The writer is DG, legal and technical, Maharashtra and principal researcher of the CPR study mentioned in the article
Don’t let her down, General
An open letter to the army chief, General Bipin Rawat. Instead of declaring us unfit for combat roles without giving us a chance, dare us and we shall prove you wrong. The media quoted you as saying that “she will say somebody is peeping, so we will have to give a sheet around her”. Please tackle the Peeping Tom and not the woman objecting to him.
I am committing the temerity of questioning you and the wisdom and experience of your outstanding career in the Indian army. As a citizen of India, I have full respect for your leadership and will come to the point without any further ado. I am writing about a statement attributed to you a few days ago, voicing your doubts regarding the assigning of combat roles to women in the Indian army.
I was brought up to believe that I have the freedom to choose the career I want and the life I wish to lead. I am well aware that far too many of my sisters across the country have not been as fortunate in this regard. For centuries, we have been “boxed” into certain roles that you have mentioned. We do not question the beauty and strength that comes from being nurturers. We are proud to be home-makers, mothers, sisters and wives. But what if we also want more — for instance, the freedom to choose?
Many men have helped us in our many struggles to come out of the box. I thought that you are one such supportive soldier, instead of being the one to tell us, nay order us, to be what you consider we “should be”. Do not let me and millions like me down, General.
You know how tired we are of being told that we are second-grade citizens. You are also well aware that within families, many of us are made to do with left-overs as our food. Spending on our health and education is minimal. We are not safe on the roads and most unsafe in public spaces after dark, or so our families think. There are so many restrictions on our movements and hurdles to our growth.
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