In India and parts of the world, women have had reason to celebrate this week. But systemic gender issues in a largely patriarchal society remain
As of January 2019, women make up 3.8% of the Indian Army, billed as the second-largest in the world. (Hindustan Times)
For 67 years, the National Defence Academy (NDA) has remained an all-boys military training ground for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.
That’s about to change.
Forward march
This past week, the central government told the Supreme Court (SC) that the Pune-based military academy was ready to welcome its first batch of girls. But, it added, more time was needed to frame the guidelines to get the NDA ready to receive them. So, instead of taking the entrance exams in November, the girls could sit for the May 2022 exams, and join the NDA in January 2023, the government’s counsel told the court.
Sorry, said the Supreme Court: You “can’t deny the girls hope”. So, it turns out, the girls will take the exams in November this year.
As of January 2019, women make up 3.8% of the Indian Army, billed as the second-largest in the world.
Women in the Armed Forces
The struggle for greater gender parity has been hanging fire for a while. In February 2020, the SC rejected the tired, old arguments — male soldiers will not accept women in command, women were tied to domestic responsibilities including motherhood and childcare and so forth — to rule that women Army officers had a right to command posts.
Interestingly, the women were represented by lawyer Aishwariya Bhati in that case. Bhati has since been appointed additional solicitor-general, and in the NDA matter, was representing the government. “It’s a delight to share this,” she said in response to the NDA ruling.
Earlier this year, the court also ordered the Army to grant serving women officers permanent commissions at par with men. Although women have been eligible for permanent commission since 2008, it’s only in the legal and education wings. Otherwise, women are inducted into the Army through the short service commission, though they have the option to extend their tenure. In 2019, the Army agreed to give women permanent commissions, but only to officers who had served for less than 14 years.
Pockets of resistance remain. Many on social media, including retired Army personnel, raised doubts about womens’ physical capabilities to undertake the arduous training with memes on social media. Others lamented the “dilution of standards” that they implied was inevitable with the entry of women.
The big question now is: When will women be deployed in combat roles in the Army? In the Air Force, women have been inducted as fighter pilots, and last year, the Navy inducted its first woman maritime reconnaissance pilot.
Postscript: A woman Indian Air Force (IAF) officer stationed at the Air Force Administrative College in Coimbatore accused a flight lieutenant of raping her, and has levelled serious charges against the IAF of pressurising her to drop the charges. On September 20, she filed charges in a police station, leading to a battle over jurisdiction, with the IAF insisting that it will conduct the court martial. The flight lieutenant has since been released from jail and handed over to the IAF, which will conduct the trial.
The serious allegations, of rape and an attempted cover-up, come at a time when the NDA is preparing to admit its first batch of women. Clearly, along with infrastructure and training protocols, the armed forces need to undertake gender sensitisation within its rank and file, quite literally on a war footing in order to become truly inclusive.
“ENOUGH OF SUPPRESSION OF THOUSANDS OF
YEARS. IT IS HIGH TIME WE HAVE 50%
REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE
JUDICIARY. IT IS YOUR RIGHT. IT IS NOT A
MATTER OF CHARITY.” — CHIEF JUSTICE OF
INDIA, NV RAMANA
Baby steps for new fathers
Meesho, which describes itself as India’s largest social commerce platform, just announced a 30-week gender-blind parental leave policy. This policy, announced by the company, applies to women and men, married and live-in partners, heterogeneous and same-sex couples, adopted and biological children (including those born via surrogacy).
Activists who have welcomed India’s legally mandated 26-weeks maternity leave fear that it reinforces stereotypes about what constitutes womens’ work, particularly at home. Indian women spend 299 minutes a day on unpaid care work, men 97 minutes, according to a paper on the future of care work post Covid-19 by Aditi Ratho of the Observer Research Foundation. This care work, which places a disproportionate burden on women, is a major reason why Indian women quit full-time employment halfway through their careers.
In recent years, more and more companies have introduced paternity leave, but in most cases, this extends to around 10 days — hardly an equaliser. Notable exceptions are Information Technology (IT) company Cyient (12 weeks), Diageo (26 weeks) and Zomato (26 weeks).
Read more about Meesho’s new policy here.
Rest in Power: Kamla Bhasin
I remember the first time I met Kamla Bhasin, or to be more accurate, heard her. It was several years ago at an event organised by United Nations (UN) Women, I think. She was in full flow as she denounced organised religion (all religion is based on patriarchy), poked fun at feminist terms in vogue (what is this “intersectional feminism”?) and even mocked the UN Women’s own campaign, He for She (what does this even mean, why can’t it be she for she?).
I ran into her several times thereafter, meeting her once at her home for a story. Nobody who ever heard her can ever forget her. As news of her death after battling cancer on September 25 at the age of 75 trickled in, the outpouring was real and spontaneous. Read more about this fiery founder of Sangat, a South Asian feminist collective, by Dhamini Ratnam here.
Stories you might have missed
The right to sit: In 2007, Palitodhi Viji, 53, employed at a tailor’s shop in Kozhikode asked her boss if she could go to the toilet. His response? To “either control herself or consume minimum water”. And so began one woman’s quest for the right of workers in shops, restaurants, theatres, and other commercial establishments to sit during work hours.
Incredibly, the right to sit at work is not a legal right. This month, Tamil Nadu became only the second state (after Kerala) to pass a bill that mandates the right to sit. Read Divya Chandrababu and Ramesh Babu’s story on women’s struggle for the right to sit.
Taking the wheel: The Delhi government has earmarked one-third of the 4,000-plus e-auto-rickshaw permits it will release next month for women, reports Sweta Goswami. Right now Delhi has only one woman auto driver, Sunita Chaudhary.
Batter, for the better: That crusty, venerable Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has announced that it is replacing the word “batsman” with the more gender-neutral “batter”, writes N Ananthanarayanan. Incidentally, on October 1, the 234-year-old MCC also welcomed its first-ever woman president, Clare Connor.
The Swiss say yes: Two-thirds of voters in Switzerland gave a resounding “yes” in a referendum for same-sex marriage. Switzerland is now country #30 where same-sex marriage is legally recognised.
This is the first edition of Mind The Gap, a column that adds perspective to the gender developments of the week.
Namita Bhandare writes and reports on gender
The views expressed are personal
If you have a tip or information on gender-related developments that you would like to share, write to me at: namita.bhandare@gmail.com