SWAT women feel proud of mention, glad PM praised NE

NEW DELHI: It was a proud day for Sumita and Mina— women members of the newly-created SWAT team of Delhi Police—as they found a special mention in the inaugural announcement of the 72nd Independence Day.
The SWAT team drew applause from all quarters during the mention. Some of these women commandos were seeing the celebrations in real life for the first time.

For Sumita, who comes from a village in Assam, watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi in person was an exciting moment. She said being in a security force was a dream come true for her. She was part of the 36-member team pooled from northeastern states tasked to guard the visitor’s perimeter of the Red Fort.

“I used to watch Armymen near our village and wanted to be like them. Later, when I joined the police, I opted for SWAT unit since I wanted to serve the nation like the Army,” Sumita said.

Her colleague Mina said she was proud that she was given a task of such responsibility as first assignment. “We are thankful to our senior officers for their confidence in us. I had never thought we would be part of such a prestigious event so quickly in our career,” she said.

The women felt the SWAT team has changed perceptions about the northeast.

“We were elated when the PM called our region the most progressive,” said another member.