Papiya Sultana Alam, who is soon going to be the first Muslim woman police officer from West Bengal, loves to work in positions of power. After doing her MBA, she could have opted for a job in the corporate sector. She did find some odd jobs, but a few days in the corporate world convinced her that this was not her place. Papiya realized that here women are overworked and all that they get for their extra effort is reproving lectures from their bosses. So Papiya decided to find herself a job in which she would not be treated as just another insignificant cog in the wheel, but would be appreciated for her contribution. She sat for the West Bengal Police Service examination in 2006 and cleared it at one go.

Undergoing training at Barrackpore at present, Papiya is excited about the idea of the power she will be able to wield once in office. She feels that common people still fear the police, though, in most cases, for all the wrong reasons. But if the awe that khaki inspires in the public mind is combined with honesty on the part of the police, then Papiya is sure that the world will be a better place. She wants to work in cases involving the trafficking of women. She feels that, as a woman, she is more sensitive to the special problems of women than men would be and so can work for their uplift with an insider’s knowledge.

Papiya is happy that she is soon to join an office that will not only give her power to help the aggrieved, but where she will also be treated with deference by her colleagues and superiors alike. Papiya’s pride in the uniform she is about to don is like that of a child. She declares with evident glee that once she joins office, she will visit her younger sister, who studies software engineering in a college in Behrampore, in uniform. That way, her sister’s friends and foes will know who they will have to deal with if they ever cross her path, and they will behave accordingly.

As a Muslim woman who has lived from her childhood in a para composed of other Muslim families, Papiya is keenly aware of the limitations that still circumscribe the lives of her sisters in religion. She says that though the female literacy rate is high in Bauria, her maternal home, education usually stops at the secondary level for Muslim girls. They are married off after leaving school and once they enter the husband’s household, the question of their working outside for a living does not arise. Papiya wants to change the mindset that confines women to the homestead by presenting herself as a role model. She completed her MBA before marriage and sat for the West Bengal Civil Service examination the year she got married. With her husband’s support, she will appear for the Indian Administrative Service examination this May. But Papiya has her precedent. Her mother, Salema Jehan, is a teacher at Khashkhamar High Madrasah. Now that her nest is empty, with her two daughters settled elsewhere, she is planning to utilize her spare time by writing a book on the rights of Muslim women.

Although Papiya has seen Muslim women being made to serve their father’s or husband’s wishes, she herself has felt no such restriction in her life. While studying for her MBA, she used to travel to Salt Lake from Howrah in her motorbike and would return home at eight or nine in the evening. Her educated and liberal parents have always protected her from any criticism that might have been levelled against her. And after marriage, her husband, Badrul Alam, was never averse to her working outside. But he wanted to make sure that Papiya got a job where she would not face harassment of any kind. A public-sector job at the higher levels seemed ideal in this regard. Having sat unsuccessfully for the IAS examination himself, Alam wanted his wife to carry forward his dream. He helped her with the study material, fixed her routines and registered her for online mock tests. Papiya avows that her in-laws are also immensely supportive. Initially, they had qualms about allowing their daughter-in-law to wear trousers to work, but once they understood that a policewoman cannot possibly run after miscreants in a flowing kameez and dupatta, they allowed Papiya to go ahead.

Apart from her professional achievements, Papiya has another accomplishment to boast of — her relationship with her husband. It is built on a reciprocity that is almost utopian. Even before marriage, Alam used to help Papiya by sending her the relevant notes for the WBCS, so that all she had to do was study. Now that she is going out for training sessions early in the morning, Alam wakes up and gets her uniform ready before Papiya is up. Juggling the demands of home and work, Papiya ministers to Alam’s needs as best as she can. Alam just loves the food Papiya cooks for him and would not touch restaurant junk. So Papiya still cooks and packs his lunch (which, she says, he enjoys as a schoolboy does) before leaving for work.

Papiya plans to study law whenever she gets the time. That way she will be able to practise as a lawyer after retirement, particularly for the cause of gender justice. She wants to offer her service for free because by the time she retires, she and her husband will have enough money between them. Looking at Alam affectionately, Papiya says that he has threatened to look at her salary slip at the end of each month. If he suspects that Papiya is having more money in her hands than her salary slip records, the consequences for his wife will be grave. The policewoman who enforces law in the state will then be subjected to the disciplinary measures of the man in her life.