Monday, January 26, 2015: The Republic Day celebrations were held at Rajpath with Mr Barack Obama and the First Lady as chief guests for the extravaganza. The parade was a beautiful celebration showcasing the culturally rich treasure chests of the country, but the main theme for the celebrations was ‘Nari Shakti’ (read: women empowerment), suggested by the honourable Prime Minister- Mr. Narendra Modi. The marching contingents of all-women officers from the three facets of the Indian Armed Forces, namely- Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, with their respective Wing Commanders leading them.
Take the case of the National Defence Academy (NDA) for starters. The most esteemed academy for defence aspirants does not even consider women as eligible aspirants to someday serve the nation.
And if at all they do make it to the national army, they are recruited only on Short Service Commissions of five to ten years and thus, it becomes nearly impossible for them to rise above the rank of Major in their tenure: Best Case Scenario.
While they’re at it, they undergo similar training and perform similar tasks as their very capable male counterparts, yet they are rendered unfit for certain jobs in the army, for instance, women officers are not allowed to have combat roles in the armed forces and the only argument that has been put up by the organization as an explanation for this is the ‘organizational hierarchy’, not to forget that most female servers in the Indian army are very conveniently placed in departments like Education, Medical Services and catering.
And if they are perseverant enough to live through it, they are thrown out of the forces after they’ve served the nation for fourteen years (read: the service is neither pensionable, nor does it have any retirement benefits), with all their heart and soul, and no, that has nothing do with how they do what they’re supposed to do. They’re thrown out because they belong to a gender that is not too favoured by the Indian armed forces.
In June 2006, a lady officer in the Indian Army, Sushmita Chakravorthy, committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a service rifle in the Command Headquarters in Northern India. A brilliant officer and a gold medallist, Sushmita had slipped into depression, given her then working conditions. She believed she had the potential of worth a lot more than what she had been assigned. She wanted to leave, but financial constraints and being unable to repay the organization, the amount that they had spent on her training, compelled her to make the decision that she did.
By Dhwani Mohan