IT was heartening to read the news story about the Pakistan Army’s 24 women paratroopers (July 15).
However, a matter of concern in this news story was the use of the phrase ‘First-ever female paratroopers of Pakistan’.
As far as my memory works (later I also cross-checked it from the media archives available on the internet), Flt-Lt Bisma Naseem and Flt-Lt Fatima Khalil of Pakistan Air Force had the honour of being the country’s first-ever female paratroopers, after they made a history by successfully accomplishing paratroop training at the PAF Academy, Risalpur, on April 17, 2006, setting a record among air force women cadets in Asia.
The event was widely covered by national print and electronic media.
Fatima’s distinction of being the first-ever woman paratrooper of not only Pakistan but also Asia was a moment of great pride for the whole nation.
MONA MALIK
Lahore
