For the very time ever, in the history of the country, three Christian women have been recruited in the “Tribal police”.
These three Christian women, who have been short- listed from 15 Christian women, who had sent in applications for the vacancy. This job was open for all religions, nonetheless, only 15 Christian women applied for it. Surprisingly, there were no applications from Muslim women. The selected women will have ot work alongside their Muslim male colleagues.
The basic job nature of these three Christian lady police officers is to carry out body searches of women who will be passing through the Torkham border in FATA’S Khyber Agency. Moreover, these lady police officers will also be assisting in house raids.
Khyber is one of Pakistan’s seven tribal districts situated next to Peshawar and bordering Afghanistan, and thousands of Afghans families pass through the Torkham border crossing between the two countries daily.
Male police carrying out female body searches is a sensitive issue in Pakistan. Security agencies elsewhere in the country have recruited women police, but Khalid Khan, senior official in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal district, said the tribal districts were facing a shortage of female applicants.
“We consider it as a first drop of rain and we are hopeful that more women, both Muslims and Christians will apply,” another official in Khyber tribal district told.
A tribal police force with more than 4,500 personnel assists other security agencies to maintain law and order in Pakistan’s seven tribal districts. The tribal force are mainly responsible for controlling local crime and drug smuggling while the military and paramilitary are responsible for border control and security.
The new recruits will do three months of basic training before being deployed at Torkham.
“I do not want to be at home like other women, I want to serve my country and help my family,” 21-year-old Riffat Abid, one of the successful applicants, told AFP in Landi Kotal border town. Landi Kotal is home to a limited number of Christian families. The men mostly work as sweepers while men and women with basic education also work as nurses at local hospitals.
Mehak Ghaffar, another on of the three women is a 20-year-old, Christian. She said the basic reason for applying for this job was to make both meet as she comes from a family with poor financial status. She told that her husband earned a meager amount of 7,000 Rupees (US$66) per month, which is plainly inadequate to meet the expenses of a household of 12 family members. “This was the happiest day of my life. Our family has been facing extreme poverty for generations and I want to get rid of that,” she said. “At least my kids will not work as sweepers. We, the three women, will be the initial drops of rain for our families,” she continued.
22-year-old, Naila Jabbar, the third successful candidate, said, “I become a man when I leave my home. I am happy that I will support my family.”
Christians make up an estimated 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s 200 million people and have long faced discrimination in the Muslim-majority country.
Source: Christians in Pakistan