Brave Indian Army… treatment with women officers

The suicide case of Lt. Sushmita Chakravorty, who was reportedly suffering from depression, has once again brought to the fore the debate on discrimination against female officers in the armed forces.

Our Armed forces being unfair to women officers? THE REPUTATION OF the Indian defence forces is taking quite a battering lately. Lieutenant Sushmita Chakravorty’s suicide in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir had stirred up a hornet’s nest. The whole issue of whether women are capable of handling the pressures in the military has been underscored by the lady officer’s death.
Having stayed away from the civilian society and built up a kind of hermetically sealed world, the armed forces now find it difficult to deal with situations and people outside their gamut of defence services when it comes to social issues like this. And, this has been proved in Lt. Sushmita Chakravorty’s suicide case. Look at the manner in which the Army has dealt with the suicide of a young lady officer.

The army vice chief immediately reacted by saying that the army is not yet ready to cope with women as officers. An honest admission, probably, but totally out of sync with the real world, where females have joined the workforce in large numbers and have also proved to be strong leaders. Although the Ministry of Defence later said that he was misquoted, the remark brought to fore the problems that women are facing in the army.
It is worth mentioning in this regard that even though women have been serving in the medical corps of the military for a long time now, it was only in 1992 that the army began inducting women for other duties as well. But there are cases where women have had to face indifferent, if not hostile attitudes, of male officers.

According to many women, the problems are evident at the training level itself. The treatment meted out to men and women cadets are conspicuously different, with women getting ‘softer treatment’.

On the other hand, their male counterparts are of the view that considering the fact that it’s only been 14 to 15 years since women were inducted into the armed forces, it will take time for men and women to get used to each other. ‘I think the military is doing fairly well. These are the teething troubles. Suddenly, one incident is being highlighted as an example to show that women are not treated well. After all, women doctors have been serving in the military for quite a long time and there have never been any problems,’ pointed out Vijay Sakhuja, former Navy commander.
In an article published by the United Services Institution of India in December 2005, retired Captain Deepanjali Bakshi, an alumnus of the academy, gives a significant insight into the discrepancies. According to her, special concessions are made and physical standards are lowered for women. As a result, differences in assignments and attitudes continue throughout their tenure.
It is worth pointing out in this regard that women are only trained for 24 weeks while themale cadets are trained for 44 weeks, even though they cover the same syllabus.

In addition to this, separate accommodation, physical training, weapons training and even the marches at the passing-out parade only reinforce this feeling of gender bias within the service.
‘These concessions, coupled with the mostly patronising, derisive and sometimes supporting attitudes of men result in a plethora of integration issues cropping up,’ pointed out Capt. Bakshi in her article.
Like Capt.Bakshi, many women are of the view that women cadets need to be put through equal mental and physical rigour, so that they can pass out as equals. ‘There is an urgent need for a training programme, which will make them tough and prepare them mentally to meet any challenge,’ said a woman officer on the condition of anonymity.
All this does not mean that women at the moment are not playing a prominent role in the forces. They constitute the backbone of the Armed Forces Medical Services and the Military Nursing Service and have even risen to three-star rank. But breaking through the glass ceiling of the combat arms does not even seem to be any closer to the horizon.

Unless the government does something concrete about treating women at par with men, not many women will feel encouraged enough to join the forces. And, considering that women have been contributing to the society in every field, there is no justification for women being denied the opportunity to serve the armed forces as well.
In this regard, the statement of the Defence Minister is a welcome sign. Insisting that there was no bias against women in the armed forces, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee has publicly said that the members of the fair sex are being encouraged to join the defence services in large numbers. He also said that as of now, no view has been taken at the ‘decision-making’ level on the issue of creating the post of combined defence services.
‘I can assure you (that) there is no bias against the women officers. We are proud of them

They are making valuable contributions and we would like to encourage them to come (into the armed forces),’ he confirmed.
When asked about the issue of women being given combat roles, the Defence Minister assured that it depended on the women cadets if they were willing to join combat services even when it is evident that combat services mean a harder task.
According to the latest statistics there are less than a thousand women officers serving in non-combat roles in the Indian Army with strength of over one million personnel.
In fact, the discrimination starts at the very beginning. Women are recruited only on Short-Service Commissions of five to ten years and cannot rise above the rank of a Major. And, even though this period of service has now been extended to 14 years, there is still no information about the ‘promotions’ aspect. As of now, it is yet to be seen how this women power in army is going to prove its mettle.

Regards
Ashendra INDIAN ARMY – NCC 26TH ENTRY

One Sunday night in July, the Indian army’s Capt Megha Razdan was found shot dead at her home in Jammu, in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The officer had apparently taken her own life, leaving behind a suicide note.

But her father, Arun Kumar Razdan, alleges foul play. He says his daughter was murdered by someone in the army.

“She was very happy and had spent just over two years in the army. She wanted to serve the country,” he says.

Last year another woman officer, Lt Sushmita Chakravorty, shot herself dead. Her parents accused the army of harassment.

Deterrent

Indian army spokesperson, Col SK Sakhuja, denies the charges and calls them ”accusations of anguished families”.

He says there are systems in place in the army to deal with complaints of sexual harassment, harassment by seniors and other complaints.

He says there is a commanding officer in each unit who is called ”the old man” – “because he is a caring, understanding and experienced officer and the first person for anyone who is troubled is to go to”.
Most of the problems are sorted out at this level, but if a need is felt, other officers can be approached too, says Col Sakhuja.

But such incidents work as a deterrent to young women who are thinking of joining the already short-staffed army.

It also puts a question mark over the army’s claim of being a gender sensitive organisation.

Five cases of harassment were filed by women officers against their male counterparts between 2002 and 2006.

India’s 1.1 million-strong army has only 1,000 women officers.

The government began hiring women officers just 15 years ago. Until then, women were only allowed into the army’s medical corps.

The first batch of 50 women officers was inducted into the force in 1992. A total of 150 officers are inducted every year, initially for a five-year term which can be extended up to 14 years.

Women are assigned to departments like artillery, signals, engineering and intelligence but they are not allowed in close combat duties. And once retired, they are not entitled to a pension.
Howls of protest

Last year, the defence authorities went into damage control after the second-in-command of the Indian army, Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman, said the force did not need women officers.

He was speaking soon after a young female officer had committed suicide in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Gen Pattabhiraman apologised after his statement drew howls of protests from women’s rights activists.
The defence authorities tried to play down the statement but, off the record, many officers say employing women in a traditionally male-dominated force creates its own problems.

There are special infrastructural needs to be taken care of, like providing bathrooms and living quarters. More important, there is a need to sensitise the workforce.

Women officers undergo the same 49-week rigorous training received by their male counterparts.

They are also better equipped physically, mentally and emotionally to meet the challenges of the tough army life.

But analysts say one cannot ignore the lower middle-class and sometimes rural background from which most foot soldiers come.

And it is not easy for them to accept women as equals or sometimes even as superiors.

Enemy within

Women in the armed forces also feel that they should be given the option of normal commission in the army where they can serve till they retire and also get a pension.

Capt Pearl Salome, who joined in the early 1990s, says she would have loved to continue working in the army.

She joined the second batch of “non traditional” women officers in 1993 and says the army establishment made sure the women did not feel out of place in a male-dominated force.

”The commanding officer made sure two women officers were posted together, they had separate sleeping quarters. A lot of care, protection and support was given. So, a great deal depends on how you deal with the new environment yourself,” Capt Salome says.

In the recent times, a demand for combat role for women in the frontline has also come up.

But army sources point out that in the US army too women are kept out of infantry and artillery, in the UK they are not allowed as marine commandos, in infantry or armed corps and the same policy is followed in India.

Former army chief Gen VP Malik says, “We have to consider the social situation in the country too. We cannot be like America and Israel where a woman works with four to five men in a tank or lives in a bunker with them.

“We won’t be able to provide privacy to women on the frontline and if she is caught by the enemy can you imagine the kind of behaviour she will have to face?”

But women officers say at the moment it is the enemy within that they are more worried about.

thanking you,
poonam

There are many other suicides too around India!

Can’t waste my time with all that. Women in army are part of Short service commission, i.e. for max 5-10 years. for one to be entitled pension, you have to be part of army for 20 years.

Jammu : A female officer of the Indian Army committed suicide by shooting herself in Udhampur, headquarter of the army’s Northern Command, in Jammu and Kashmir as she was “dissatisfied and unhappy with her job”.

According to police and army officials in Udhampur, about 65 km north of Jammu, the 25-year-old officer Lt. Sushmita Chakravorty of 5071 ASC Battalion went to a guest house near her official quarters Thursday evening and asked the sentry there for his rifle “as she wanted to get her photo with that”. The unsuspecting sentry handed his weapon and in moments Lt. Chakravorty shot herself with it. She was shifted to the army hospital where she was declared brought dead.

This is the first incident of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir of a female army officer committing suicide.

The officer’s mother Sadhana Chakravorty told media persons in Udhampur that Lt. Chakravorty had “unwillingly joined the army about 10 months ago”. The family hailed from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and she was a first grader in M. Sc chemistry from Bhopal. Her father P.B. Chakravorty is working with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

Lt. Chakravorty had returned from two months leave on May 30. “I came with her as she was feeling very low,” her mother said.

Sadhana told reporters that her daughter was very short tempered and had become more so as she was “disillusioned with her present job”. She wanted to quit the army but could not do so as “she had to pay the bond money to the army”.

“We had told her that the money could be arranged by selling off the house in Bhopal,” Sadhana said. But Lt. Chakravorty did not agree to it “because she was concerned about her younger brother too who had just passed Class 12.”

Police have registered a case and the body of the officer was being flown to her home town Bhopal

From 50 officers in 1992 in military services now reached to over nine hundreds (on an average).Indian Army has got total officers 34,000 out of which 933 are women officers. In Indian Navy there are total 7000 officers out of which women are 100 and in Indian Air Force, out of total 10,200 officers, there are 450 women.

These services require a special attitude and aptitude fully different from other services. So, attitude and aptitude are the prime factors for the defence services. Thus, the candidates ‘C’ certificate passed in N.C.C are given preference. Till now, women officers are inducted in short service commission can serve only for maximum 14 years of services. They are put in in all the supportive services of military except in combat corps.

The floating question is whether woman can be inducted in combat corps and given permanent commission. Let us hear the valued opinions from two ex- Generals and one ex- Maj. General. “Women must not be employed in frontline combat roles” , said General Shankar Roychowdhury, former chief of army staff. “ The Indian armed forces can not do something socially unacceptable. Would you want your wife or sister to share a bunker with five other men like they do in Siachen?” asks former chief of army staff General Ved Prakash Malik.Ex- Major General H.S.Gill said “…..allowing women in combat roles means to make army lesser efficient.”

In Israel, women serve in infantry units. But, even they(army authorities) do not send women for combat roles. That means, time has not come to think and consider women for combat roles. Surgeons Vice-Admiral Punita Arora, Retd. Director General Medical Services expressed, “We must proceed slowly until we build up comfort levels.”

So, there happens nothing to create pressure on defence authorities for inducting women in the combat roles in Indian army. We have to wait and see how time settles the issue of induction of women in combat roles.

The demise of Sub-Lt. Sushmita Chakrabarty on 15/16 June, 2006 at Udhampur made a rousing call whether women in army get proper treatment as required. It was reported by the media that she committed suicide. Suicide happening in any life indicates extreme frustration following depression. Investigation was ordered by the defence minister.

While investigating this case, a few important points should be kept in view. They are:

1. Whether she had got proper aptitude and attitude to serve in army services.

2. Whether she passed C certificate in N.C.C in her student life.

3. The statement by her father and reporter’s comment published in Anandabazar Patrika dt.17.6.2006 and allegation made by her mother and reporter’s comment published in the same Bengali news paper on 08.7.2006 must be analyzed from different angle to arrive at a correct decision.

you are Our Sister Mis Chakravorty Dont u Worry Inshallah We Soon Captured India and Indian Army Sub ko Theak kerdengyee hum.

Indian Army Convert Into Pakistan Army The Great Army “Inshallah”

Respected sir/madam,
This is samiksha 23 years female wanted to join the service at Military nursing i have completed my GNM currently doing my PBBsc nursing i am very eager to join please do the needful.

army should respect woman and should give fair treatment and should listen to her allegation she alone cannot stand against three officer. i think any woman who get harresment from army personnel should report directly to media and in civil court and not in army court. army is to protect us and not to harass us our tax money is paid for their salary they should keep in mind

By the very look of it and also the severity of punishment decided to be inflicted on Captain Poonam, I feel this is yet another case of giving a dog a bad name and hanging it. From my own experience of having seen an otherwise upright officer was arraigned twice before two courts martial forhis offence of representing genuine grievances strictly as per then existing regulations right up to the

Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. I stress on the word upright because this officer held charge of his office and continued to function as a regular staff officer even as he appeared before the courts martial as the accused! I have first-hand knowledge of the length to which the establishment would go to cover up and justify the sins of omissions and commissions of senior officers. I most sincerely hope the lady gets due relief from the courts of justice. These trials I mentioned were conducted in open court hearings decades back and the officer later decided to prematurely retire in disgust.

It is a pity that a small fraction of women army officers serving the army are indulging in acts of indiscipline, bringing bad name to a large number of women army officers happily serving the Indian army. Since army discipline is of paramount importance, any women army officer found guilty of indiscipline has to be dealt with under the Army Act. -PP TALWAR – India

I dont understand why women want to join Armed forces,when there are so many evenues for them to pursue a carreer.In india Women are most attractive things to men be it in college,be it in work place because of tropical weather conditions, which stimulates sexual desiremore compared to cold countries. Most of the cinemas dipict them them as lovable, sexually attractive Individuals. Many a times and many of them do accept that status. No doubt they are capable of doing any job with dedication. But for their biological,limitations and natures desire of sexual attraction towards other sex has its own pupose.It is propogation of human species.While all these things can be attributable to psychological behavioral pattern, because we are humans and have thinking capacity, the basic instinct can not be ignored.Officers in their private, and bars in officers mess do talk jokingly about women’ assets.Which now they may not do it.In western countries these are common.women donot mind .They themselves crack jokes.While indian women consider their modesty as their life.Any annoyance to that effect will be considered as an offence. It is a vulnarable situation in the armed forces officers.No man can divert his eyes from an attractive girls assets.It is better for them and armed forces if they keep out of this organisation called Armed forces.

Murty…..rather than wondering as to why women are joining army you better worry about finding a way of protecting their rights, respect and dignity while they are there…..Think positive and be progressive rather than blocking the advancement……..

It is not surprising, and it is very comman practice in India, whereever women work the male supperiors always tried to attempt, they just want to see women by her sexual angle and nothing else.

Murthy you and your thinkings are rediculous. do you also look at your mother and sister with the same cruel angle?