Army to train border girls in martial arts in Jammu & Kashmir

To teach girls self defence tactics, Army has started training martial arts to girl students in remote areas, particularly border area in Jammu and Kashmir.

PRO Defence Northern Command, Col S D Goswami said in a recent interview that,

The Army has initiated a four week martial arts course for girl students in remote areas

A total of 40 girl students in different age group from six schools of Nowshera border tehsil are participating in the course which aims at developing self confidence apart from making them physically robust and psychologically empowered, Col Goswami said.

The course under Operation Sadbhavna is being conducted at Government High School, Seri will focus on physical training and mechanics of self defence for girls. The training is being conducted by an Army soldier, a qualified Black belt in Judo, he said.

He also added that during the course, the students will master the art of hand-to-hand combat besides various techniques of martial arts. Many advanced course of martial arts training is being planned by the Army for selected students who will gain proficiency in it.

There is no compulsory military training in India, but nations such as China, Singapore, Israel and South Korea have conscription. In 2015, the NDA government had decided to extend the plan to cover all villages within 10 km of the International Border. These villages in 381 blocks are located in 106 border districts in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. They were referred to as strategic villages.

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This is not the first time that the forces have come together to empower women on their safety, the state has a similar practice exists in the form of village defence committees, which work under the State police and are provided with licensed weapons to fight militants.