Sreevidya Rajan was the First Woman to fly in Kargil, not Gunjan Saxena

Sreevidya Rajan, an IAF officer, took to social media to debunk the myths sold as facts in the film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl. She along with Gunjan Saxena were the first women pilots to be posted at the IAF base in Udhampur. The film starring Jhanvi Kapoor has caught itself among a barrage of controversy. The Indian Air Force has written to the censor board for the inappropriate portrayal of the force, language and objectionable content. Sreevidya Rajan who too was a Kargil girl came out in support of the IAF as she penned a strong message stating facts over Dharma Production's fiction.

“Both of us were posted to Udhampur in 1996 but in the movie, it was shown that she was the only lady pilot posted at the unit." - Sreevidya Rajan

In the Facebook post, Sreevidya called out Dharma Productions for showing Gunjan as the only woman pilot at the Udhampur base. “Both of us were posted to Udhampur in 1996 but in the movie, it was shown that she was the only lady pilot posted at the unit. Since the two of us were the first lady pilots to be posted to that helicopter unit, we were skeptical about our acceptance in the male-dominated niche area of flying,” Sreevidya wrote.

She added, “We were under strict scrutiny and certain mistakes of ours were met with corrective actions which may have been overlooked had it been done by our male counterparts. We had to work harder than our counterparts to prove ourselves to be at par with them.”

Key Highlights

Gunjan Saxena was not the first Indian female pilot in combat.
Sreevidya Rajan calls out the filmmaker for fabricating facts
Indian Air Force (IAF) has been wrongly represented as inculcating gender discrimination, which according to her is a lie.

Sreevidya clearly states that in spite of our personal ordeals we (Gunjan and her) received support from the majority of the officers at the base. This is in sharp contrast to the misogynist behavior of senior male officers as shown in the film.

She continues to write, "Some were not happy to share the professional space with us but the majority accepted and treated us as fellow officers working towards a common goal. Our flying began within a few days of our arrival and was never interrupted or canceled for petty reasons as wrongly portrayed in the movie. The squadron commander was a thorough professional.” However, she did admit lack of a separate toilet for women at the IAF base, but that too according to Sreevidya was eventually managed with the help of fellow accommodating officers.

"We never faced any humiliating physical strength demonstrations as shown in the movie. We were never ill-treated or humiliated by our fellow officers.”

She specifically called out a scene in the film where Gunjan Saxena is seen to be humiliated in an arm wrestle publically by a senior official. On this, Sreevidya said, "We never faced any humiliating physical strength demonstrations as shown in the movie. We were never ill-treated or humiliated by our fellow officers.” She also said that the climax of the film, where Gunjan defies orders to abort a rescue to bring back injured Indian soldiers during the Kargil war, did not happen.

“In the movie, Gunjan Saxena was shown as the only lady pilot to fly in Kargil operations. This is factually incorrect. We were posted together to Udhampur and when the Kargil conflict started, I was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of our unit which deployed at Srinagar. I flew missions in the conflict area even before Gunjan’s arrival at Srinagar. After a few days of operation, Gunjan Saxena came to Srinagar with the next set of crew. We actively participated in all operations given to us which included casualty evacuation, supply drop, communication sorties, SAR, etc. The heroic acts of the protagonist portrayed in the climax never actually happened and may have been shown as part of the cinematic license,” Sreevidya said.

“In the movie, Gunjan Saxena was shown as the only lady pilot to fly in Kargil operations. This is factually incorrect. We were posted together to Udhampur and when the Kargil conflict started, I was the first woman pilot to be sent along with the male counterparts in the first detachment of our unit which deployed at Srinagar."

Sreevidya has accused the filmmakers of “twisting the facts given by Gunjan for the sake of publicity.”

“As the pioneers of women pilots, we were treated with the utmost respect and it was our responsibility to live up to the expectations and pave way for future generations. The movie is sending out a wrong message about the lady officers of IAF thereby demeaning the prestigious organization of our country,” she said. “I only wish that since it is a Biopic, Gunjan should have made sure to show the facts and portray IAF in a positive light before giving her approval to air the movie.”

"The movie is sending out a wrong message about the lady officers of IAF thereby demeaning the prestigious organization of our country"