Women take lead

The former minister of state for commerce, Nirmala Sitharaman, is now the new defence minister of India. After Indira Gandhi, she is the second woman defence minister the country has seen.

Defence, which is by large a male-dominated sector, sees very few women leaders. However, the game is slowly changing. Germany and Australia had appointed their first female defence ministers Ursula von der Leyen and Marise Payne in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Further, Florence Parly was sworn in as minister for the armed forces in France in June early this year.

Suprada Phaterperkar, a Yuva Sena leader, deemed this a very proud moment for women in country. “I believe Nirmala has the discipline it takes for the position of defence minister and it’s a great thing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw that potential in her,” she says.

Marise Payne is the defence minister of Australia. (Photo: AP)

Advocate and social activist Abha Singh doesn’t see this as a surprising move. “After the exemplary way in which Sushma Swaraj, the minister of external affairs, has tackled situations under pressure, it was only about time that another woman was given this powerful a position,” she says, adding that the government is realising that women can handle position and power head on.

Kamla Bhasin, feminist poet, author and activist, says that despite some women holding important positions in the Cabinet, representation of women in the government is still very meagre. “Women have always been represented less than 10 per cent in Indian politics,” she says.

Suprada also points out how India is among the very few countries that doesn’t freely welcome women in the field of defence. “In several other countries, the defence forces are not as overridden with men as India. One can find women in all roles, even as commandos,” she says, and adds how it is only now that freedom and rights for women are catching on beyond metropolitan cities, but steps like this give one hope that things will get better.

The three women fighter pilots were formally commissioned into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

Abha points out that the fact that women are generally good administrators helps. “Women politicians usually follow a no-nonsense policy — they are efficient and don’t carry a jatha (an armed parade) around them every time they go somewhere. The same can’t be said about male politicians,” she says. Considering how defence is an extremely sensitive sector, she adds that a woman taking office there might ameliorate the current situation. “Look how Manohar Parrikar was a direct man, who didn’t treat defence with the sensitivity it requires. This could change with Nirmala,” says Abha.

What comes along with Nirmala’s appointment, however, is a lot of uncertainty from all sides. While her calibre and qualification is not doubted so far, Kamla says only time will tell if she really proves beneficial for women empowerment. “In the last couple of years, there hasn’t been any major fight or issue about women empowerment that Nirmala has raised her voice against. It is yet to be seen if she takes ahead any feminist values with her,” she points out.

Nandini Sundar, a professor of sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, also brings her doubts to the table. “I don’t think the defence sector is any more important than women and child welfare. Looking at it this way will replicate the subjugation of women,” she says, adding, “The day we have a proper fifty per cent representation of women in the Parliament, we will be able to say that the country is taking women politicians seriously.”