Meet Manisha Ropeta, who stands out for becoming the first Hindu woman in Pakistan to become Deputy Superintendent of Police. Manisha’s appointment is important for two main reasons: firstly, she is a woman who has achieved this position in a male-dominated Pakistani society, and secondly, she belongs to the minority Hindu community.
Manisha Ropeta has become the first #Hindu woman to be appointed a become a deputy superintendent of police after clearing the Sindh Public Service Commission exams.#WomanEmpowerment 🕉️🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/X8z2pjbfuz
— YouTuber Anita Kumari 🇵🇰 (@YoutuberAnitaK) July 4, 2022
In Pakistan, women are generally restricted from doing agentic professions, one where a person is in the managerial position and has to work to get things accomplished. In a society where women from good families become either a teacher or a doctor, and do not join ‘manly’ professions like police, Manisha’s feat is commendable.
“From childhood I and my sisters have seen the same old system of patriarchy where girls are told if they want to get educated and work it can only be as teachers or doctors,” The 26-year-old from Sindh’s Jacobabad area says. Belonging to a middle-class family from Jacobabad in interior Sindh province, Ropeta says she wants to end this sentiment that girls from good families shouldn’t have anything to do with the police or district courts.
She adds that women are the most vulnerable in society, especially in wake of the rising number of crimes against them. She wants to set a role model where ‘protector women’ help the affected victims. Ropeta feels that working as a senior police officer really empowers women and gives them authority. She is currently under training and will be posted in the crime-infested area of Lyari.
Her three other sisters are doctors and her youngest brother is also studying medicine. Asked how she thought to do something different, Ropeta shares that she failed the MBBS entrance exam by 1 mark. She then told her family that she is doing a course in physical therapy, while she simultaneously prepared for Sindh Public Service Examinations. Ropeta got 16th position among 468 candidates.
Competitive examinations are conducted throughout world to select competent people for the service of their country. Those successful young people are asset.The successful youth of CCE19 are also the capital of country.#RestoreSPSC #GivejoiningtoCCE19@BBhuttoZardari @CMSindh
— Manisha Ropeta (@ManishaRopeta) April 24, 2022
The young DSP is now in training, and though there would be problems getting on-field training in a place like hers, she is getting a lot of support and respect from her male colleagues. Ropeta feels that the job of a senior police officer empowers women. “I want to lead a feminisation drive and encourage gender equality in the police force,” she says.
References: Hindustan Times, The Economic Times
Featured Image Source: India Times
