Women daredevilry will be on full display on Rajpath this Republic Day, as an all-women bikers’ contingent of the CRPF will make its debut and showcase its nail-biting stunts.
The 65-member team of women will display its acrobatic skills on 350 cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles towards the end of the over 90-minute-long parade.
It will be the first time that the women bikers will perform in the Republic Day parade. This squad was raised in 2014 to involve women in the entire spectrum of roles performed by the Force.
The contingent will be led by Inspector Seema Nag, who is deployed with the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a special anti-riots combat unit of the CRPF.
The Central Reserve Police Force is the world’s largest paramilitary force with about 3.25 lakh personnel in its ranks.
The members of the squad have been specially chosen from various combat units of the Force and are in the age group of 25 to 30, officials said.
This contingent had earlier performed at the birth anniversary celebrations of country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31 last year at Kevadia in Gujarat, an event that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.
In 1986, the CRPF had raised the first armed women’s battalion in the Asia region. Presently, the CRPF has six Mahila Battalions (6,000 persoonel.
The all-women bikers contingent is slated to perform as many as nine acts of daring bike riding and conclude by forming a human pyramid on multiple motorcycles and is expected to fly the tricolor and the CRPF flag on the top.
At the 2018 Republic Day parade, a women bikers contingent of the Border Security Force (BSF) had debuted on the occasion that year.
In 2015, women marching contingents of Army, Navy and Air Force had debuted in the national parade. According to tradition, the BSF and the Army’s bike-borne daredevils end the Republic Day parade every alternate year riding their roaring bikes. This year, the opportunity has been given to the CRPF women personnel, officials said.