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Woman Of Guts And Grit – Tanushree Pareek Becomes BSF’s First Combat Officer In 51 Years

byVinay Devnath
27th March 2017
2 minute read

Women are traditionally not given combat duties in the armed forces. The rule is being tweaked for the past few years. The Indian Air Force got its first batch of three women jet fighter pilots last year. They should have inspired many women to fly into battle like them, but sadly, it did not happen.

Last week, Indian Air Force offered fighter pilot roles to another batch of women pilot cadets. But none of them accepted the combat role.

So you see, the problem is on both the sides.

And especially in such a scenario, Tanushree Pareek is an inspiration to many women. She is the first woman combat officer to be commissioned in the 51-year history of the BSF.

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With this honour, she is going to become the first female field officer in the 2.5 lakh-strong force.

 

She also led the passing out parade of 67 trainee officers who graduated with her. She received her rank stars from Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was the guard of honour at the passing out parade.

“I was so excited that I prepared myself for the parade with double zeal. I think now it is the time for girls to actively participate in tough tasks.”

Tanushree Pareek will be posted along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab as her first assignment.

BSF had allowed women for combat duty back in 2013. She became the first woman assistant commandant in BSF in 2014.

 

Tanushree has trained hard for the past 3 years to be the best at what BSF does. She underwent training in battle craft, intelligence gathering and other border guarding tasks. She was also an excellent student at the academy.

During her training, she received three awards for her outstanding achievements in drill, all round best trainee, and public speaking.

After she passed out of the academy, she was met with a hero’s welcome in her hometown of Bikaner. She did her graduation in Engineering from Bikaner Government Engineering College.

She did her post graduation in Rural Development from IGNOU and wanted to go for civil services and even enrolled herself for a PG diploma in women and gender studies. But she could not clear her Mains.

The BSF is India’s first line of defense during an emergency attack from a foreign entity. And with an excellent officer like Tanushree Pareek, BSF’s manpower just got better!

News Sources – Hindustan Times, Economic Times, India Today

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