Women fighter pilots, at last
Triggering a gender revolution through the barrel of gun, India's
Modi Government is allowing combative women a fighting role in the
Indian Air Force. Presently, women pilots fly transport aircraft and
helicopters. The step is in keeping with aspirations of Indian women and
is in line with contemporary trends in the professional ambience.
Not
only this, in future induction of women in the armed forces, both in
short services commission and permanent commission is in the offing.
This opens the possibility that women will be allowed to serve on
board warships of the Navy and in select ground combatant units of the
Army.
By deciding to put women in fighter jets, Prime Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar have ended a debate
that had occupied the establishment at least since the 1999 Kargil war.
The debate on allowing women in combat roles was shaped not only by
questions of culture but also by the dictates of operational
environments. The top brass have worried whether Indian men can accept
women as commanders and whether they can temper the macho military
environment in which risqué language is often used.
In an operational situation, women combatants would also be expected
to be capable of, say, evacuating casualties under fire like men. But,
above all, the debate was shaped by worries over how the citizenry would
respond to the Indian women combatants landing in a hostage situation.
For example, if a woman fighter pilot is shot down in enemy territory
and taken prisoner of war, what would the public response be? In the
Kargil war, one pilot who was shot down in Pakistani territory was
killed and another taken prisoner. But in the same war, women flying
helicopters on medical evacuation missions took many soldiers to safety
from the front.
So far so good. What about laissez faire maintenance forced by
limited budgets and cannibalized spare parts, we make up for in pilots?
Aircrashs occur due to loss of control in a possibly badly-maintained
system. Our years of dependence on third-rate trainers have cost us
millions and the lives of far too many young men. The Indian-made
fighter jet Tejas is a disaster and probably ranks as the worst
experiment in modern jet fighter history. The aircraft has over 50
recognised flaws and is already obsolete. Scrap it.
If we put these women to the test in this aircraft - perish the
thought, I shudder to imagine the fallout from that scenario. Even if we
put them in MiG 21s, perish the thought. Even our Su-30 Flankers number
only 200 instead of the slated 272. Six have been lost, with the main
suspect being poor trainer aircraft and questionable maintenance.
The Indian Governments - whether Congress or BJP - have little
concept of how weak our Air Force is.
We have only 34 squadrons instead of the required 42, and much of our
fleet is beaten to death. The 36 Rafale jets from France is a deal that
yo-yos pathetically between yes, maybe, yes, no, yes, no, we will, we
won't until everyone gives up and no one knows what is happening. All we
do know is that our Air Force is behind the curve.
Meanwhile Pakistan keeps building its frontline strike force. We keep
waffling. Whether for men or women, we need to recreate our Air Force in
a 21st century mould... Or face the consequences.
-Javvadi Lakshmana Rao Thehansindia |