Woman Empowerment in India is actually going back to the cultural Bharat had before invasions and rule by both Islamic and Christian invaders

Indian National Army, fighting against the Allied forces in World War II, had an all-woman regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, established in July 1943. Unfortunately, due to the short-sightedness of the military at the time of Independence, it did not last. India had to wait until 1992 when women were granted Short Service Commissions under the Vajpayee government during the Kargil War. Women pilots flew in combat zones from 2015, and more branches were opened up. Then, in 2021, under the Modi government, the NDA was opened up for women. Today, we have reached a full circle with an all-women battalion that will even engage in anti-terrorist operations. In the next five years, we might once again see a women's regiment.

Ironically, the first woman warriors in India date back 4,000 years to the Sinauli archaeological site. Years of repression under Islamic rule, followed by Western stereotyping of women's roles under British rule, led to the suppression of women's rights in India. However, mighty as the Islamic or British Empires were, India still managed to produce a Razia Sultan, Noor Jahan, and Chand Bibi, who led and ruled even during Islamic rule in India, where traditionally the role of women is not very strong. I am not counting the Hindu queens who ruled and fought Islamic rulers here, as there were many, and Islam was not able to subjugate all of India completely.

When the British arrived, they found they had to fight women rulers like Rani Chennamma, Ahilyabai Holkar, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Rani Velu Nachiyar, etc. Eventually, the Victorian British norms curtailed women's rights and repressed them. The British influence destroyed many matriarchal societies in India, like the Nairs. Women's education suffered but was protected in places under Indian rule, like the Baroda Gaekwad State, which made education universal in 1906, while the first girls' school was set up in 1875. These notable exceptions existed.

The British, due to the 1857 First War of Indian Independence, saw women fighting and leading armies against them. Like typical Europeans, they shamed and called out the character of such women, especially in the North, calling them all nautch girls (dancing girls), even going so far as to say that prostitutes were instigating their troops against them! The repression that followed destroyed women's rights in India, which even the Islamic occupation was not able to do. The British took women away from leadership positions, even then it was the Indian Ranis who were among the first women drivers in the world. In 1905, we had a woman driver, and the Maharani of Bhavnagar, Nandkuvarba, in 1910, took the British Governor of Bombay for a spin in her car, which made front-page news for the British!

It has taken us over 77 years, but women are once again rising in India. Of course, the Western world likes to tell you otherwise. They, who destroyed women's rights in India, claim to have brought civilization to a nation that existed even before the Greeks did. We had covered drains before King Solomon's time and open drains under the British Raj! Remember your heritage and remember that you come from a nation that has considered women as Shakti. What you are seeing in the CRPF Battalions is a return to our roots. After 77 years, we are finally removing the dust of centuries of slavery and rising once again. Diversity and women's empowerment existed 4,000 years ago in India; we are today trying to reach the same levels we had before the invasion of this nation! This CRPF Battalion is just the first step to regain what we lost!