Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Indian women officers in the army can now be given permanent commission and hold command posts, says a recent SC ruling, which overturns a sexist directive by the Centre.
On February 6, the Centre gave an appeal to the Supreme Court which stated that women officers cannot not hold command posts because men in the army are not used to work under women officers. It was stated that as they hail from rural communities it would be difficult for the male members to work under the command of a woman.
This is highly sexist and it paves way for sexism to prevail in the armed forces.
It has been ironic.
Captain Tania Shergill, a woman army officer, led the all-male army contingency on Republic Day Parade this year, and a few days later the Centre sent a directive that opposed giving women officers command posts in the army, stating a plethora of sexist reasons.
One of them was that women prisoners of war are a liability for the army. In a country where a woman led the first freedom movement (read: Rani Lakshmi Bai) it is shocking to see how the Centre thinks that women cannot hold positions of authority.
However, in a welcome and much needed move, the Supreme Court completely criticized this move stating that women officers are now eligible for command posting.
The SC completely turned a blind eye to the Centre’s appeal, and has granted permanent commission in a command position for women officers who opt for it.
This move celebrates the equal humanity of women, trashing the propagation of gender stereotypes where a woman is often pictured waiting at home for the man who does the hard work and all the earning.
“SC says that the contentions of centre, regarding the issue of physiological limitations & social norms to deny an opportunity to women officers is disturbing & can’t be accepted,” tweeted ANI on their Twitter handle.
SC says that the contentions of centre, regarding the issue of physiological limitations & social norms to deny an opportunity to women officers is disturbing & can’t be accepted. Also says – Centre, by not giving permanent commission to women officers, had prejudiced the case. https://t.co/XvaHS4MNKy — ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020
SC says that the contentions of centre, regarding the issue of physiological limitations & social norms to deny an opportunity to women officers is disturbing & can’t be accepted.
Also says – Centre, by not giving permanent commission to women officers, had prejudiced the case. https://t.co/XvaHS4MNKy
— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2020
“It is an insult to women as well as the army when aspersions are cast on women, their ability and their achievements in the Army,” the Supreme Court verdict said.
The Centre gave permanent commission to women in signals, engineers, army aviation, army air defence, electronics and mechanical engineers, army service corps, army ordinance corps and intelligence. The PC was only given to those women officers who had joined the forces after 2014.
This is a win for women who have been struggling to get past this. This move motivates women to work harder and get further in their careers because now they do not have to take compulsory retirement. They have a full term office to serve and work for. In The Deck at India Habitat Centre (Delhi), we saw a Lieutenant Colonel striding in followed by other Major and other women officers. They wore red and greeted each other by saying that “We have won”. They celebrated by cutting a cake which had a battle tank atop.
Image source: YouTube
A Journalism student. When not busy with college and assignments, I read a lot. Big time foodie and dog mom. Pop culture, feminism and news gets me excited. read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
Please enter your email address