It was a goosebump moment for the countrymen when two women officers Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh from the Indian Air Force briefed the media about Operation Sindoor in New Delhi on May 7, 2025. However, it cannot be forgotten that the entry of women in the Indian Army has had a chequered history.
A highly celebrated judgement delivered by the Supreme Court on February 17, 2020 by former Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi describes the steps taken by the Centre progressively since 1992 to bring women into the mainstream of the Army (except Combat Arms category) and how the officers had to fight sex stereotypes for decades together.
