Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Rukhsana Kausar on Tuesday demanded a permanent government job, ideally in a paramilitary force, and said she should be shifted out of her home district of Rajouri in view of the threat to her family. The 20-year-old also said she favoured imparting military training to children in schools so that they could “overcome fear and prepare themselves for taking on terrorists”.

Rukhsana shot to fame after shooting a Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit commander in September when militants attacked her house. Rukhsana is currently visiting Delhi along with her family.

Rukhsana, who has been appointed as a special police officer in Jammu and Kashmir Police along with her brother and uncle for her bravery, said at the meet organised by the Anti-Terrorist Front here that she wanted a Central government job, “ideally in the CRPF”. “I am ready to sacrifice myself for the country. I am ready to do any job for my country, but it should be permanent Central government employment. The SPO’s job is a temporary one,” she said.

Rukhsana also dismissed reports that she wanted to settle in Delhi, but emphasised that she should be given a job outside Rajouri as living there is not safe for her family. Flanked by her family - brother Aijaz and parents Noor and Rashida - she cited the revenge attack on her house by militants last week. Asked whether she was ready to join the Army if given a chance, she replied in the affirmative and said in reply to another question that no major political leader had come to meet her after the incident.

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