Ex Indian Army officer Khushboo Patani (Major) has been serving #inspiration with reels and posts on her social media, covering topics from fitness to patriotism. The elder sister of actor Disha Patani, Khushboo was in the news recently for rescuing an abandoned baby girl in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. She was recently in conversation with Sharat Bhattatiripad in the GDP podcast by MyGov India. Excerpts:
Entry of women into the National Defence Academy has been a historic shift...
Mere toh dil se jazbaat jude huye hain iske saath. I had filled the form for NDA around 2006-2007, without knowing it was only for men then. I cried a lot when I got to know. In school too, I was such an enthusiast, always contributing in national day functions. When I had got to know about NDA for the first time, my guy friends had made fun of me. Gender ka nationalism se kya talluq hai? The fire in us is the same fire which burns within men too. How can you signify? Better late than never. I thank our government for this. Now women are coming up in combat support too. This signifies that we are serious about development. The first batch of NDA female cadets has graduated, let’s see how well they do.
There’s also discussion about women being in commanding roles in the Indian Armed Forces...
Kamaan adhikaari mahodaya, dandpaal mahoday, company commandos — roles itne different hain, kaam adhikaari ka vahi unit sambhalna hai. The strength gets less that’s all. Like Chief Ministers, and their head, Prime Minister. Kaam toh vahi hai, alag thodi hai! Aisa kuchh nahi hai jo humne nahi kiya. I don’t understand why we need any question marks over this. I’d feel weird when this would be debated too. Someone had said recently that the acceptance is low. Women bring a unique combination when they come to the front. Us, women, carry resilience within us, we don’t give up.
As an ex Army officer, were you happy with India’s recent response to terrorism, Operation Sindoor?
{{/usCountry}}Kamaan adhikaari mahodaya, dandpaal mahoday, company commandos — roles itne different hain, kaam adhikaari ka vahi unit sambhalna hai. The strength gets less that’s all. Like Chief Ministers, and their head, Prime Minister. Kaam toh vahi hai, alag thodi hai! Aisa kuchh nahi hai jo humne nahi kiya. I don’t understand why we need any question marks over this. I’d feel weird when this would be debated too. Someone had said recently that the acceptance is low. Women bring a unique combination when they come to the front. Us, women, carry resilience within us, we don’t give up.
As an ex Army officer, were you happy with India’s recent response to terrorism, Operation Sindoor?
{{/usCountry}}I think it is a masterstroke; ‘happy’ is a small word. Aisi cheez bahut pehle ho jaani chahiye thi. I am super proud. Bharat mein aake auraton ke sindoor mitaane ki koshish ki, sindoor ne aapke vahaan kaafi kuchh mita diya hai.
When you spoke to your ex colleagues about Operation Sindoor... what did they say?
Unka khoon ubal chuka hai achhi tarah. I got so many calls when the Operation happened [saying] ‘Pata hai kya hua!’ They are proud of the decision that the government has taken. We should completely destroy their terror camps. They (Indian Army) wanted to go beyond, but it’s okay. Jazbaa extreme level pe hai. Civilians mein dekh sakte ho. Faujiyon ko chhod do, I can feel thirst of blood in civilians’ veins.