Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said Indian Armed Forces have opportunities for the youth of all castes and religions. Addressing the convocation ceremony of a university in Uttar Pradesh, Singh said, “Indian Armed Forces have opportunities for the youth of all castes and religions. A Muslim girl Sania Mirza will become India’s first female Muslim fighter pilot after successful completion of the course.”
He added, “There was a time when women were hardly represented in Defence forces but today women are deployed on warships and in extreme areas like Siachen.” Sania Mirza, daughter of a TV mechanic from Mirzapur, cracked the National Defence Academy entrance exam (NDA).
Hailing from Jasovar village under the Mirzapur Dehat Kotwali Police Station, she aspires to become a fighter pilot like the country’s first woman fighter pilot Avani Chaturvedi. Sania, who studied in a Hindi medium school, said that Hindi medium students can be successful too if they are determined. She joined NDA Khadakwasla in Pune on December 27.
After completing her studies till Class 10 at Pandit Chintamani Dubey Inter College. She went to Guru Nanak Girls Inter College in the city where she was the district topper in the 12th Uttar Pradesh Board and started her preparations for NDA.