Call of the sea
Ahoy there, mates, give us your coordinates! It is a heady time for soldiers, sailors and countrywomen as another of the last few remaining male bastions fall — close on the heels of granting permanent commission to women in the Indian Army in February, the Supreme Court on Tuesday extended permanent commission to women in all streams of the Navy, come bloody war or sickly season. It has directed the Centre to grant this career opportunity to short service commission female officers within three months, while also granting pension benefits to retired women officers not granted the same. The division bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, which also included Justice Ajay Rastogi, was hearing the Indian Navy’s appeal challenging the 2015 verdict of the Delhi high court that cleared it in Union of India & Ors vs Lt Cdr Annie Nagaraj & Ors.
Though it was the first of the three wings of the Indian armed forces to open up permanent commission to women – in 2008, it was granted to women in air traffic control, education, law and logistics – while in 2017, three other streams – executive, electrical and engineering were opened up – the fact is that it does not allow women to be positioned on ships. But now the court has dismissed as flimsy the Centre’s argument that the Russian-made vessels used in the Navy do not have facilities for women. It has dubbed it as one of “101 excuses” and observed that “women officers can sail as efficiently as men officers”.
Indeed, even as there is debate on whether or not combat roles should be given to women, they actually serve in this role in the Air Force, which last year qualified its first women fighter pilots. Last year, too, Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi became the first woman pilot for the Indian Navy. Navy chief Adm. Karambir Singh had then himself pointed out that women naval officers already perform combat tasks, such as firing torpedoes and missiles at enemy warships while serving as observers and weapons systems officers on board maritime aircraft like the P-8I Poseidon.
Clearly, it is only “organisational issues” that were being used to deny women Navy officers equality, as senior advocate Aishwarya Bhati argued on behalf of Seema Chaudhary commissioned in the Indian Navy’s Judge Advocate General branch in August 2007. Chaudhary was among the 17 female officers fighting this case. Bhati had also been the lawyer for Babita Puniya and other petitioners in the women Army officers’ lawsuit. While the court was emphatic in stating that “to cast aspersions on the ability of women and their role and achievements in the army is an insult not only to women, but also to the Indian armed forces”, let us pause a moment to acknowledge our dues to these individual doughty warriors.