The Border Security Force (BSF) is conducting an all-women mountaineering expedition to Mount Everest as part of its diamond jubilee celebrations this year and to commemorate the 150th anniversary of India’s national song, Vande Mataram. This marks the first-ever attempt by an all-women BSF mountaineering team to scale the world’s highest peak, which stands at 8,848.86 metres above sea level.
Christened ‘Mission Vande Mataram’ the expedition team has successfully completed the acclimatisation phase and is presently positioned at the South Col. The final summit push is planned for early morning of May 21, subject to favourable weather conditions, a statement issued by the BSF on Wednesday said.
The initiative aims to promote women’s empowerment while strengthening high-altitude operational capabilities, resilience, and an adventure-driven mindset among women personnel, the BSF said. The expedition also reflects the growing role and capabilities of women personnel of the BSF in challenging operational and adventure activities.
The five-member mission is led by Deputy Commandant Loveraj Singh Dharamshaktu, a Padma Shri recipient and highly decorated mountaineer, who has summited Mount Everest seven times.
The team comprises constable Kouser Fatima from Ladakh, constable Munmun Ghosh from West Bengal, constable Rabeka Singh from Uttarakhand and constable Tsering Chorol from Kargil. Representing diverse regions of the country and coming from humble backgrounds, the four mountaineers embody the spirit of courage, determination, discipline and dedication to the service of the nation.
The team had undergone a specialised training programme for the expedition under the aegis of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), Manali.
Raised in 1965, the BSF is responsible for the peacetime management of the International Border with Pakistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east. It is also co-deployed with the Indian Army along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, serving in high-altitude areas like Kargil.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which is responsible for guarding the high-altitude Himalayan border with China, is also undertaking its first all-women expedition to Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, during May-June this year.
Although women personnel have previously participated in several mountaineering and adventure activities by the Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces, including that to Mount Everest, this is the first time that both forces have planned exclusive women’s missions.
