An Officer and a Lady By Amar Nath Wadehra

Woman–soldier… is that an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms? No doubt, the idea of women soldiers runs counter to our society’s traditional perception of gender roles. On the other hand, the world is changing rapidly and traditional perceptions are challenged every minute of every day.

Sometime back, when it was decided to induct women into the Indian Armed Forces combat units, there was a big fuss – both in the media and among traditional military men – over its advisability. Several questions were asked. Are men not good enough for the job? There may be a shortage of men for the job in the West or in Israel, but surely India faces no shortage of men to serve in its Armed Forces. Where then is the compulsion to expose the tender gender to the harsh life that a soldier’s profession demands?

These objections missed the point: the issue is not male versus female, but of suitability. Women form 50 per cent of our population. Why not draw the requisite talent from this half too? For that matter, there is a shortage: it is well known that the Army alone needs some eighteen thousand more officers. If women can fill this chink in our armour why should they not be allowed… or indeed, encouraged to come forward?

Time and again women have displayed rare courage and martial prowess under adverse circumstances. Joan of Arc led the armies of France to victory over the English; Rani Laxmi Bai took up the sword in 1857, and her bravery was duly acknowledged even by her foe Hugh Rose. Razia Sultan too had proved that valour was no male monopoly.

Mother Nature has shown no gender bias while distributing qualities of head and heart. Florence Nightingale had proved how compassion and courage can combine to produce unique strength – both moral and physical – and that too in a war situation. That’s right. The ‘Lady with the Lamp’ was right behind the front lines when Britain faced the Turks in the Crimean War.

In the mid 1950s when Flight Lieutenant Dr. Gunwant Kaur Mahal joined as medical officer in the Indian Air Force Station, Jodhpur, she used to attend to both men and their families. There were no problems. Her subordinates obeyed her as they would any other officer. In those days it was not usual for women to take up jobs – that too in the defence forces where supposedly hard drinking, hard-fighting males could daunt the stoutest of hearts. But, the reality was, and still is, that the Indian soldier respected his officers – be they male or female.

Today women are working in administrative, accounting, engineering, medical and nursing branches of the Indian Air Force, and in the Army too. It is a universal truth that if one is good at one’s job and sincere to one’s calling one earns the colleagues’ respect as a matter of course.

By all accounts, women are proving to be better in some respects as confirmed by the pilot-instructors of the IAF Station Yehlanka, near Bangalore. However, the skeptics point out that that while the peacetime atmosphere may suit the female temperament, war is a different game altogether. They quote, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going”, implying that the women are nowhere near as tough as men are. It is said that a man is by nature aggressive, able to keep his cool under trying circumstances and therefore adept at executing military strategies. Women are believed to be prone to panic in the face of aggression or sustained hostility. But are these beliefs founded on fact, or are they simply old prejudices, or reflections of traditional patterns of socialization?

Tarabai, wife of Shivaji’s son, Rajaram, masterminded many a military campaign. Ahilyabai Holkar, another Maratha queen, confronted the powerful besieging army of Raghunath Rao. The queen sent a message to Rao saying that if Rao won it would bring no glory to him; and in case she routed his forces, it would be to his eternal shame. Rao took the hint and withdrew. Who can say that woman is unable to stand steadfast in the face of danger? That she is unable to outsmart the foe as well as any man?

Who can forget Kiran Bedi fighting duels with swordsmen armed merely with a lathi in the national capital’s streets? Certainly, women soldiers in the American and Israeli forces exemplify women’s competence in matters military.

Are women tough enough? Well, in the late 1950s there was Flight Lieutenant Dr. Geeta Chanda. Apart from her medical profession she excelled as an expert parachute jumper and the Indian air Force appointed her as an instructor for para-troopers. She would take the boys for the mandatory twenty-kilometre cross-country, and woe to the man who fell or faltered on the way. Not only would he get an earful of the choicest, she was also known to pull them up by the collar. She was especially tough on the officers who lagged behind in the course.

During off-duty hours men consciously avoided crossing her path, yet it was the very same men who later gratefully acknowledged that her ‘recipe’ had stood them in good stead in battle and other emergencies.

In recent years women have been joining the military. We know they are there, that they are being required to perform the same kind of duties expected of their male counterparts. In time they will rise to higher ranks, they will be visible; they will demand their due. Women Air Force pilots have already died in service – although not yet in combat situations. If there are women Defence personnel, then a day will surely come when some of them will make the ultimate sacrifice for their country. I personally believe that women Defence officers will be a credit to India.

There will be problems too…some of them rather comical. Will we live to see the day when the Army Wives’ Association has to change its name to the Army Spouses’ Association? No doubt, a good many of those time-honoured mess protocols will also have to be modified to suit the presence of women officers. In short, the presence of women officers is likely to speed up the evolution of social processes within the military.

As for their ability to do the job. Here too, we must remember that “the job” itself is changing. Modern warfare is highly technological, requiring much more of brains and much less of brawn. When battles were fought with clubs and swords, victory was on the side of the man with the strongest arm. It takes no inordinate strength to pilot a plane; missiles are launched with the push of a button.

Inferior physical strength no longer makes women unfit for the military. If they are able to grasp situations quickly, make the right decision in the shortest possible time, hold out in the face of pressure and carry through until the goal is reached, then they fill the requirements of today’s soldier or airman.

As we prepare for the Navratras, our annual celebration of the victory of Goddess Durga, let us also prepare ourselves mentally to accept a new role for women in the military. Could there be a better tribute to nari shakti?