Pooja Thakur has sued the Indian Air Force

"Right from our training days, we are treated just like male officers. So, first we are officers, and then we are women." This was Wing Commander Pooja Thakur speaking in January 2015.

It was a proud occasion for Thakur. She was leading the inter-services Guard of Honour for President Barack Obama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan - the first woman officer to do so for a visiting dignitary at the presidential palace.

A year-and-a-half later, Thakur has moved the Armed Forces Tribunal in New Delhi after being denied a permanent commission by the Indian Air Force (IAF). Her lawyer initially said that IAF has a "dual policy" for men and women when it came to permanent commission, but he later clarified that the matter should not be viewed as an issue of gender bias.
 

Daughter of an army officer and a certified para-jumper, Thakur, 37, hails from Rajasthan and was inducted into IAF's administration branch on June 16, 2001 as a Short Service Commission officer. According to rules, she could serve for five years and later opt for another six years. Subsequently, another four years were added to the service.

Thakur, who was posted in IAF's publicity wing, Disha, which develops publicity material to draw youngsters to the force, has had other firsts also in her career. She was part of the team that developed "Guardians of the Sky", a mobile combat game featuring a Mi-17 helicopter, a Sukhoi-30 and a transport aircraft. The game was the first of its kind for any Air Force in the world.

Thakur's Facebook page reflects her passion for equal status for women in the armed forces. "Women can be just as tough - if not tougher - than men, just give them a chance," she writes in her last post, on February 5, 2015 in response to an article, titled 'No combat role envisioned' for lady officers: Army tells defence ministry, that she has shared on the page.

Then there is an article that reads Empowering women must be more than simple optics, a comment to which goes like this, "It is hard to be a woman: you must think like a man, act like a lady, look like a young girl, and work like a horse." There are also pictures of her from the Guard of Honour, walking tall behind Obama.

Thakur did not respond to a request for an interview.

Women officer have for long fought for equal roles in the armed forces. Every now and then, there is news that women will be allowed in combat roles. IAF finally made history recently by inducting its first batch of female pilots, three of them, into a fighter squadron.

The Air Force insists that in Thakur's case there has been no discrimination on the basis of gender.

Thakur was to retire on June 2016. A year before retirement, the officer has to give in writing whether she wants an extension or a permanent commission. A year ago, Thakur submitted an application seeking that she be relieved earlier for personal reasons, but is said to have changed her mind in December and requested to be allowed to serve till her retirement this June.

However, barely 10 days before retirement, she sought permanent commission, a request that was denied. The "last-minute" change of mind was not accepted by IAF. And, Thakur moved the tribunal. It will clearly not be an easy battle for Thakur, who is currently undergoing pre-release course at the Management Development Institute in Gurgaon.