to Gujarat and has done PG in bio-chemistry. She hails from an army background since her grandfather was an army man and her husband is a Mechanised Infantry army official. What’s more, Sophia is in an association with PKOs (Peacekeeping Operations) for a period of 6 yrs and also served in UN PKOs in the year 2006.
On 2nd March, Field Training Exercise commenced in Pune and is to be continued till 8th March. There are a total of 40 members in the Indian contingent that would be playing an important role with other troops in HMA (Humanitarian Mine Action) and PKOs.
As The Indian Express was told by Lt Col Qureshi, “On these missions, we monitor the ceasefires in those countries and also aid in the humanitarian activities. The job is to ensure peace in the conflict affected areas.” She also discussed peacekeeping missions’ role in the areas of conflict across the globe.
In the words of Army Commander Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat, “In the Army, we believe in equal opportunity and equal responsibility. In the Army, there is no difference between male and female officers. She has been picked not because she is a woman but as she has the abilities and leadership qualities to shoulder the responsibility.”
This Women’s Day, RVCJ salutes this wonderful lady who has swollen the chest of every Indian with pride and honor.