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No-frills, fighters

Never enthusiastic about the trappings of “political correctness” such as equal-opportunity and gender-parity, the chief of the Army Staff was…

No-frills, fighters

Army Chief Bipin rawat

Never enthusiastic about the trappings of “political correctness” such as equal-opportunity and gender-parity, the chief of the Army Staff was quick to bring a touch of reality to those who injected an altruistic dimension to his move to have women inducted into the combat elements of olive-green.

He has affirmed that the aim was to raise a substantial strength of no-frills fighters to counter women protestors in the Kashmir Valley, who were now joining the men and boys in pelting stones at soldiers conducting anti-militancy operations.

That was a candid admission which certainly added to the “Pattonesque” image he has created for himself, even stating that he was not perturbed when likened with Brigadier-General Dyer of Jallianwalla Bagh infamy.

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“Sometimes we have to face women in the front during counter-insurgencies. They would be tackled easily if we have enough strength of women officers and sizeable other rank file cadre” he said a few days back.

That fits in with his plans for women to be initially inducted into the Corps of Military Police ~ a half-step short of a frontline battle-ready unit.

Whether women will “respond” in large numbers now that their role has been outlined is one of the questions that arise, though the unemployment situation may furnish the answer.

The chief has said that the process for recruiting women has already started.

General Bipin Rawat’s “call” actually puts paid to any possibilities of defusing the alienation-triggered crisis in the valley through goodwill moves and negotiations; quite in keeping with the political line that all troubles in Kashmir are Pakistan-provoked,a nd a muscular military solution ~ soon to see female-muscle in action too ~ is the only way out.

The Army Chief clearly places little stock in the women personnel of the CRPF’s Rapid Action Units, though some of them have also served abroad with United Nations’ peacekeeping missions.

It also suggests that the Army sees a long-term role for itself in internal security duties, in Kashmir in particular but elsewhere too. Which actually points to a lack of faith in other governmental machinery to address the root causes of civil unrest. The deployment of women troops in the valley could also be seen as “insurance” against male soldiers shedding time-honoured inhibitions and “taking on” women adversaries.

The potential for that has been accelerated by sections of the military leadership ~ not all officers it must be emphasised ~ accepting the dangerous argument that “the end justifies the means”.

A theory now endorsed by a formal commendation of an officer who stunned civilians as well as some uniforms by lashing a local Kashmiri to a jeep, ostensibly using him as a human shield, but also “parading” him around several villages as an “example”.

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