Woman Up S3 EXCLUSIVE: Barkha Dutt reveals all the struggles she faced while covering Kargil War

International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 08. Every year, Pinkvilla comes with a new season of Woman Up during this time. In the third season of our annual segment, we spoke with several talented women. Today, we had a wonderful chat with journalist Barkha Dutt who opened up on various topics including her book, Kargil War coverage, etc. while chatting with us. To note, she had covered the Kargil War from the frontline and was the first woman war correspondent. While speaking to us, she opened up about the struggles she faced while reporting the Kargil War being a woman.

Barkha Dutt said, “When I went to cover Kargil in 1999, initially I was stopped as they said they can’t send a woman to cover the frontline…I really pleaded and got my way. I was in my 20s and I was very conscious that I have to fight very much…During the war, once I got separated from my team and the soldiers asked me to go in the bunkers as bombing had started so we got attached to these soldiers and we cared about them. So, boys from my team started crying but I was so conscious that if I cry they will say “you are behaving like a girl.” I just stopped myself from crying…”

She further added, “When I was in my 20s, I used to be like that you have to judge me only by my work and not my gender. So, this is a very personal journey.”