Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces

ACADEMIA Letters Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces Akansha Sharma Pradip Kumar Gupta 1 Scientist ‘B’ (DRDO), Selection Centre North, Kapurthala, India *Corresponding Author - Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com 2 Scientist ‘B’ (DRDO), Selection Centre East, Allahabad, India pradeep.g75@yahoo.com Gender barriers have always taken up precedence in the working sectors in India be it corporate or government. Though India has always been very forthcoming in reducing these hindrances as much as possible by opening up avenues for women that were earlier dominated by men but nothing concrete has been done so far. Just induction of women in these non-traditional roles cannot be considered as a parameter of success, rather it is very superficial. Just opening gates can never be considered as treating the women in equal way as their men counterparts, but giving them meaningful roles, a conducive bias-free healthy work environment is essential. Indian populace has always been confused in recognizing and acknowledging what women empowerment and feminism actually mean. For most, it means that women are superior to men or being given superior roles than men. However, it is not so. To simply put, it means to give equal status and opportunities to women and also give what is rightfully theirs. Many proponents have time and again clarified the meaning of empowering women. Most aptly put by Amartya Sen, who perceives women as dynamic advocates of social change than passive recipients, and if given education, employment and ownership rights, they would significantly contribute to economic development also. The purpose of this article is to shed a light on one such major sector which is still considered unconventional for women and yet women who are in it are doing wonders and are coming out as symbols of valour and strength for society i.e. Indian Armed Forces. The roles Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 1 which are assigned to women, how these roles can be enhanced and where all they can be utilized will be discussed. Indian Armed Forces The armed forces are representatives of military values, commitment, nationalism and the collective culture of our nation. It is mainly comprised of Army, Navy and Air Force and other services for civil administration. It is the third largest army in the world. Women in Armed Forces Armed forces have always been considered as a male dominated workplace but now it has women in every role, setting examples for others to follow and embark on. The journey of women being inducted in armed forces began in 1992 as regular officers in aviation, logistics, engineering and other administrative cadres. Earlier, the roles that women were assigned were limited to medical profession. However, they excelled in those roles also. If we see the women who performed leadership role in the earlier times, the Rani Jhansi Brigade of Indian National Army under Captain Lakshmi Swaminathan would be a perfect example. In 1943, this force operated in the jungles of Malay very effectively. Nursing Corps of Indian Army was raised in 1883 and by 1940 its strength had grown to 6000 women which aided during World War I and II (Essays, UK, 2018). If we talk about recent times there are 13 women whose exemplary and significant service in armed forces is worth mentioning : 1. Punita Arora: She is from Army Medical Corps, and the first woman to hold the second highest rank in armed forces. 2. Padmavathy Bandopadhyay: The first woman Air Marshal of Indian Air Force (IAF). 3. Mitali Madhumita: The first woman officer to get Sena Medal for gallantry. 4. Priya Jhingan: The first lady cadet to join the Indian Army. 5. Divya Ajith Kumar: At the age of 21, she beat 244 fellow cadets (both men and women) to get coveted “Sword of Honour” and best All-Round Cadet. 6. Nivedita Choudhary: Flight Lt Nivedita became the first woman to summit Mt. Everest. 7. Anjana Bhaduria: The first woman to win gold medal in Indian Army Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 2 8. Priya Semwal: The first Army jawan’s wife to join as officer after losing her husband in counter-insurgency. 9. Deepika Misra: The first IAF woman pilot to train for helicopter aerobatic team. 10. Sophia Qureshi: She, from Corps of Signals became the first woman officer to lead a training contingent of Indian Army at Force 18, held in 2016. 11. Shanti Tigga: The first female jawan in Indian Army at the age of 35 with two children, defeating her male counterparts in 50m and 1.5 km run. 12. Ganeve Lalji: A young intelligence officer who became first woman to be appointed as an aide to Army Commander 13. Gunjan Saxena: The first woman IAF officer to fly in combat zone. The list continues with the contribution and successes of women who are excelling in this non traditional role. Initially, it was difficult for male officers to accept female counterparts as co-workers because they came from conventional families where women don’t do such works. Women officers are serving in Army Service Corps, Army Ordnance Corps, Army Education Corps, Judge Advocate General’s Department, Engineers, Signals, and Electrical & Mechanical Engineers. Approximately 100 women officers get commissioned from Officers Training Academy (OTA) every year against thousands of men. The percentages quoted by research findings state that in Army there are 96% men and 4% women, in navy the numbers are about 95% men and 5% women. Indian Air Force (IAF) has not revealed the percentages, but the situation is similar in Airforce too. Until now, except for medical cadre, women were being inducted for short service commission. The service period ranged from 5-14 years. However, after a long struggle the government has now taken some concrete steps and given approval for permanent commission in Education, Law and Naval Architect Branches depending upon their merit and vacancy. Though Indian government has accepted permanent commissioning of women officers now, they are still hesitant in inducting women in combat roles. While interacting with few women officers, they point out that permanent commission would be a pragmatic step to preserve the work force who would be more efficient and effective. It is just a matter of mindset and should be approached with an open mind. Moreover, they believe that it will give them job security and peace to work more effectively in wherever they are working because the uncertain future would not confront them. However, serving in non traditional combat roles still remains only a dream for many women officers. Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 3 Issues Involved in Inducting Women in Combat Roles Majority of the issues that come up are not culture based, rather they are gender based. But, the two major issues that have been quoted by Armed forces in general are: 1. Nature of the Army, and 2. Working environment of the Army The nature of army differs distinctly from civil set up. The military doesn’t work on the principles of justice and liberalism. Its ethics and codes of conduct are stark opposite from the people they defend from the enemies. For instance, army confines the freedom of movement; it also limits the freedom of speech, and relationships with other officers (fraternization). The goal of army is military effectiveness and not cohesiveness (Bhattacharyya, 2012). American Marine Corps General Robert Barrow remarked in Senate hearing, “….It is not about women’s rights, equal opportunity, and career assignments for enhancement purposes for selection to higher work. It is about combat effectiveness, combat readiness, and so we are talking National Security” (Goldman, 1973). Also, from ages the armed forces have seen only men folk working. The male officers find it difficult to accept women officers as co-workers and also fighting for promotions. They feel women officers are given preferential treatment. Another issue that is quoted by male officers is that women officers harass them using charm with senior officers and criticize them for demanding equality (Suman, 2010). However, it seems unfair to tar all women with same brush. One of the major issues which cannot be done away with is the physical issues in women. The general attitude is that they lack physical strength and their inability to cope with tough terrains and high altitudes prevent them from performing effectively in combat environment (Field & Nagl, 2001). Research findings have indicated that the body composition and muscular strength favour men more. Women have difficulty in lifting loads which are heavy, they need more time and space. Also, they have less muscle mass and more fat. Studies have also shown that during army basic combat training, 51% of women and 27% of men were injured which was related to lower level of fitness (Singh & Arora, 2015). The other main issue is pregnancy. During pregnancy many duties are often severely curtailed. It also contributes majorly in attrition among women in the army. One important research conducted by Colonel DS Randhawa (2005) under a project titled “Women Officers and Work Environment: Indian perspective”, in which he interacted with 600 army personnel and parents on whether women officers were willing to lead male troops Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 4 on a patrol or an ambush. It was noticed that women officers who were at younger age found it thrilling to join such adventure. Married women officers felt this out of context and were feeling bewildered at the thought of being single woman among all male soldiers. Some senior officers were non-committal for sending women on night duties or ambush and convoy protection duties. So there are mixed views on the issue of women in combat roles. Presently there are some women officers serving in field and counter insurgency areas and performing duties of convoy and QRT commanders. But, the percentage of such women officers in Indian Armed Forces is negligible. Conclusion Considering all these issues, we cannot negate the fact of changing environment, security perception and capabilities of women in modern warfare where brain is more important than brawn, where it is more about overcoming stress in warfare than physical combat. It has been proven scientifically that women can handle stress more efficiently and are mentally tougher. This is not to undermine woman’s physical capability. There are many issues that cannot be done away with but the perception and welcoming attitude can make perpetual difference. Today, some women may feel hesitant to join forces but given deliberation and consideration, this outlook can be changed. Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 5 References Bhattacharyya, A. (2012). Women in military in India: The cry for parity. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 317-325. Essays, UK. (2018). Role of Women. In The Indian Armed Forces History Essay. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/role-of-women-in-the-indian-armed-forceshistory-essay.php?vref=1 on 07 Nov 2019. Field, K., & Nagl, J. (2001). Combat roles for women: A modest proposal. Parameters, 31(2), 74. Goldman, N. (1973). The changing role of women in the armed forces. American Journal of Sociology, 78(4), 892-911. Randhawa, D. S. (2005). Women officers and Work Environment: Indian Perspective. USI Journal. Singh, J. & Arora, N. (2015). Combat Role for Women in the Indian Armed Forces. Global Journal of Human-Social Science, 15(9), 17-28 Suman, M. (2010). Women in the Armed Forces: Misconceptions and Facts. Indian Defence Review, vol 25. Retrieved fromhttp://www.indiandefencereview.com/interviews/womenin-the-armed-forces on 07 Nov 2019. Academia Letters, March 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Akansha Sharma, Sharma.akansha727@gmail.com Citation: Sharma, A., Gupta, P.K. (2021). Representation of Women in Indian Armed Forces. Academia Letters, Article 647. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL647. 6