Can Women Command Army Units?
This one has been really tough for me, I have never felt this kind of mental contradiction. Not long back Supreme Court of India passed a ruling that women will be allowed to have a permanent commission and will be able to command units (not combat units) as same as men. A visionary and liberal decision made by the Court which has been welcomed by all with open arms.
We as a society can romanticize the idea as we all thrive for equality and we should because that is our duty and it projects harmony. How much of this is practical? this is the real question. Women have always been a part of the judiciary, educational, desk, medical, signals, engineering services but never considered fit for the combat roles.Let make one thing clear the idea about a permanent commission is great, it allows women to serve full tenures of their services and can have pensions equal as men.
The practical problems come in the decision of women commanding units. Air Force and Navy already allowed women to be in combat posts and commands Army didn’t Why? Let us understand the reasons why this decision used to prevail. Women are as equal or even more intelligent, brave and courageous as men no doubt about that, physical prowess is the trait where women lack behind and it is not derogatory by any sense it is just biology that is how men and women have evolved. A man can lift a gas cylinder but women can not this is just social stigma I’m not talking about this, I am saying Serena Williams vs Roger Federer or Ellyse Perry vs Virat Kohli, these competitions do not make any rational sense. No doubt Serena Williams is the all-time G.O.A.T in women tennis but her ability is just good as ‘B’ grade men tennis player forget about going up against the men’s G.O.A.T Roger Federer, Ellyse Perry is one of the best women fast bowler out there but she against Kohli I do not see much hope. We are talking about results not that how much will power, courage, passion these women brought in to the game against their counterparts. Women are not weak by means but they hit a threshold and after that, they can not compete against men physically and this is simple evolutionary biology. This is the very reason why we have categories of men and women in the Olympics if men and women would have been equal then what is the reason to have categories?
Back to our topic, understand and this is important in Air Force the function of the fulcrum is the Jet, in Navy, it is the Ship but in the Army, it is the Human Being. This is where the major difference comes, women pilot can be better than men pilot as women have shorter arteries in their neck compared to men hence faster supply of oxygen to the brain. In general, average women exhibit 40% less upper-body strength and 33% less lower-body strength than an average man. But by adequate training and guidance, they can pass the required standards and the Pakistanis are not sending women to fight our women.
By giving commanding positions it means that women can rise as up as to the rank of Lt. General. In armed forces, the promotion is done on raw merits and capabilities shown in the filed and the hierarchy structure of the forces is of pyramid nature hence very high competition. Here comes the first problem 9/10 men officers will do better than the women officers because of their physical advantage remember the system is designed in a way that only those can rise who are mentally, physically and socially better than others there is no room for reservation or equal representation if you are good you’ll deserve it if you’re not then your fault. What will happen is that majority of men will rise the ranks and this will look like there is gender discrimination no one will entertain the idea that women are just not good enough.
Second major problem and please see this with a practical eye, the high majority of soldiers (not officers) comes from a rural background which is the bloodline of Indian Army and in our rural areas, the gender stigma is still there not as that is used to be back in time but not good enough as urban areas. The normal soldiers will have a hard time accepting women as their commanding officers. Know this in Army you don’t earn respect just because you have a rank, you earn respect because you have certain traits in which you’re better than all others and the rank is the result of you being better than others. Common soldiers will find it hard to accept that women are better than them (physical abilities play a huge role). I’m not defending this fact, this thinking is wrong but lets the society change first and the Army goes in tandem with it, don’t make Army your workshop to bring a change in society. This will have serious consequences as Army is an extremely disciplined and rigid institution and overnight we can’t force it down to the throat of soldiers this will make the structure weak as there is no room for error.
The third problem is more of a contradiction in a country like India where we respect and protect women and there are special treatment like a separate bogey in metro or buses (which are necessary as there are social animals out there) this special treatment shows how much we uphold the protection of women but at the same time we are putting out a message that women need no protection they are good enough to lead in front lines and be the first one to take a bullet(not saying that they can’t). This thinking is contradictory. I’m stating out the contradiction not suggesting what to do or what not to.
Which leads to my next point now it will be more clear, we have to ask ourselves as a nation are we ready to face the worst consequences. I mean if a woman is captured by the enemy which happens frequently what will happen. Back in 1999 in Kargil officer’s bodies were mutated even their genitals gorged out by the enemies, we as a nation can take that if something like this happens to one of our women? Remember in our country rape is not treated just like any other high-level crime. It hurts us deeply. In a time of war a soldier has to worry about saving his nation he can’t worry about saving his women officer, soldiers will find themselves in physiological conflict. This is due to the thinking of protecting women it doesn’t mean women are not strong what I mean is my mom or sister can lift a cylinder but I will prefer to do because I care for them and respect them not because they are weak(many do these things in an impression that women are weak. They are just stupid!). After all, we are a nation that celebrates Raksha Bandhan. I do not know it is right or wrong but that what has been taught to us since eternity.
The fourth problem before becoming Officers men have to survive NDA(National Defence Academy) and IMA (Indian Military Academy) so you cannot allow women to be officers from OTA (Officers Training Academy) or Short Service Commission both are much easier than the NDA and IMA, this is discrimination (after all the very ruling of the court is on equality). Now if we let women be in NDA and IMA remember men do not pass it they ‘survive’ it. I do not know how many women can go through that. If we lower the standard to match the physical levels then it will deteriorate the quality hence the issue for national security. The problem is not just physical aspect let me tell you something army is built on high mental toughness in NDA and IMA cadets are subjected to high humiliation and stress boys are told to be naked in front of everyone, caned even with the slightest mistakes always subjected to punishment and inhumane behavior. I’m not saying girls cannot handle it but it will become a huge issue when men and women together are subjected to this, can’t do it separately as it will break the backbone of army unity (There have been instances where women have denied to be examined and treated in the method of Army). This rigorous environment is the only way a civilian boy turns into an army officer.
Now, this leads to the fifth issue during wartime everything is far from normal soldiers and officers live together, sleep together, share same blankets, use common washrooms, no privacy at all, share same tents and barracks and keep in mind it is not camping it is war all these civilized notions of privacy, equality and humanitarian do not work there it is all about kill or be killed. Therefore already in this high mental pressure situation can’t throw in the possible problems of sexual harassment and invading privacy. Remember a woman pilot after the mission will return to base and go to her well-furnished room, a woman sailor will go back to her cabin, but a woman army soldier has to go to the barrack.
The last major problem is the Institution of the army(especially combat units) is build upon hyper-masculinity, aggressiveness, hierarchy, all these are different from women’s psychology. In times of relaxation, soldiers make foul jokes and talk a lot of double meaning among themselves and women will never be comfortable with it. Remember soldiers are not trained to talk about climate change.
You might think none of this is right if we change the structure and thinking of the army then there will be no problem. Keep in mind all these officers are trained to kill and the mentality of killing does not come with normal civilian thinking.
The army is not against the decision and it respects it the only question is will the concerns of the army be identified and let the army handle the implementation or in the coming times the radical feminists will go impatient and demand the visual results?
Remember sudden sociological changes in society causes disruptions for a time and after a time everything gets normal which is fine ( women education, women voting rights, etc) but sudden disruptions in Army will have consequences on national security and there is no room for error. Do we need to ask a question to ourselves how much can we manipulate our biological limitations to our ambitions?
This does not mean that the Supreme Court order is wrong. That is not the case the order shows how much we take our society and constitution seriously and the ruling implies that every woman has a right to choose a profession and excel in it. We will not have these problems as of now as the Supreme court has not allowed this rule to be implemented in Combat Units but at the times of unrest units like engineering and signals find themselves in the very front lines. Nonetheless, Indian women’s time in and out has proved their metal and they are as good as anyone out there. After all ‘Not every woman is defined by tiaras, dresses, and heels; for some, it’s guns, a uniform, and combat boots’. Mythology is replete with instances of warrior women who were revered right from the Amazons of Scythia to the Kali in India, women have portrayed fierce qualities of warfare and conflict. Rani Lakshmi Bai to Joan of Arc, women across the globe show strength and vigor to fight for their cause.
