CHENNAI: The scars left by Taliban rule are still fresh in their minds. Twenty years on, a set of women from Afghanistan, who have come a long way from those Taliban days, are getting military training at Chennai’s Officers Training Academy.The academy, which has so far nurtured Indian men and women officers, is now hosting 20 Afghan women officers, and will play a key role in enhancing their skills during a 20-day training module. Some of the women speak Hindi and English, but most are fluent in Pashtun.
While some women officers are serving in the Army and Air Force, some also belong to special forces who comb for mines in sensitive areas of Kunduz in Afghanistan.
The women, some in their 50s and some in their 20s, covering their head with hijabs and wearing the Afghan uniform, will get acquainted with skills imparted to cadets at Chennai OTA, and will later impart them to fellow women officers in Afghanistan.The officers will undergo training under Physical Training Officer (PTO) Lt Col Eshwar Reddy, an alumni of Rashtriya Military School, Bangalore. They will also get hands-on experience on how a cadet turns out into an officer, says Captain Smriti, who is coordinating the entire training programme.
Afghan officers usually undergo training in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. This is the first time women officers from the country are being trained at the OTA in Chennai, said Smriti, an alumni of the OTA who was earlier posted in Uri sector.Most of the Afghan women officers wanted to know about combat training offered to Indian women officers. “I have heard about the OTA and wanted to attend the training,” says Friba Azzizi, whose father died fighting for the forces of former President Najibullah.
Azzizi, who fled from Kabul to Quetta in Pakistan as a refugee, feels closer to India. “The Pakistanis disliked us and did not treat us fairly,” recalls Friba, who spent her early childhood in the refugee camp.
The 25-year-old, who has three sisters and two brothers, wants to don the mantle of her father. Interestingly, most of the Afghan women officers, unlike their Indian Army counterparts, have been wearing bangles along with their uniform. The team is commanded by young officer Haseena Hakimi, a native of Kabul. Haseena has picked up Hindi watching Bollywood movies. She is a fan of Amitabh Bachchan and likes the film Khuda Gawah. Interestingly, Haseena has had a stint in Turkey fighting the ISIS prior to attending the training here. “We want to ensure the security of our nation,” she says.
Fifty-year-old Lt Col Rebia Ghasin, an anaesthetist in the Afghan Army Hospital and a native of Khost, says Taliban had terrorised the women who had been brave to withstand their challenge.Captain Shakina Zahidi, who had fled the Ghazini province after it was overran by Taliban, says when she lived in Kabul, her studies were often interrupted by the clashes. “At times it was a week’s break or even for 10 or 15 days.” However, the woman officer made it to the technical wing of the Afghan Air Force and is proud that she was selected as one of the 20 officers for the training programme.Shakina is well versed in firing M-16 gun and has put in seven years’ service in the Afghan Air Force.