By
Col Anoop Kumar Khare
Since last couple of years, we are witnessing a series of initiatives taken by the Government on the issue of allowing females as officers in armed forces to make up gender equality. All these initiatives undoubtedly get a media glare and are widely reported under bold headlines ; The Indian armed forces has become increasingly gender-neutral and progressive, as if inducting women is the only criteria for armed forces to become progressive.
Many years back Brig Grant of Indian army had written ; Army is not a welfare organization, the policy makers before inducting women into armed forces must give it a thought whether it is helping the organization becoming better.
Now that the Govt and the SC have opened up even NDA for women officers, it would be prudent to examine ; will it be worth spending colossal amount of money on each woman cadet and How will they be performing in combat roles as they have never done so before.
There is surely no doubt that Indian women are no less than their counterparts in west but then we need to examine the case as we have no such previous data available with us about their performance on combat roles.
One. Women have taken part in Israel’s military since its founding, in 1948. However, even till 2014, as per the Israeli def forces ( IDF) report less than 4 percent of women are in combat positions such as infantry, tank crews, artillery guns service, fighter pilots, etc and approx 535 female Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat operations between the period 1962-2016 (this figure does not include the dozens of female soldiers killed in Israeli service prior to 1962).But their geostrategic compulsions and population in comparison required is absolutely different.
Two. Initially till Yom Kippur war they were allowed to serve only in the “feminine” roles as office workers, nurses, and teachers, however Post YomKippur war of 1973 New roles were opened to them, but mostly with an aim to free the men for combat.
Three. Whether women had served in combat roles even before the establishment of the IDF, and if so what the scope of their service was, is still unclear. Researcher Lilach Rosenberg-Friedman claims that the reality was far from the myth. Although women were trained to fight, but when in actual practice, they were actually employed only as supporters of war effort.
Four. After the War of Independence and after the capture of women by the enemy (about a hundred women were captured, according to Rosenberg-Friedman), the Defense Service Law established three categories of roles that would not be assigned to women: professions that require physical abilities, professions in which the conditions of service are not suitable for women, and combat roles.
Five. In view of the above, despite the Court’s orders, the women were inducted only in Women's Corps which was established for women as an integral part of the Israel Defense Forces and unlike men, who were assigned to combat roles, women were recruited mainly to support soldiers and to leave operational positions to men.
Six, This is largely the situation in other armies as well . In USA also During the Revolutionary War, women served in Army in traditional roles as nurses and cooks for troops in camp. Some courageous women served in combat either alongside their husbands or disguised as men, while others operated as spies. Though not in uniform, women shared Soldiers' hardships, including inadequate housing and little compensation. It was only in the Obama years that all combat positions, including in the ground forces, were open to them. Today in US military, Women are no longer excluded from any type of combat mission ; They are pilots and vehicle drivers and mechanics and infantry officers. But they still remain just 16 percent of the total force. Percentages have roughly doubled in the last generation for the various services but, even today, averaged across the four major Department of Defense services.
The above clearly shows ;
One. Before the combat roles were opened to the women the various milestones had been reached only gradually over a period of 50-100 years, after proving themselves in a battle field environment.
Two. The women shared soldiers hardships and even served as conscripts/ enlisted soldiers - a jawan in Indian parlance and not only in officers’ position.
In view of the above, It prima facie appears that people who are clamoring for such a forced gender equality are either blind to the purpose and needs of Indian armed forces or they are advertently doing it for the sake of publicity and electoral politics.
They in order to project themselves as progressive appear to be in a hurry and Sadly even courts in our country have not given a serious thought to this major issue of National security and fallen prey to the attraction of hogging media head lines.
When the Going gets Tough , the Tough gets going.
Defence forces have the sole objective of defending the nation by offensive or defensive means which primarily is based on fighting capability of our soldiers. Although mental toughness is an important aspect of that but Physical toughness is also an equally, if not more, important aspect of that Combat capability. This Physical toughness is ensured by laying down some physical standards,that are required to be maintained by soldiers,in battle field environment - which is gender neutral. Every year all soldiers are tested and are expected to pass the BATTLE FIELD EFFICIENCY TEST(BPET). No enemy worth its salt will have different set of standards to fight, depending upon whether the opponent is a male or female.
We are appalled to witness such a disregard to main issue while canvassing for gender equality in appointment and promotion in armed forces.
Even in all sports event, around the world, the physical standards achieved by male and female are not equal in any event.Hence by allowing females freely in armed forces through NDA or other academies by diluting physical standards can only prove to be counter productive and may be disastrous in operational environment for which defence forces have been created.
The propagators of this policy perhaps are working on a theory that women will perform as good as men in the battle field without having any scientific data to back that. Whereas, the armies world over, based on their experiences of fighting numerous wars have laid down certain physical standards to be maintained by all soldiers inorder to be effective in battle field. Exceptions of few courageous women can not be generalized.
Why Dilute the norms in the guise of attaining Gender Equality.
There is reportedly, lot of discontentment, apprehension and complains in the defence forces, where female officers are provided comfortable positions away from battle zones disrespecting equality clause of same pay- same work due to constant social environmental pressures. The principle of unification of job environment viz command ,staff , instructional stream together with field and peace postings, is so far have been impartially maintained in armed forces. The experience gained on battle line and field conditions are applied while getting posted on staff or instructional appointment or headquarters away from combat zones. The induction of lady officers has already started slowly eroding this concept as they are generally posted on comfortable jobs away from the inhospitable combat areas.
Defence forces are not welfare organisations, nor they are organised for providing avenue of jobs for unemployed youth as in other sectors.
Who will bell the cat for this over all erosion?
Women should be given job in armed forces which are tenable by them, keeping in mind their physical standards. Thus while granting a long tenure to females in armed forces as equal to male soldiers many such factors like family responsibilities, physical standards etc must be given due consideration and dilution of standards should be avoided.
Conclusion.
Even if protagonists including worthy judges, wish for continued carrier progression for females in armed forces, they may also legislate that after serving the forces for few years, women soldiers and officers be compulsorily shifted permanently to civil services in centre and state. This may give some mental solace to such protagonists.
Time only will provide the test of this policy, but by then, it may be too late for all of us having not performed in the face of the enemy, and by then all those responsible for pushing this absurd idea, would have been retired in their comfort zone unavailable to answer or shoulder the responsibility of such a policy change.
We must understand that there are no runners up in war and losing a war can lead to disastrous consequences for all , particularly the women and children.
It is therefore suggested that we should avoid being in a hurry and keep politics away from issues of National security.
Lets not undermine the fact that before Israel def forces allowed women into combat roles, their women had to prove themselves as worthy of being called as soldiers ; faced hardships, suffered casualties and even were taken as prisoners.
Author ;
Col Anoop Kumar Khare, MSc,LLB,MPM is a veteran armoured corps awarded soldier. He is a multifaceted personality , having served both in military and civil ; Ministry of Def and Centre for Development for Advance Computing Pune. An alumnus of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and prestigious Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He earned commendation during his Kargil tenure .
Disclaimer.Views expressed above are the author's own.