New Delhi: "The Army can do without women"—this statement of the Vice Chief of Army staff Lt Gen K Pattabhiraman has created a controversy and the force to say that he was misquoted.
The statement threatens to blow a massive hole into the Army’s 13-year-old claim that it is an equal opportunity force. The Army is already reeling under a spate of incidents involving its women cadre and this comment was seen as a confession of its low ‘comfort level’ with its women officers.
The Army's top brass has dismissed the comment as a distortion.
Additional DG Public Information, Major General R S Sujlana says, “It is fully right that we introduce women officers into the Army. Induction of suitably qualified lady officers is a very positive step. We are very proud of the fact that the ladies are in the Army.”
The Army also tried to distance itself from the impression that it considers women as avoidable baggage. But the whole incident seems to be an admission that there were shortcomings in the grooming of women officers.
Psychiatrists will now increasingly be relied upon to relieve stress in high-pressure zones.
Sujlana says, “We will further learn something and we will hone the management of lady officers of whatever experience we have gain from this particular episode.”
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