I would like to begin this article with a very meaningful dialogue from the movie ‘Baadshaho’ delivered by Eliana D’Cruz which goes like “History is always written about men, but not always made by them.”
There was a time when women were just the kitchen keepers in the Indian society. Rearing Children, cooking meals for large joint family, tailoring, knitting was considered to be the only way of life. Gradually women began to get educated and today there comes a time when women have come out on social and political fields to rub shoulder with the men folk in these fields.
Today women in India are well conscious of their rights and privileges and they are politically, socially, economically and educationally not backward anymore. Choriya choro’n se kam hain ke? (meaning: Are girls lesser than boys?) Are we?? During the last few decades India has produced many great women leaders, social workers, astronauts, entrepreneurs etc…To name a few I have mentioned below.
Women office bearers like Indira Gandhi, Pratibha Patel have demonstrated the world that a woman can not only lead a family instead if she wishes she can lead the whole country. Astronauts like Sunitha Williams, Kalpana Chawla have bespoken that ‘sky is not the limit, and have reached the moon with their spirit’. When Mary Kom was said boxing isn’t women’s cup of tea, she promised herself to prove them one day and bagged 6 gold medals and 1 silver medal.
Not only them, Lata Mangeshkar appeared in the Guinness book of records for recording maximum number of songs in the world. Also our Dangal protagonist Babita Kumari Pogat, female wrestler won gold at Commonwealth games proving “Chori bhi gold laawe” (meaning: even girl can bring gold).
Well don’t you think we are lucky to be born in an era where women are open to pursue their dreams and follow their passion? Don’t you? But I partially disagree. It’s because, if you ask your mother to let you go out at 11:PM night alone to purchase some stuff in case of emergency all alone on your scooter will she allow you? What would be her reply? Despite you having the freedom to ride your two wheeler in this era she would probably ask the men of the house to accompany you concerned about your safety.
One side we talk about women empowerment the other side we see such instances. Isn’t it confusing? Dear readers, though women occupy the highest positions yet without doubt they witness abusive behaviour, violence, rape, harassment and what not. The world wide survey which was conducted said India is the 4th most unsafe country for women to live. It’s pathetic to mention that, 12 million girls were aborted over last 3 decades in India. The present sex proportion says, 943 girls for every 1000 boys is still far from reach. The present women empowerment is not satisfactory.
More steps should be taken to upgrade and protect the well-being status of women. Mahatma Gandhi once said: ‘If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a whole family’. Social change is possible through education. And most importantly society needs to change its age old thinking. Instead of saying girls should not go out in the dark, if at all they had said boys should not go out in light, at least harassment would have reduced.
Empowerment is not something that can happen in a day, it is a process. For sure we have come a long way battling all the age old evils against women, but also there’s still a long way to go. Real women empowerment is when the women of the country don’t have to rely on the men of the house to step out at midnight or late night without any fear or restrictions.
I shall conclude the article quoting, to all the women readers that,’ Above all be the heroine of your life and not the victim. Realise the importance of your voice before it’s too late. Be like fire, helpful to the needy and scary to the bloody. ‘After all Bharatiya Naari kisi ke kam nahi hai’ (meaning: Indian women are not lesser than anyone).
Janvi was a good reader and her favourite writer was Maniya Sharma. She read all her books and was thorough with it. She had never seen her mother and her father was full time busy. She spends most of her time reading and never tried to know about her mother.
One day while searching for writer favourite writer interest she was shocked to know that Maniya is now in a mental hospital for many years. She saw her photos and her shining blue eyes impressed her. The address of the sanitarium shocked Janvi again. The sanitarium was located in the city next to where she lived.
Janvi decided to meet her favourite writer the next day. She got up early and went to the sanitarium. At first, the hospital authority denied her the entrance and Janvi tried her best to convince the authority. She told about her father as he was a successful businessman and they didn’t deny anymore.
The head nurse took her to Maniya room. She was sitting next to her bed and become violet when she saw Janvi. She was screaming and running madly. Janvi got out of her room. The head nurse informed her that from last year onwards she is like this.
The head nurse treated her for many years. Janvi was eager to know about Maniya. The head nurse told Maniya had no mental illness and was a good writer. Her husband thought that his wife is not normal and that makes her write. Her writings were different from other writers that made him think so. He was the one who put her in the sanitarium when they had a daughter. He was afraid that her madness could affect the daughter.
At first, Maniya uses to ask for her daughter but later she herself turned to mad due to loneliness and medicines. She never wrote after she was admitted to the hospital. After knowing the misfortune of Maniya she requested to know about Maniya’s husband who was the reason for destroying Maniya and her writing skill.
The head nurse gave the address of Maniya’s husband and that was a shock for Janvi. The address was of her father and she understood that Maniya is her mother. Her husband destroyed the great writer and mother of Janvi.
“Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacity”-
These golden words of the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, speaks about the importance of women in our life. In ancient times, women were confined to their homes with the responsibility of cooking, giving birth to children and looking after them as well as doing household work; whereas men go out for job and bring money to run the house. But modern woman is confident, independent and strong. She can be seen in almost every field. Stepping out of their homes, women are seen marching into domains which were earlier occupied or dominated by men. As Nancy Pelosi remarked, women are leaders everywhere, from CEOs to housewives. Woman is also a human being like a man. She can face hardships with her inner strength. Eleanor Roosevelt had remarked:
“A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is, until she gets in hot water”-
These words remind me of the brave women in Indian Armed Forces.
For the last few decades, women officers had been a part of our Army in the fields like Medicine (Army Medical Corps-AMC), Nursing (Military Nursing Service-MNS), and Dentistry (Army Dental Corps-ADC). As per the history, the role of women in the Indian Army began in 1888, when the “Indian Military Nursing Service” was formed during the British Raj. Induction of women officers into the Indian Army through Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) started in 1992. Army started recruiting women officers in other branches also. The first women cadet batch of Indian Army was of 25 cadets which joined on 06 March 1993. Now women officers are serving in wings like Engineering, Legal, Education, Ordnance, Supply, Intelligence, Signals, and Air Traffic Control etc. as Short Service Commissioned (SSC) Officers. In medical stream, women officers get permanent commission as doctors, dentists and nurses. Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and Para Military Forces (like BSF, CRPF, and Assam Rifles etc) also have women officers. NSG also have women commanders.
The brave lady officers of our Armed Forces have proved their mettle in various endeavors and challenges. A remarkable lady, whose exemplary courage and commitment is still remembered, is Captain Lakshmi Sahgal. Dr Lakshmi Swaminathan was a doctor born in Malabar region of Kerala, who became Lakshmi Sahgal after getting married to Mr Sahgal. She was an officer of the Indian National Army (INA- Azad Hind Fauj) and also the minister of women’s affairs in Azad Hind Government. As per the instructions of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Lakshmi raised a women’s regiment in 1943 known as ‘Rani of Jhansi’s Regiment. Thus Capt Lakshmi Sahgal became the first commander of the first all-women-combat unit. Later she had been awarded Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.
There are many examples of achievements, valour and courage by our women in the Indian Armed Forces. Some of them are given below:
Air Force
– Padmavathy Bandopadhyay is the first woman Air Marshal of Indian Air Force (IAF).
– In 1993, thirteen women cadets joined Indian Air Force in first batch.
– During Kargil War (May-July1999), Flight Officer Gunjan Saxena was the first IAF officer to fly in a combat zone. She was later honored with Shaurya Chakra award.
– Army, Navy and Air Force were represented by all women marching contingents of the Republic Day Parade in 2015. Wing Commander Pooja Thakur was the first woman officer to lead tri-services Guard of Honour when Mr Barack Obama (Then President of America), visited Rashtrapati Bhavan in January 2015
– Punita Arora, an AMC doctor, was the first woman in India to reach the second highest rank of Indian Armed Forces i.e. Lieutenant General. She was also the first Vice Admiral of Indian Navy. In her 36 years of service, she was awarded with 15 medals.
– In August 1966, Flight Lieutenant Kanta Handa, an IAF medical officer, became the first female IAF officer to receive a commendation for her service during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.
– In 2006, Deepika Misra was the first IAF woman pilot to train for the Sarang display team.
– In 2012, Flight Lieutenant Nivedita Choudhary, a Jat from Rajasthan, became the first woman from the Indian Air Force to summit the Mount Everest.
– On 22 May 2019, Bhawana Kanth became the first woman fighter pilot to qualify to undertake combat missions.
– Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami became the first woman officer to be given permanent commission in the Indian Air Force.
Navy
– Dr Punita Arora, commissioned in 1968, is the first woman in the India Navy to reach the second highest rank as the Lieutenant General, and the first female Vice admiral.
– In October 1976, Dr. Barbara Ghosh became the first woman officer in the Indian Navy to attain the rank of Commodore. She was also the first woman medical officer to receive a permanent commission in Indian Navy
– Padmavathy Bandopadhyay is the first woman Air Marshal of the IAF and the second woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a three-stared flag officer after Lieutenant General Punita Arora.
– On 8 March 2018, International Women’s Day, the 6 member crew of INSV Tarini that took part in Navika Sagar Parikrama namely Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, Lieutenant Commander P Swathi, Lieutenant Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant Payal Gupta, Lieutenant Aishwarya Boddapati, and Lieutenant Shourgrakpam Vijaya Devi were conferred Nari Shakti Puraskar for outstanding contribution towards women empowerment. The award was received by Lieutenant S Vijaya Devi, who is Northeast India’s first woman sailor on behalf of the team.
– On 2 December 2019, Sub Lieutenant Shivangi became the first woman pilot , flying the Dornier Surveillance Aircraft for the Indian Navy.
Army
– The first woman officer who was appointed as a Key Aide to an Army Commander was a young Intelligence Officer, Lieutenant Geneve Lalji.
– Sapper Shanti Tigga was the first female jawan who joined Territorial Army. She was honoured by the former Indian President, Pratibha Patel.
– Mitali Madhumita became India’s first woman officer to receive the Sena Medal for Gallantry in February 2011.
– The first woman in the history of Indian Army to be selected for the ‘Sword of Honor’ is Divya Ajith from Chennai in 2010. She won the Best All Round Cadet Award and got selected for the highest award given to a cadet (The Sword of Honor) in Officers Training Academy (OTA) Chennai.
– Women officers actively participated in the rescue operations of Uttarakhand Floods in 2013 and the recent Earthquakes in Nepal and North India.
– On 19 January 2007, the United Nations first all female peacekeeping force made up of 105 Indian policewomen was deployed to Liberia.
– Indian Army conducted Mount Everest expedition for women officers in 2005 and 2012.The expedition to the highest point of Siachen Glacier (known as ‘Indira Col’) by a team of women officers of Indian Army on 15 August 2009 was a great achievement, making them the first ladies’ team to have reached the highest battlefield in the world.
– Anjana Bhaduria, who joined the first-ever batch of female cadets in 1992 at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, is the first female officer in the Indian Army to win Gold Medal.
– Lieutenant Priya Jhingan, commissioned in 1993, is one of the first 25 women (including Lieutenant Anjana Bhaduria) to join the Indian Army as an officer in non medical branches.
– Lieutenant Alka Khurana, also commissioned in 1993, is the first woman from Indian Army to participate in Republic Day Parade and Army Day Parade in 1994.
– In January 2020, Captain Tania Shergill became the first woman Army officer to lead the Army contingent in the Army Day and Republic Day parade.
– On 06 March 2020, Captain Ruchi Sharma became the first female operational paratrooper in the Indian Army.
– Priya Semwal lost her soldier husband in a counter-insurgency operation in Arunachal Pradesh in 2012 and she made the decision to join as an officer in the Indian Army to honor her husband. She became a Lieutenant in the Corps of EME. And this is the first time an Army jawan’s wife became an officer in Indian Army.
– Captain Ganeve Lalji, Corps of Military intelligence, is the first woman officer to be ADC attached to an Army Commander.
– Captain Swathi Singh, an engineer and then only female officer in her 63 Brigade of the Indian Army, is the first female officer to be deployed at Nathu La pass as Signals in-charge.
In 2015 for the first time in the history of India’s Republic Day, women empowerment in the Armed Forces was showcased as an all-women contingent from the three forces (Army, Air Force and Navy) marching down the majestic Rajpath. The Army contingent was led by Captain Divya Ajith, the Navy contingent was led by Lieutenant Commander Sandhya Chauhan and the Air Force contingent was led by Squadron Leader Sneha Shekhawat. The contingents had 148 personnel each drawn from the Army, Air Force and the Navy. Captain Divya Ajith Kumar, commissioned in 2010, is the first female officer to receive the Sword of Honor. She led all women contingent of 154 women officers and cadets during the Republic Day Parade of 2015.
The Assam Rifles, the oldest Paramilitary Forces was opened to women in 2015. In 2016, the first batch took its commencement oath and 124 women recruits became Assam Rifles’ first batch of Rifle women. On 26 January 2019 Republic Day Parade these women soldiers made history not only on Rajpath – being the first all-women contingent from a central paramilitary force to participate in the Republic Day Parade – but also in their area of responsibility. Major Khushboo led the contingent of 144 women soldiers of Assam Rifles during the parade. Lieutenant Bhavan Kasturi became the first woman army officer to lead an all male contingent of Army Service Corps. Captain Shikha Surabhi a woman officer who was part of Army’s Daredevils Motorcycle Team performed a stunt by standing on the moving motorcycle and saluted the chief guest of the parade. Captain Bhavna Sayal, a third-generation officer in the Armed Forces led a transported satellite terminal’s contingent. Another woman officer Lieutenant Ambika Sudhakaran led a marching naval contingent of 144 sailors during Republic Day Parade of 2019. Army inducted 364 women officers in 2019.
2020 has already become a memorable year for women in the defence services. On 17 February 2020, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India ordered the government to grant permanent commission to women officers in Army’s non-combat support units on par with their male counterparts. But the court’s ruling does not permit women to serve in army combat units, like the infantry or artillery regiments. The Government had announced that women will be inducted in the force in the ‘Personnel Below Officer Rank’ (PBOR) category. This is the first time for the Indian Armed Forces to recruit women as soldiers. Women had been taken in areas of education, medical, legal and engineer wings as officers but not as Jawans (soldiers). This is a historic first and a milestone for the Indian Army and the women of India. Women will be inducted in a phased manner to eventually comprise 20 per cent of total Corps of Military Police. The Army in April 2019 kicked off the process of inducting women as jawans by starting online registration for recruitment in the Corps of Military Police.
So far three women officers have been promoted to the Three-star general rank in the Indian Armed Forces. All three women are Doctors and graduates of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC).They are Punita Arora (Air Force), Padmini Bandopadhyay (Navy) and Madhuri Kanitkar (Army). Madhuri Kanitkar,former Dean of Armed Forces Medical College Pune, has been recently promoted to the second-highest rank of Lieutenant General in the Indian Army. She is the first woman pediatrician to be elevated to the highest rank of Lieutenant General for Indian Army Doctors and is the only doctor on the Prime Minister’s STIAC (S&T) Innovation Advisory Committee. Her husband Lieutenant General Rajeev Kanitkar recently retired from Army. This will be the first time in the history of the Indian Armed Forces that a couple reached the 3-star rank of Lieutenant General.
Indian Armed Forces always rescued our countrymen to safety in times of disasters, natural calamities and adversities. Army Medical Corps has the maximum number of lady officers. AMC teams were trained to give first aid and deal with casualties even at the highest and toughest posts. Working with dedication, the doctors provide life saving support in battlefield and during peacetime. During Earthquake in Bhuj (Gujarat) in 2001, Bomb blasts in various parts of India, Uttara Khand floods, J&K floods and the earthquakes in Nepal and North India, officers of the Indian Armed Forces offered their selfless service to the fellow countrymen. True to the saying, “Indomitable we are, Fearless we are,” our soldiers are always there to protect people whether it is battlefront or disasters or natural calamities thus upholding our faith in Indian Armed Forces.
The Supreme Court judgement is a welcome step towards women empowerment and will motivate more women to join the Army as they can finally see the Armed Forces as a long-term career option. More and more women should join our Armed Forces where women are secure and treated with respect. Women are as competent and mentally tough as their male counterparts. We are proud to remember that India’s own Rani of Jhansi led troops into a battle for freedom. Women have the courage to move on and conquer the world. They can handle stress better than men. Women must recognize the latent potential in them as observed in a Hindi poem:
स्वयं को पहचान, तुझ में शक्ति अपार है
स्वयं को नमन कर और आगे बढ़ चल
ठोकर मार उसे जो तेरा सम्मान करना न जाने
बढ़ चल, बढ़ चल, नई राहें तेरा रस्ता तके हैं।
The brave men and women of Indian Army stay away from their families guarding our motherland from enemies and intruders. They sacrifice their lives and comforts so that you can stay at home with your loved ones and sleep peacefully at night!
Being a lady officer myself, who has served in Indian Army (Army Medical Corps), I am always proud of the women in Indian Armed Forces!
A BIG SALUTE TO THE WOMEN OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF INDIAN ARMED FORCES!
Clips and Pages 