The woman, Pushpa Kumari, belongs to the Kohli community of scheduled caste Hindus. According to a report in Express Tribune, Pushpa graduate in ‘Critical Care’ from the Dow University of Health Sciences in 2014. Until last year, she was working as an Intensive Care Unit Technologist at the Benazir Bhutto Accident and Emergency Trauma Centre.
In comments to media, the newly appointed ASI said that there were many Hindu girls in the medical profession and she desired to do something different. “That is why I decided to appear in the public service commission exam for police,” she said.
It was with this aim that Pushpa applied for a vacant ASI post in 2018 and gave her public service commission exam. Her exam was followed by an interview and two weeks ago, she received the news that she was in the final list of qualified candidates.
Regarding Hindu women in the police force, Pushpa said that there were a few Hindu women working as police constables, but she was the only one to pass the public service commission exam for ASI.
For Pushpa, this is not the end of her dreams. She further plans to do a Master’s in criminology and hopes to appear in other exams if the government announces posts for new vacancies, especially for deputy superintendent of police.
In the interview to media, she expressed hope that her choice would inspire other girls and women to be ‘daring in their career choices’.
Pushpa is not the only Hindu woman to choose a career in government service. Two other women, Daina Kumar and Suman Pawan Bodani, have also succeeded in passing the public service commission exams and now serve as civil judges.
However, her appointment is a positive development in light of the numerous issues plaguing the Hindu minority, that is extremely marginalised in Pakistan. Pushpa can act as an inspiration not only for girls of the Hindu minority, but also for girls in the wider Pakistani society.