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For long, most of the world has been of the thought that men are superior to women –– that men deserve more, and so should be handed more.
When it comes to the military, no one wants compromises, especially not the ones that make up the forces. In India, the allowance of women into the military has been in contention for a long time. Earlier, they were allowed to enter any of the three wings of the Indian military, the Air Force, the Navy or the Army through the routes of Service Selection Board (SSB), National Cadet Corps (NCC), and more. But these roles were limited to a short service only.
Last year, the decision was made to allow women to apply to the National Defence Academy (NDA), opening up a path for women to enter the military. After much debate surrounding whether they ‘deserve’ it, reasons such as poor hygiene in areas to motherhood and child care to leading a life of isolation to troops from rural backgrounds not accepting women officers as commanders were cited, according to India Today. Despite this, ever since, every third applicant to the NDA has been a woman.
Now, it has been decided that women will also be allowed admission to Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). This is a first in its 100-year history.
This has been long overdue. Women were denied the opportunity to serve their nation for the longest time, and now, they are slowly being given a chance to do so in significant capacities. Women will also now be able to serve permanent commissions.
The underlining problem remains that at each step, women have to prove time and again that they have what it takes to serve in the military. At each stage, the expectation for women to fail is higher than the hopes for them to succeed, and this is the outlook that must change.
It is courageous for women to don their military uniforms and set out each day to serve a country that, in all honesty, does little to protect them. Admission of women in NDA and RIMC seems to be a hopeful sign, and one can only hope that it creates a larger conversation in the years to come.
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