Twenty-year-old Rukhsana, who with the help of her younger brother Ajaz Ahmed killed a LeT militant in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir this September, has refused to accept the post of Special Police Officer with the Jammu & Kashmir Police.
“I desire employment with a Central government organisation such as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Border Security Force (BSF) or the Army,” she told a press conference organised by the All-India Anti Terrorist Front (AIATF) here on Tuesday. “The job of an SPO is usually given to anyone and everyone and it is not a permanent job.”
Expressing her fears about living in Rajouri after militants attacked her house a second time, Ms. Rukhsana declared: “I cannot stay in Rajouri a minute longer because there is a constant threat to my life and my family. Though security personnel accompany me when I go out, I am not allowed to venture far. The Central government should give me a job in Jammu or any other State.”
Ms. Rukhsana also spoke of the importance of imparting military training to the youth in order to combat terrorism. “Defence schools should be established to train the youth of the country to fight terrorism.”
Claiming that the government neglected her family, Ms. Rukhsana said: “There was a reward of Rs.8.5 lakh on the militant my brother and I killed. We have not received even a penny of it.”
Ms. Rukhsana’s father Noor Ahmed added: “Our neighbours and friends in Rajouri too wish to fight the scourge of terrorism. They are waiting to see how the government treats Rukhsana and her brother. If the government gives them good jobs, then others will also readily participate in the effort to fight terrorism.”
AIATF chairman M.S. Bitta clarified that Ms. Rukhsana had not shifted permanently from Rajouri. “Rukhsana was to be felicitated at a university in Mumbai. However, the programme had to be cancelled as the university said they received terrorist threats. Hence Rukhsana was brought here.”
While exhorting the government to fight against terrorism, Mr. Bitta deplored the delay by government agencies in securing a stable job and a secure life for Ms. Rukhsana and her family.
