Margaret Thatcher once said any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country. The Banda Sisters or the Gulaabi gang possibly saw problems on the domestic front and in life from such close quarters that they formed their own gang to fight their way out of evil in the badlands and bring change.
The gang was in the news not very long back when a Bollywood movie was made on them. The movie stars Madhuri Dixit – Juhi Chawla titled Gulaab Gang.
The leader of the stick possessing fighters from Banda, Sampat Pal took strong exception. The gang formed in 2006 then claimed the makers of the movie did not taken their consent to turn their story from real to reel.
The movie was made by producer Anubhav Sinha and director Soumik Sen after they delved deep into the women wearing pink sarees doing good work.
For Gulaabi gang the greater issue then had been correct depiction of their body of work. Initially Gulaabi Gang, the makers dropped the letter ‘ i ’. The question arises when did these fearless fighters who I would like to call the Powerpuff Girls of Banda come into being?
Exactly eleven years back, it was 2006 Sampat Devi saw a man beating his wife. While for the village she lived in, the act of domestic abuse was a piece of cake, this woman felt a sudden urge to fight back. Sampat it is believed urged the man to stop. The man abused her.
At that point Sampat returned but she gave it a thought one whole night. Within 24 hours she and five other women returned with a stick and beat the man black and blue. The news of the act spread like wild fire and women came forward to be a part of the movement. Pink was a colour which was not associated with a political or religious faction and hence it was chosen. Clad in pink Sarees these vigilantes started keeping a watchful eye on the villages and communities.
Over years Gulaabi gang have managed to stop several child marriages, forced police to register cases with regards to domestic violence and have raised their concerns on dowry and female illiteracy. With good work came good support.
Gulaabi gang which started from Banda have spread across the nation and especially North India. They have centres in Meerut, Bijnore, Banda, Bundelkhand and other places. Probably the power that Sampat Devi got to fight the odds was from her own life and its tragedy where she was married off at 12 to a ice cream vendor and the first of her five children were born at the age of 15.
Interestingly Sampat Devi is the Commander in chief in the gang and in Bundelkhand alone. 15 districts have her women deployed to run the Pink Brigade. The estimated number of women in the gang are over 4,00,000.
Banyan trees, makeshift tea stalls and other village hangouts are used as centres for meetings to chalkout strategy. Sampat Pal has a long list of criminal charges against her. She is charged of unlawful assembly, rioting, attacking a government employee and stopping a officer from discharge of duty. The problems at a point became so big that she had to go into hiding.
Many might ask why does one have to indulge in vigilantism, especially the women folk. The answer is that there are several ills plaguing India. The issues are honor killings, dowries, child marriages, and female feticide and now women are steering change each day.
An interesting story is associated with Sampat Pal or Sampat Devi. It is believed BSP supremo Mayawati at a point was concerned about how the rise of the group might cause a political threat for her. It is believed Sampat was offered a opportunity to run for local elections on a party ticket. She refused all offers. The popularity of the gang is such that there is a France chapter of the pink gang as well.
A girl gang operating from Banda and nearby regions, sounds like no big deal but when one understands certain basics about the place then it’s quite a tale. Banda happens to be one of the most poorest parts of one of India’s populous states.
It happens to be one of the poorest 200 districts in India targeted for the government’s job for work programme. A total of 20% of 1.6 million people in 600 villages are untouchables.
It is badly affected by drought. Poverty, discrimination, caste and a male dominated society are the other common issues.
The gang is the subject of the 2010 movie Pink Saris by Kim Longinotto. In 2012 a documentary was made named Gulaabi gang by Nishtha Jain.
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