NETAJI'S FEMINIST MARCH- FROM R.J.R TO BABITA PUNIYA
Around 80 years ago, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was leading the Indian National Army against the British Empire in the backdrop of the second world war. A regiment of his army that he was proud of was an all women unit which paved the way for breaking gender stereotypes in armed forces. However, post independence, this excellent precedent couldn't be carried forward and women in armed forces were not granted equal rights and opportunities. On February 17, 2020, however, the sun rose from the Supreme Court holding a promising future for thousands of women in the Indian military. A bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi delivered the judgement on The Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya & Ors; that allows women to serve as permanently commissioned (PC) officers in 10 combat support arms and services of the Indian Army.
As we celebrate Netaji's 125th birth anniversary today, let's travel back to the year 1943, as the INA (Indian National Army) was traversing south east Asia training and preparing for offensives against the British colonial government ruling India, Netaji made a speech in which he expressed his vision of a unit of brave Indian women forming a ‘Death-defying Regiment’ who will wield the sword similar to what the brave Rani of Jhansi wielded in India’s First War of Independence in 1857. Accordingly, the unit was named ‘Rani of Jhansi Regiment’ (RJR) and the women cadets were called ‘Rani(s)’. But the formation of this regiment discomforted many within the ranks of INA and the civil society as well, indicating that this regiment was a decision that Netaji took without much deliberation with his counterparts but nevertheless with a lot of determination. Because of this, the operations of RJR are not very well documented and much of the information available with us today are individual perspectives of what must have been the original purpose of raising the regiment. Historical Accounts describe their marches with flags, weapons and loud singing of stirring patriotic songs, their contribution in medical camps and courage that shattered gender stereotypes in the army. Here, it is essential to note that Netaji’s reasoning was grounded in the fact that if women had suffered harm at the hands of Britishers, they had all the might to fight back and in fact, that it was their duty to do so.
A remarkable soldier of the RJR, also it’s captain, Dr. Lakshmi Swaminadhan was the one who sought a meeting with Netaji in Singapore and formulated the idea of an ‘all women unit’ in the INA. She led the regiment with valour and was arrested by the British army in May 1945 and served jail time till 1946, post which she shifted to Kanpur to serve refugees and marginalised communities with her medical practice.
The RJR, when studied in the backdrop of other civilian movements being led by women across the country to achieve freedom, cemented the fact that there was no field where women could not rub shoulders with men to walk the path of success. For a nation that has been audience to the valour of Rani Laxmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Jhalkari Bai, Rani Avanti and Captain Lakshmi of Rani of Jhansi Regiment amongst several other women who did not flinch while facing the enemy to protect their motherland, it is a matter of shame that it took so many years for women to be granted a permanent commission in the military, a right they deserved from Day 1. On his 125th birth anniversary, let us give Netaji a fine tribute by bringing to life his vision of an India which was not just independent, secular and sovereign but also the one which preached gender equity and gave equal opportunities to its daughters.