Another glass ceiling goes

Women are about to break the glass ceiling in the Indian Air Force's most glamorous and demanding stream of fighter pilots. It should be a matter of time before India catches up with Pakistan which has already inducted four women as fighter pilots. This was not an off-the-cuff decision but followed several Defence Ministry studies recommending their induction. One study concluded that as women are not medically inferior to men, they could fly fighter aircraft, drive tanks or sail in warships. About 50 women pilots in the IAF fly transport planes, some of them giant enough to give the Jumbos a complex, as well as helicopters on supply and rescue mission. But they are excluded from missions that involve helicopters taking up combat roles. 

The decision also implies that these women will be permanent commission officers. This means in future they could be aspirants for top posts in the IAF. But the more difficult decision of inducting women in combat roles in the Army is pending probably due to myths regarding rape and torture of female prisoners as well as issues of pregnancy. The green signal for women fighter pilots has been easier because the fighting is from the confines of a cockpit where issues regarding the hyper masculine military subculture are absent.

The counter-argument is that women fighter pilots might balk at bombing targets out of their so-called abhorrence for blood. This misses the point that the selection of fighter pilots is among the most demanding. Aspirants are minutely screened for physical fitness and mental strength before being accepted for initial training. As is the case with men fighter pilots, women not displaying the required aptitude could be transferred to the transport and helicopter streams. As far as their induction in front-line combat roles is concerned, it will be more prudent to wait for studies being conducted in this regard by other countries and then take a call. For now, women can exult that the 1992 opening up of armed service for women is now reaching its logical conclusion.