The repercussions of the suicide of Lt Sushmita Chakraborty, the woman army officer who committed suicide Udhampur on Thursday continue to be felt. Grave questions are now being asked of the gender equality in the armed forces, of the disparity of minimum standards leading to resentment, etc.
Over and above all that is the reported statement of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt Gen G. Pattabhiraman, that the "Army can do without women", a comment that the Army denies vehemently, but which hasn't stopped the BJP leader Sushma Swaraj (who as I&B ministre advocated a dress code for women news readers) from calling for his suspension.
Questions: Is too much being made of a random incident or has the Indian Army become a male bastion opposed to the invasion of women? Is the government doing enough to woo women into the Army or is it just tokenism? Should the Army Vice Chief quit as demanded by Sushma Swaraj? Or are we just trying to find a convenient scapegoat instead of addressing the core problem?
churumuri 
Soldiers unfortunately are not known for measured words. While the general might be factually correct, someone has to tell him that his organization exists in the context of a country that is trying to achieve some gender equality. There is no reason why the army should be exempt, even if it is only tokenism. Big movements usually start in such tokenisms. For that matter, India’s independence can be traced to the token measure of having Indians on the Viceroy’s advisory council.
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It doesn’t matter whether the Vice-Chief quits or continues adorning that uniform – that’s a sentiment a lot of other ‘gentle’men in the Army share. The only difference was that the Vice-Chief could use his position to voice his views and then apologise and now all’s well.
When a woman decides to join the forces she should know what she’s getting into. There’s a lot more than just the thrill of wearing that uniform or being being saluted by a jawan; there’s male chauvinism to fight and face and keep quiet about. Lt. Sushmita’s life met a tragic fate – she should have, however, put to sleep (yes that’s the right phrase for them) those who forced her to take the step, before taking her own life. A bizaare thought and pretty extreme but that way Sushmita would have answered a lot of questions that now linger on.
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