Gujarat's first Muslim woman DySP

Surat: From a burqa to a khaki uniform is a long distance, especially in Gujarat. Yasmin Sajid Sheikh has taken that leap — the 32-year-old schoolteacher and mother of two is set to become the first Muslim woman DySP of Gujarat.

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Sheikh, who recently cleared the Gujarat State Public Commission Services exam, has never met a woman police officer. She says it was the depiction of officers in khaki on television and the big screen that motivated her.
Her in-laws back her completely, as does husband Sajid, a designer with a local embroidery firm. And the burqa, they say, is not an issue. Sheikh would wear the veil on her way to work as a schoolteacher, a job she took on to augment family income.

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The daughter of a retired government primary schoolteacher, she has done double post-graduation, in Hindi and Gujarati, earning two gold medals. It was but natural, says Sajid, that she appear for the GPSC.
"I am proud to have such a beautiful life partner," he says. "We have never quarrelled in our married life of eight years. I take care of the kids getting them ready for school when she goes for work. Now I want to see her in a khakhi dress. I don't mind even if she gets transferred to other districts... we will manage."

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Explaining why she always wanted to be in the police, Sheikh says: "A Revenue Department job is a simple desk job... it is limiting. I want to wear the police uniform, a job that touches all sections of society." No one from either her or her husband's family has ever been in the police.
"In the final interview they asked me how should Kashmir issue be resolved," she recalls. "My answer was peace talks."