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Women in the Field
of War
Created by
Men
- Anju Chhetri
“Women can reconcile
more easily. We feel free to go anywhere, meet anyone -- maybe because
everyone knows we weren’t carrying guns; we weren’t in the death
squads.” This statement of Alenka Savic, the Manager of the
international organization Mercy Corp, represents an effective strand of
feminist discourse, however, her opinion does not fit well in the
reality of international politics. In practice, women have carried guns
either by enlisting themselves in national army in several countries or
joining rebel groups. Entering the battlefields they have become a
member of death squads as well. In the context of Nepal, the women
guerrillas of the Maoist people’s army, present the best example.
Since the inception of
civilization, human beings have been fighting for different causes. The
world had experienced 118 wars from the beginning of 1990 to the end of
1999. The number of people killed in those wars was estimated to be six
million approximately. Most of the wars in the world have occurred to
acquire power. And, there have been male leaders at the center in every
big war, revolution or revolt, which took place in the history of human
civilization. Very few women have become a state -head -the highest
position in modern state power machinery. Due to this reason, women are
less responsible for war.
Though women have been
less responsible for war, they are utilized as volunteer health workers,
spies and combatants in the time of war. On the one hand, the rebel
groups prepare women ‘guerrillas’ in a planned way. On the other hand,
due to the impact of women’s voice that the participation of women must
be secured in every institute of state mechanism, the state has begun to
recruit women in the state army. Recently, All Nepal Women 's
Association (Revolutionary) affiliated to Nepal Communist Party (Maoist)
has put forth the demand that there must be 40 percent women in the
national army, supposed to be restructured in the future by
assimilation of Nepal Army and Maoists’ People’s Army. It is good to
recruit more and more women in the army. It can be done by making a
ten-year plan. It can be expected that this will help to change the
unwholesome image of the army. But, there should be a lot more
discussions on for what kinds of work women should be recruited in the
army. There are different opinions among the feminists on the issue of
recruiting women in the military service.
A segment of
international feminist movements emphasizes that women must not be
admitted in armed forces. On the basis of the experiences of the
western countries, they argue that women could not reach the highest
position of the army, they are always kept in subordinate positions and
they are sexually exploited. In the same manner, another segment of
feminists says that women should not be send to battlefields with lethal
weapons. If women are recruited in the army, they should be engaged in
limited sectors like information, transportation, administration, health
and development. But, the third section of the feminists opine that such
arguments confine women to their steriotypical roles. Therefore, the
feminists, who hold the opinion that the stereotyped image of women must
be corrected, say that women should be engaged in all kinds of military
jobs. But, does not such attempt strengthen the structure constructed by
men and let women just coalesce in that structure? Such issue should be
considered carefully.
The growing population
of unemployed educated women is ready to enter any field that is likely
to offer employment for them. Moreover, since the military service is a
challenging sector, the women are more drawn toward it. This fact has
been confirmed by the crowd of women that had gathered around the
military headquarters when the Nepal Army first announced the policy to
enroll women in the armed forces. Women were recruited in the Nepal Army
for the first time in 2003, in non-ranking posts, without disclosing
their actual number, and they were engaged in the sectors like policing,
exchange, transportation and administration etc. But, the women enrolled
in the second phase, that is, after six months, were also deployed as
infantry.
It is alleged that the
Nepal Army began to enroll women merely by imitating the Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoist), because the Maoists had already begun to recruit
women in their guerrilla force in great numbers. But, the fact one
should not forget here is that women activists had been demanding for
long to enroll women in the national army by amending the military law.
By whatever reasons women have been joining the Nepal Army in all kinds
of job. It is estimated that the proportion of women has reached five
percent in the Nepal Army. The proportion of women's enrollment in the
military service is much smaller in other countries of the world also.
Citing the source The
Military Balance 1998/99 (International Institute for Strategic Studies,
1998), the book Gender, Peace and Conflict (2001) has presented
the number and proportion of women enrolled in the armed forces of 25
different countries, namely, Australia, Bahamas, Belarus, Belgium,
Brunei, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, India, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, UK and USA. According
to the data given in the book (p. 6), in the national army of South
Africa, there are 16 thousand 998 women, which is 24.3 percent of its
total armed forces. This is the highest percentage among the countries
enlisted. Similarly, there are 199 thousand 990 (14.5 %) women in the
armed forces of USA. In Russia and New Zealand there are 145 thousand
and one thousand 370 women soldiers respectively (both have 14.4 percent
of women in their total armed forces). The data reveal that India is the
country that has the least number of women in its armed forces. In
India, the number of women in the armed forces is just 200, which is
0.02 percent in its total army. The editors of the book Inger Skelsbaek
and Dan Smith write in the introduction (p.7): “US and Israeli armed
forces deploy women in direct combat roles.” It indicates that the
practice of engaging women in combatant roles has not gained wider
acceptance yet.
The standing committee
member of the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) Ram Bahadur Thapa (Badal)
has written an article in Mahila Dhwani (Chaitra, 2057 BS), the
official mouthpiece of All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary). In
the article entitle ‘Samajik Krantima Nariko Apariharya Sthan Tatha
Adhikarko Sawal’, Badal discusses about women’s indispensable part
in social revolution and the issue of women’s rights. He writes (p. 41):
“... Women have to pay serious attention to the process of
militarization. Women's exploiters are armed from their head to toe. The
enemies cannot be terminated merely by precepts and ideals. In order to
protect their dignity and existence, women have to augment the course of
militarization at both physical and mental levels. They have to convert
each and every part of their body into a sharp weapon; the hands that
would grind spices have to be converted into the tools of making
detonators and bombs; the shoulders that would carry a doko (a
cone shaped basket carried on the back) have to carry guns.
Additionally, every component of thinking must be conjoined with the
process of militarization.” This assertion of Badal explicitly
illustrates the Maoists’ conviction, purpose and policy regarding
militarization of women.
In accordance with their
policy, the Maoists have enrolled a large number of women in combat
troops of their people’s army. Does this indicate that the Maoists have
really acknowledged the capacity of women? Some observers like author
Manjushree Thapa are dubious on this matter. Thapa in her article ‘Girls
at War: The Failings of Kathmandu’ (included in the report Women and
the State: In the Storm of the Maoist Insurgency, Center for
Investigative Journalism, May, 2003) writes: “ ... the presence of women
in the military wing has tended to come to most attention, but there has
been little opportunity for independent analysts to examine whether or
not these women merely serve as ‘cannon fodder’. Neither is it known
what percentage of these female recruits are underage girls. ... the CPN
(M)’s claims to enjoy the wide participation of women (are)
exaggerated.”
Explaining the reasons
for recruiting women into people’s army, the central committee member
of the CPN (Maoist) Hisila Yami says: “Women have not been recruited in
the people’s army because of any compulsion, pragmatic reason or instant
advantage. Among the oppressed communities women are the largest group
having the largest number that spreads from home to caste, ethnic
groups, the people of regional, religious and linguistic communities. As
they say where there is oppression there is resistance, women have a
double power of resistance because they have been experiencing double
oppression -- class oppression and gender oppression. Realizing this
fact, we have involved them in military sector.” (Quoted in Matrika
Poudel, ‘Maobadi Senama Mahilaharu’ or ‘Women in the Maoist
Army’, Mulyankan, Bhadau, 2061 BS, p. 12). The Maoists have
claimed that there are 40 percent women in their people’s army.
The participation of
women in the people’s army and the Maoists’ claims on this matter will
certainly be analyzed in the coming days. In addition, the claims about
whether the Maoists’ people’s army incorporating 40 percent women or not
will be known immediately after the process of arms’ management starts.
However, the higher ratio of women’s participation in the People’s Army
or the moments of gallantry shown by women combatants in battlefields
will gradually become a matter of the past. Instead, the crucial issues
to think about at present are: how many soldiers the would-be national
army should contain, what kind of structure it should have, how the
People’s Army of the Maoists will be integrated and how many women
should be enrolled in it, etc. The Maoists had recruited women in their
people’s army to fulfill a political goal to a large extent. Their main
objective was to fight against the ‘enemies’. They would kill the
‘enemies’ or be killed by them. They did not need any proficiency to
join the People’s Army. They just had to have the guts to hold and fire
guns. They did not have to get any educational qualification and pass a
series of systematic military training because they were recruited
merely for fighting battles and become a carrier of death. However,
women in the national army of new Nepal should not be involved as war
mongers but as the defenders of peace and democracy.
- Nepal Samacharpatra,
August 17,
2006, p. 4 |
