The retired tag attached to Major Ambica Prasad’s name can be misleading. She is still in her early 30s, her decade-old professional career nowhere near its end. She holds a cushy IT job now but before that she toiled hard for seven years in a profession still considered relatively new for women. She was a woman officer in the Indian army, a rarity among the million-strong males who make up the armed forces.
She was among the first to be inducted in the ’90s, when women were given a short commission of between 10 and 15 years. She was happy to take it but it meant that she could not make the military her life. The appointment curtailed her prospects of career growth. She had no chance of reaching a position of command. That is the reason so many like her have moved to civilian jobs. There was, of course, no question of a place in the combat arm so they couldn’t fly a fighter, serve on a warship or even command troops.
This is certainly a surprising situation compared to countries like Malaysia, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh who all deploy women on warships. The United States even allows them on submarines. Even Pakistan reportedly has seven women fighter pilots. In India, even the prospect of women in such positions appears light years away though it’s something organisations like the National Commission for Women have long been petitioning for.
In a judgment delivered on March 12, 2010, the Delhi High court ordered that permanent commission be granted to short service commissioned women officers in all three wings of the armed forces. This was in response to petitions by over 50 women officers who had accused the government of discrimination vis-a-vis their male counterparts. But while the order itself sounds all-inclusive, it is restricted, at the moment, only to the education, legal, medical, nursing and dental services of the armed forces. Positions that don’t involve command of men or battalions. There is no provision to speak of for inclusion in combat wings, or even for permanent commissions in areas like signals and the service corps where women are taken on short service commissions. So then what are the objections to permanent commissions in these fields?
According to Major General (retd) GD Bakshi, the question of having women in the army has become all about political correctness, at the cost of harsh military realities. He says, for instance, that most of the soldiers in the army, nearly 70 per cent, are peasants from a village background and are not culturally prepared to accept women in command roles. Others like Prabhakaran Paleri, a former DG of the coast guard, says there are logistical problems even with non-combat roles. “In the coast guard, women can’t go on ships so that means they would have to occupy all the shore-based jobs. If that happens, how can we bring men back from the sea? We have to rotate them and give them shore-based jobs for a while so they can be with their families. If we can’t do that, if all the shore-based jobs are occupied by women, then their morale gets affected.”
infrastructure is another problem. Former Commodore S Shekhar describes a drill called ‘hotbunking’ when he was working on board a submarine. “There are 60 people on board and 20 of them take it in turns to keep watch. When one group finishes their shift, they have to sleep. So they take up the beds left by the 20 whose turn it then is. Now can you imagine a woman in this position, having to rotate beds like this constantly? Also, there are only two toilets on board a submarine.” Shekhar also points out that a permanent commission entails a permanent commitment, something women in the armed forces will find difficult. “Many women will want to get married by the time they are 27 or 28 and this is the stage when your commitment to the armed forces has to increase. This is when you get sent to staff college or to combat college. So, if at this crucial point they choose to get married, what happens then?” The point, he argues, is that standards like equal opportunity, which are applicable in other walks of life, should not be applied to the armed forces.
Needless to say, the issue of women in combat is one on which all the senior officers Express spoke to are unanimous: it is simply not a woman’s place. Says former Brigadier Ravi Verman: “The idea of sending women to places like Kashmir or Siachen is utterly ridiculous. These are areas where there is constant fighting and we have to consider what might happen if women are taken prisoners of war. There is no telling what the enemy will do with them.”
‘No privacy on the field’
Major General Bakshi adds that it would be uncivilised to put women in harm’s way and that there are very real physical constraints for women that do not make them suited for the rigors of the battlefield. “After taking women in the Army we have encountered many practical problems. How do you afford them privacy in difficult field areas where armies have to operate in the open in mountains, jungles or deserts?” And while there is the argument for women in other countries serving on ships and as pilots of combat jets, experts like Gopalji Malviya, who is professor of Defence and Strategic studies at University of Madras, say there is no point in comparing our military tradition to theirs. “The social ethos is different in other countries and the role of women in their societies is also completely different. Moreover, in many of these countries they have a shortage of manpower and that’s why they take women while we have no such problem.” He argues therefore, that granting commission to women in support fields like the education and legal wings is a great step as it would allow them to continue after their SSC.
What do the women say
To add to this tumult of opposition, there is also the question of how women in the armed forces feel about their position. Former officers like Major Ambica say the army has not as yet been able to bridge the gender divide. In her time, she felt that women had to make an extra effort to get recognition from the seniors compared to their male colleagues. Another officer, Major Shikha Singh, who held important positions during the Kargil war and took part in Operation Parakram, the biggest mobilisation of troops after the December 2001 Parliament attack, says there is often only a single woman among many male officers in a unit. “She gets a lot of attention and in this environment, when she performs well, her success is mostly attributed to her proximity to male colleagues.” She adds that her own skills and caliber were very seldom appreciated. Her views, however, were countered by Major Priyanka, who has now completed nearly 10 years in service. “I have been posted in locations where I was the only girl for hundreds of kilometres among thousands of men, but never have I felt insecure or odd,” she said. Given a chance, she would love to continue in the army for longer than 15 years.
For Captain Anjali Saxena, a permanent commission for women in the army is only logical but not before there is a change in the mindset of the women themselves. “In the armed forces, a woman who sheds her femininity and adopts a masculine body language is generally appreciated,” she said. “Even troops respect those women officers who adapt to the masculine environment. A woman can not remain a woman.” Major Priyanka has a different take on the issue. She said troops were initially shocked to see women wearing uniforms. But over a period of time, they have accepted the fact and don’t create trouble. “It all depends on how you conduct yourself. I have been firm with the troops but never forget the fact that I am a woman. I don’t get casual with them like a male officer may do,” she said. She goes on to suggest that the time may now have come to open combat arms for women on an experimental basis. “It should be done gradually as the numbers of women officers are increasing slowly,” she said. “Until we do it, how would we know if it is good or bad?” she asked.
India against the rest of the world
In India, currently, 5,137 women officers serve in the armed forces. They include 4,101 in the Indian Army, 784 in the IAF, and 252 in the Indian Navy. This includes women granted permanent commissions in the Army Medical Corps, the Army Dental Corps and their equivalents in the other two services as also in the Military Nursing Service. In the army, women serve in support arms like the Corps of Signals, Army Ordnance Corps, the Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers and the Army Service Corps. In the Indian Air Force, women are inducted in all streams barring the fighter stream. In the Indian Navy, there are restrictions on posting women officers aboard ships and submarines. Most militaries worldwide induct women but only a few allow them to perform active combat roles. Among these countries are Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway and Switzerland.
UK:
Total number of women : 17,900
Total number of officers : 3,670
Total number of other ranks : 14,230
Total of all personnel : 196,650
Total percentage of Women in Armed Forces: 9.1%
Women may now join the British Armed forces in all roles except those whose ‘‘primary duty is to close with and kill the enemy’’: Infantry, Household Cavalry, Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Marine Commandos, RAF Regiment, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.
Israel:
As of 2002, 33 per cent of lower-rank officers in their Israel Defence Force are women, 21 per cent of Captains and Majors, and 3 per cent of the most senior ranks. IDF Women are allowed to serve in 83 per cent of all positions in the military, including Shipboard Navy Service (except submarines), and Artillery. Combat roles are voluntary.
US:
Total Number of women in the Army: 76,193
Total Number of women in the Navy: 52, 546
Total number of women in the Airforce: 64, 275
Women are allowed to serve in the US army in most flight combat positions as well as on warships and submarines. Pentagon rules dictate that women may not be assigned to ground combat units. That means, they are not allowed to serve in the infantry or as special operations commandos. However, they serve in support units as truck drivers, gunners, medics, military police, helicopter pilots and more.
Names of some women officers have been changed
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