Do you have that passion in you? 

You must have read this question or heard on television "Do you have that passion in you?" Actually it's a provocative line in the Indian Army advertisements meant for inviting for the post of officers and lately it has been addressed to women as well. Women feel enthralled listening or reading this line and try their best and some of them who had other plans apply to join the army. It all started in 1992 when the Indian army began recruiting women and the women took it seriously. The number of women recruitment is going up every year ever since but there are certain questions which need answers before we reach to a fair conclusion.

Most of us witnessed women leading this year’s Republic Day parade when the American President was guest of honor but merely leading the parade does not mean women officers are leading the Indian army in the battle field too. There is no doubt about the fact that women are joining army in greater numbers now compared to past but that does not indicate their true value in the field. On the paper it may look like the women in the army is marching besides their male counterparts but in reality that is not the truth. To know the truth and reality of women officers one will have to hear it from the horse’s mouth. After all there should be a reason that forces women officers to leave the forces before their stipulated 14 years in the service. 

Most women officers find themselves being treated as inferior or liabilities on the force. The fellow officers look at them as burden and do not feel hesitation in asking funny questions which no person having self-respect will tolerate easily. For instance there is a common question asked by fellow officers ‘how long will you be staying in the cantonment?’ or “would you be joining us for a drink party in the officer’s mess?’ These questions sound innocent but have deep meanings which are asked intentionally to show the women officers as out of the place creatures. Women officers could have created history by leading the Army contingent in the Republic Day parade, but many of them are still not allowed on board warships. They are not given the commission until recently and that too in very small number.

Maybe we have certain examples to contradict the facts that women are slowly managing permanent commission as officers in the Indian army despite of the fact that they are still being kept away from the combat roles in the actual battle field or postings at advanced posts at borders. That is something like a dream for the brave Indian women officers which they saw while applying for the job. The latest figures coming from the defense sources say that armed forces have granted permanent commission to 340 women officers till now. This is certainly a poor count which tells the true story especially when you know that the number of male officers is over 60,000 in our 1.3 million armed forces.

The Indian Army management and male officers will have to change their tactics if they have to keep women officer’s interest alive during coming years. The male officers’ mindset needs to be changed and it should be beyond the mere talks but the gender equality will have to be maintained among the officer otherwise no women would want to join the Indian army as an officer. You can check it from the fact that there are no women commissioned officers in the army from the first batch of 1992 almost 23 years before. 

Why women officers leave the army?

Most women officers left the army since they were not allowed the commission and most of them would be eager to rejoin if only they would be allowed commission. There are women officers in education, legal and nursing wings but not in the battle field. The Indian army must understand the concerns of the women officers as they joined the army giving up the idea of joining other services where they would be treated on equal terms and the Republic Day parade was not their sole aim of joining the army. In fact they went through all the training with as much efforts as their male counterparts do not for the way they are being treated. In fact, they are mere show pieces of the Indian army, kind of medals to showcase to the world that we are a nation of equal values or we do not discriminate among the sexes.  

It would be interesting to note that 250+ lady officers have either resigned or took retirement from the army in last five years and it would worth mentioning here that Indian army had less than 650 officers only. If you listen to male officers on the subject it would sound ridiculous, the male officers feel that appointing women as officers in army is wastage of time since women officers leave the army after they get married. To prove their point they provide the example of doctors in Indian army who also leave or take early retirement , incidentally army is recruiting female doctors from as early as 1941. However the studies clearly show that both the versions are wrong and both the parties are right and wrong. But that does not end the debate on utility of women officers in the Indian army. As far Naval officers are concerned the fact remains that woman officers are not allowed to board on battle ships, so they cannot be promoted to the rank of Captain. 

Are they ready to go to the battle field?

There is a book 'Women Officers and Work Environment: Indian Perspective' written by Colonel DS Randhawa which is kind of research project based on talks conducted with 600 junior lady army officers and their parents. The main question which was asked was whether the women officers would like to be the part of the combat force and work on border with their male counterparts? The outcome of this research was that most junior officers with a service of 1-5 years felt excited about such an opportunity while the women in the range of 5-8 years service felt hesitation working with males in actual War field. The more senior officers did not responded in a proper way and most parents were against the idea.

It might not be true for all the women officers but most officers are not mentally prepared to go to the actual battle field for obvious reasons. The number of serving female officers is so small that there would be hardly another female in the entire battle front which would make them feel alone and even suspicious with so many male around and living conditions in advanced camps. There is absolutely no doubt about the capabilities of the female officers but our army is not yet ready to utilize their full potential. The question should not be whether the women feel enough passion about working with the army but the question should be whether our army is accommodate the women in its ranks.

The situation is getting better

Most people believe that female officers have entered into male dominated area with a bang but the fact is which is hard to believe but true that most lady officers find the atmosphere inside army campus as choking and try to come out of there at the first opportunity. But under the guidance of our present defense minister the things are taking a positive turn now. He is planning to induct the female officers as fighter pilots, planning to give the command of combat forces to the female officers and looking deeper into the matter of sex equality in armed forces. In fact it’s a universal problem faced by even the most advanced countries also. One should not fell surprised if he reads about sexual harassment of women in all parts of the world along with looking at them as inferior gender which are no more than showpieces in the army. 

The most important question that is being asked in the armed circles is how to adjust women officers by providing them proper respect and safety. It’s one of the same questions which worries the armed forces of America and Britain which are by far open and advanced compared to our country but if you look at the cases of rape the things are at real low level. However, despite everything is crystal clear the rate of punishment by martial law courts is too low which stands at merely 2-3% out of the total accused. 

It’s rather disappointing for women officers that having equal or better capabilities their job is limited to desk work. Some senior female officers accept the fact that their presence makes a difference among the male officers and the atmosphere becomes tensed up to some extent. They also agree to the point that army’s job is violence related and a different language is spoken which male officers hesitate speaking in presence of ladies. An army personal is considered to be always prepared to hit someone if the need be which is least expected from the majority of the women and that makes the whole difference. Actually the women officers are in a confusion, if they behave like women which they actually are they are looked down or the male officers hesitate in their presence and if the women become friendly and behave at the same level the chances are they will face other kind of problems which could lead to sexual harassment. There is a need workout the situation and tackled carefully which our army bigwigs know fully and trying to solve the situation. 


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