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The Army Vice Chief Lt Gen S Pattabhiraman's remark that the force could do without women has touched off a controversy with Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday demanding his immediate suspension and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee repudiating him by stating that more women should join the army and they are doing a "very good job".
In the wake of a suicide by a woman army officer Lt Sushmita Chakrabarty in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday, Pattabhiraman was quoted by a leading newspaper as saying, "Ideally we would like to have gentlemen and not lady officers at the unit level. Feedback from lower formations suggests that comfort levels with lady officers are low. We can do without them," he had been quoted as saying.
Pouncing on the remarks, the BJP went on the offensive with its spokesperson Sushma Swaraj saying in Bhubaneshwar that Pattabhiraman should be suspended immediately.
"It was a reflection of the working of the army and its mindset. If I was the defence minister, I would have called the vice-chief and told him we can do without you, you can go," Swaraj said.
The mindset of army officers is such that they would not create a conducive atmosphere for women to work in, she alleged.
Since Congress president Sonia Gandhi is a woman, she should ascertain the facts from Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and issue direction accordingly, Swaraj said.
Speaking to reporters in Kolkata, Mukherjee, when asked if Pattabhiraman's comments would discourage women from joining the army, said, "We want more women to join. They are doing a very good job. There are problems, but those will be taken care of."