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| CRPF's UN peacekeeper force shoots into prominence | | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 15: The United Nations has for the first time deployed an all-female unit for peacekeeping operations in Liberia. As many as 125 policewomen drawn from India's Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will leave next month for a tour of duty in Monrovia, capital of the west African nation just emerging from years of savage civil war.
Significantly, many of the policewomen have served in Jammu and Kashmir, where Islamic guerrillas have been, since 1989, fighting Indian security forces. Quite a few of these CRPF female fighters have served in the insurgency-torn northeast region of India. But UN peacekeeping operations will present new challenges to the policewomen.
JK Sinha, Director-General of the CRPF, has placed himself on record, saying: "Our women going there will send two messages -- first, that women in India are on par with men, and inspire women ... wherever they go". Sinha heads India's 230,000-member CRPF, the world's largest paramilitary unit. The CRPF chief added: "We are all very excited about Liberia and we hope we can help the country raise a women’s police force". JK Sinha has served two tours of duty in insurgency-hit Kashmir.
Liberia’s civil war, which claimed over 200,000 lives, ended in 2003 when African leaders persuaded warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor to step down. He is now on trial for war crimes in The Hague. Since the conflict’s end, the UN has stationed more than 1,000 police personnel, 14,595 troops and nearly 200 military observers to keep a fragile peace and try to restore normalcy in the devastated nation, where Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became President in January. Sixty-four military personnel and seven police officers have been killed in the past three years in Liberia, which has a population of three million and was founded by freed American slaves in 1847.
The CRPF's battle-hardened operations commander, Poonam Gupta, who is also on her way to Liberia, said: "The situation will be similar (to Kashmir and the northeast) and we think we can control things in Liberia". "We are no pushovers", she added.
India is a longtime contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and has sent women as part of earlier units. But the UN this month described India’s move to deploy female officers in policing as "unprecedented". In fact, UN Police advosor, Mark Krocker, was reported to have observed: "We applaud it and think it is extremely timely and relevant to the policing needs in the years ahead".
Female peacekeepers are seen as bringing a different style to international policing by appearing less threatening and more approachable for women and children. Since the President of Liberia is a woman, the CRPF female officers hope to send to message to the Liberian women to come forward to help rebuild their nation.
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