City revels in Group Captain Shaliza's achievement

Tribune News Service

Manav Mander

Ludhiana, March 10

Group Captain Shaliza Dhami made the city proud after she became the first woman officer to head a frontline combat unit in the Western sector facing Pakistan. Born and brought up in Ludhiana, Shaliza has made the city proud by her accomplishments. She did her schooling from Government Senior Secondary School, PAU, and BSc from Khalsa College for Women.

I could not control my joy when I came to know about her achievement. I along with her NCC teacher Narinderjit Kaur called her up yesterday. She had a hearty talk with her NCC teacher as it was when she joined NCC’s Air Wing she got motivated to join the Indian Air Force. — Dr Mukti Gill, Principal, Khalsa College for Women

Dr Mukti Gill, Principal, Khalsa College for Women, said she still remembers Shaliza as a very down to earth and hardworking student. “I could not control my joy when I came to know about her achievement. I along with her NCC teacher Narinderjit Kaur called her up yesterday. She had a hearty talk with her NCC teacher as it was when she joined NCC’s Air Wing she got motivated to join the Air Force,” said Dr Gill.

“She was little busy so she promised to call me on Saturday again. I am proud of my student and I know she will scale more heights in the times to come,” she said.

A student of Government Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Dhami has proved that being a student of a government school has made no difference to her and she has been able to achieve whatever she yearned for in her life.

Sanjiv Thapar, retired principal of GSSS, PAU, said, “I was in the faculty at that time when Dhami was a student here. She has proved the general notion about the government schools wrong by her rare achievement. It is one’s sheer will and dedication that makes all the difference. She went to a government school and with her hard work, she has reached to the skies. I wish her all the best for her future endeavours,” he said.

Kusum Lata, another retired teacher from the same school, said, “Today, I was giving a lecture at a college in Raikot on women’s day and I was proud of the fact that it also included name of one of the students of our school, Shaliza Dhami. I was sharing about the women who broke the barriers and achieved feat for the first time in the history. My list also included Shaliza’s name who became the first woman officer to head a frontline combat unit.

Her parents when contacted, however refused to talk or give any comments citing personal reasons.

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