The Hindu : National : 150 women get arms-training along LoC

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Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008
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150 women get arms-training along LoC

Staff Reporter

RAJOURI (LINE OF CONTROL): As the temperatures reach their peak and infiltration attempts increase, a total of 150 local women have been trained in arms along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, which adjoins Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

A deterrent

“Learning the use of weapons gives us a sense of security. Women of this village can use weapons and the word has spread around. Militants are deterred from coming here,” says Neetu, a resident of Sarya village of the district. Minimum age for arms training is 18 and even aged women have learnt the use of weapons as part of self-defence mechanism.

Chowdhary Hamid says, “Security forces cannot guard every house in this difficult terrain and one must understand the ground reality. We have a large ex-servicemen population in our area and therefore have licensed rifles. We want our women to learn the craft.”

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