R.C. Sharma

In the article ‘Let’s not pitchfork women into combat role’ (the Tribune, 20 February 2020) Lt Gen. Harwant Singh (retd) wrote, “There is no compulsion to get women in combat arms and same is not in the best interest of national security. There is no shortage of men, women need to be spared the ordeal of combat and instead avenues should be opened for them across a range of other fields”.

Combat involves extreme violence. The Border Security Force (BSF) saw this happen in Pyrdiwah in April 2001 where 16 brave were martyred. Bodies had signs of extreme torture involving strangulation, broken bones and mutilation. Combat for border guarding forces involves wartime deployment, border skirmishes and duties in isolated environment. It involves long marches, load carrying, mobilisation at short notice and other physically demanding tasks which women may not be able to handle.

Until 2008, border-guarding forces had no representation for women in general duty cadre. The government reserved 14-15 per cent posts in border guarding forces i.e., BSF, Sashtra Seema Bal (SB) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for women. The decision was taken without homework, and border-guarding forces have still not been able to ensure full integration of women in their organisational structure. The decision was implemented by border guarding forces without creating the eco-system, habitat and without detailed brainstorming. The majority of men in border guarding forces come from rural and feudal backgrounds. They find it difficult to accept women as colleagues/ seniors or take orders from them. Moreover, border guarding forces did not anticipate the difficulties involved. They did not prepare a concept paper to benchmark duties for women so that an environment of harmony exists among men and women.

Instead, the induction created two dissatisfied groups: women, who were not able to cope with difficult border environment; and men. In the BSF, the first batch of women constables joined in 2008. Even after 13 years, the force has not been able to create infrastructure for women to meet their needs and is still managing with improvisation. The position is no different in other border guarding forces. How the figure of 15 per cent was arrived at for recruitment of women is still a mystery. Did the government carry out an analysis of hazardous and hostile geographical conditions of borders before arriving at the figure?

Consequently, the government has even failed to achieve the target of five per cent women in border guarding forces. No professional analysis of duties for women in general duty stream was undertaken before induction considering border environment and infrastructure for women. Given this, there is an urgent need to carry out detailed analysis of the entire gamut of induction of