IAF women saw combat 20 yrs ago

Even as the country debates about women getting commanding roles and Permanent Commission in the armed forces, the Indian Air Force was a path-breaker.

More than 20 years ago during the India-Pakistan Kargil war (May-July 1999), the Indian Air Force tasked two women pilots, Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena and Flight Lieutenant Srividya Rajan, to drop supplies in the battle zone, locate Pakistani positions and undertake casualty evacuation of Army soldiers.

Once their copter even faced a Pakistani rocket, which fortunately missed and hit the hillside near the Kargil air strip. Movie director Karan Johar has already announced a movie on the life of Gunjan Saxena.

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• Let us not be blind to nature of a battlefield

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In 2018, the IAF inducted three women as fighter pilots. Flying Officer Avani Chaturvedi became the first Indian woman fighter pilot to fly solo. In May 2019, her colleague Flight Lieutenant Bhawana Kanth became the first woman pilot to qualify to undertake combat missions on a fighter jet. They are based at airbases in North India and are part of IAF deployment.

Last year, Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal guided Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman during the February 27 dogfight. She was the ground-based flight controller and has been awarded the Yudh Seva Medal.

The IAF in August 2019 promoted Wing Commander Shailja Dhami to be the first commander of a flying unit — a helicopter unit at Hindon. She is a Permanent Commission officer. In May 2019, the IAF got Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj to lead the first all-women crew on board a Mi-17 helicopter. — TNS

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