Pakistan, July 4 -- India has spent years presenting the induction of women into its armed forces as proof of institutional modernity. Republic Day tableaux, permanent commission litigation, combat-support appointments and glossy recruitment messaging have all carried the same promise that the Indian military is opening space for women on equal terms. The record emerging from within that establishment tells a far less comfortable story.

Over the past decade, a series of reported cases involving women officers, officers' wives and vulnerable women connected to military spaces has raised a question India's defence establishment can no longer manage through ceremonial language. Is the system designed to protect women, or to abuse them?

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