IAF was always fair, but to deny gender bias among personnel betrays a feudal mindset, says Gunjan Saxena

The Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl (2020) has been receiving flak from a section of society, including ex-colleagues in the Indian Air Force (IAF), for allegedly ‘peddling lies’.

Saxena has finally opened up on the accusations and shared her side of the story in an official statement.

Without mincing words, she has labelled all such claims as lies and maintained that the film has shown her struggle despite a few cinematic liberties.

“Let me inform readers with utmost conviction and honesty that even though cinematic liberties were exercised in my biopic by the filmmakers, what they did not miss or exaggerate was me, the real Gunjan Saxena. I admit without hesitation that I have even more of an iron will and resoluteness than was portrayed in the movie,” she said.

Highlighting the importance of the air force in her career, she said, “In my short career of eight years in the air force, the most precious commodity I earned was the admiration and respect of my seniors, juniors and peers. It was absolutely disheartening to see a small group of people trying to dent this hard-earned reputation with nonsensical rants. I was lucky and blessed to have so many firsts to my name in my years with the IAF.”

Elaborating on the firsts, she said she is “the first [Indian] woman to fly in a combat zone (which has been mentioned in the Limca Book of Records), the first BG (a coveted flying category) among woman helicopter pilots and the first woman officer to undergo the jungle and snow survival courses. The reason why a quiet, reserved person like me is ‘blowing my own trumpet’ is to throw an open challenge to anybody who refutes these facts. All these ‘firsts’ are documented in the records of the IAF”.

She also cleared the air on allegedly claiming to have won the Shaurya Chakra for her efforts in the Kargil war. She said she was given the Shaurya Veer award by a civilian organization in Uttar Pradesh but a section of the media misreported it as Shaurya Chakra.

The film has also been slammed by some for showing a gender bias in the air force. Responding to this criticism, Saxena said, “When I joined, there was no discrimination at the organizational level. But yes, individually, no two people are the same and some individuals adapt to change better than others. Since the bias is not at an organizational level, the experiences of different woman officers would be different.”

She, however, added, “To deny it [gender bias] completely speaks of a feudal mindset and undermines the grit of woman officers. I also combated the difficulties of prejudice and discrimination at the hands of a few individuals for being a woman. But since it was never at the organizational level, I got equal opportunities all the time.” 

Directed by Sharan Sharma, Gunjan Saxena has been produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. The film also stars Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi in the roles of Saxena’s father and brother, respectively.