

The pictures above may astonish some as to their relevance here. But these have some application to the subject I want to discuss. On a recent private visit to Sri Lanka, I was cheerfully surprised to see women soldiers in civilian areas of Colombo going about their day to day activities with total professionalism, the cheer was about their utmost dedication, and the surprise was about the fact that the soldiers were not officers but Other Ranks.
The recent case involving dismissal of a lady officer upon being found guilty of misdemeanour has evoked sharp reactions from many quarters. While some talk of instances of impropriety in the services, others are seeing it as a fallout of induction of women in our forces. It has been heard and read ad nauseum that women should not be allowed in our forces because in a milieu that is male oriented, allegations of sexual harassment can, and are often misused. However the point I want to make is that this cannot become per se a case against having women in the forces because:
One. Hurling allegations of sexual advances against male colleagues is something that can happen in any occupation, not just the armed forces. Ethics are on the decline north south east and west, being a man or woman has nothing to do with it.
Two. One woman officer getting the sack generates so much heat, while we conveniently overlook the many men who have similarly been shown the door - it is not about gender, it is about character.
High time to end this kind of positioning vis-à-vis women in a progressive society, let us allow the armed forces lead by example in allowing women utilise their full potential while in uniform. Impropriety knows no gender. Soldiering in women is not even an issue in countries like Sri Lanka while it is made out to be such a big deal by us. While deployment of women at the battlefront may rightly remain a debatable subject, in other arenas, women are here to stay and the sooner we accept and make them (and the men) comfortable, the better.
Let us grow up, a look on my calendar shows it’s 2009.
(Pictures courtesy : squidoo.com and dailnews.lk)
The recent case involving dismissal of a lady officer upon being found guilty of misdemeanour has evoked sharp reactions from many quarters. While some talk of instances of impropriety in the services, others are seeing it as a fallout of induction of women in our forces. It has been heard and read ad nauseum that women should not be allowed in our forces because in a milieu that is male oriented, allegations of sexual harassment can, and are often misused. However the point I want to make is that this cannot become per se a case against having women in the forces because:
One. Hurling allegations of sexual advances against male colleagues is something that can happen in any occupation, not just the armed forces. Ethics are on the decline north south east and west, being a man or woman has nothing to do with it.
Two. One woman officer getting the sack generates so much heat, while we conveniently overlook the many men who have similarly been shown the door - it is not about gender, it is about character.
High time to end this kind of positioning vis-à-vis women in a progressive society, let us allow the armed forces lead by example in allowing women utilise their full potential while in uniform. Impropriety knows no gender. Soldiering in women is not even an issue in countries like Sri Lanka while it is made out to be such a big deal by us. While deployment of women at the battlefront may rightly remain a debatable subject, in other arenas, women are here to stay and the sooner we accept and make them (and the men) comfortable, the better.
Let us grow up, a look on my calendar shows it’s 2009.
(Pictures courtesy : squidoo.com and dailnews.lk)
