NEWSLETTER

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY SANJIT DAS

		Chandania Devi, 55 I am an old member of the gang and I cannot always go on the various missions that the gang is involved in. I mostly end up creating awareness about women’s empowerment, child education for girls, and family welfare in my own village. Ours is an untouchable village, so people from the upper caste don’t come here and clearly nobody cares about the education system. All we had was a dilapidated primary school without a teacher. After the initiative from Sampat Devi, we have a teacher, and children can at least go to school. During the day, I go from one house to another to raise awareness of child education for girls. Since I am an elderly woman and moreover a Gulabi Gang member, people pay attention to what I have to say. My family is very proud of me. My grandchildren accompany me sometimes, and it makes me proud that they are witnessing a change that I am trying to bring about in my village.
		Bijrania, 50 I joined the gang because everyone else I knew was joining. So my decision was influenced by the herd mentality, but it was only a few weeks later that I realized the difference. I wasn’t just another member of the gang, I actively take part in the demonstrations that Sampat Devi leads. I was on the mission when the Gulabi Gang accomplished its biggest triumph to date. We intercepted two trucks laden with Below Poverty Line-designated food grains on their way to the open market. The police and the local administration intimidated us, but we stood like a rock. We are a team and that’s our strength. I was scared in the beginning, but not anymore. I live in a small hut with my family. My husband and my son make very little money by working as laborers. There are days when they don’t get work and we have to sleep on an empty stomach. If the Gulabi Gang manages to get some help from the administration or aid agencies, we can set up a fabric-production center and I can contribute to the family income as well.

Punia Devi, 38

I am a dalit, a part of the untouchable caste, which is like a curse in this life. I hope I won’t be one in my next life. I take on work as an agricultural laborer when I can get it. The upper caste exploits us and pays us whatever they feel like. I considered it my fate until Sampat Devi came and educated us about our rights.

I joined the Gulabi Gang instantly and vowed to educate the rest of the community about their rights. Not only is it a curse to be a dalit but it is just as difficult being a woman.

We women are always on the receiving end when it comes to exploitation. We are married off at an early age and are told that it’s our fate to be with a man we have never met before. Our husbands exploit us all the time and treat us as their slaves.

This needs to change, and the Gulabi Gang has achieved a lot here toward that. We visit local households and give parents guidance on their daughters’ education. One of the many motivating factors of being with the gang is that I can make a difference and put a stop to the exploitation. When I joined up I spent a lot of time following Sampat Devi when she was visiting the villages creating awareness about education. Street plays are a popular medium for the gang to address the issue to a larger audience.

What we do to promote child education for girls is a free service. To do it well, we need a support system in place. I don’t have any means of travel; I cannot even afford to pay the bus fare, so I end up walking. The days I go and work for the Gulabi Gang, I don’t earn any money and have to depend on my husband’s salary (if he gets work that day). Even though we have a tough life, my husband and my two daughters are very supportive of my contribution as a Gulabi Gang member.


Savitri Devi, 23

I met Sampat Devi when she came to our village almost a year ago. I had heard of the gang from other villagers. We were proud of what Sampat Devi was doing for the community. She came to the village and spoke at a public gathering in the village and talked about the rights of the poor. I was awestruck after seeing a woman talk with such conviction. When she spoke, everyone listened to her. You could have heard a pin drop. I instantly knew that I wanted to be part of her gang. I was recently married and my family thought it was a ridiculous idea and were dead against my stepping out of the household. My husband wasn’t supportive at all, but I was convinced that I wanted to join the gang and so I did. This took months of persistence but my husband finally agreed. I actively take part in all of the demonstrations, street plays, and campaigns that the Gulabi Gang initiates. I’m inspired by the conviction that Sampat Devi shows while she is fighting for us. She goes through incredible difficulties to demand our rights. I aspire to be like her and have the courage to stand up for my rights. I follow her during her visits in my village and the neighboring villages and talk to the village elders and tell them about their rights. I am very interested in running the women’s fabric center that the Gulabi Gang is trying to raise funds for. The gang plans to run a rehabilitation center for alcoholics as well. I am educated, and I can make a difference. I come from a poor dalit background and I don’t have enough money. I work as an agricultural laborer in the fields, and whatever I save, I try and use for bus fare to raise awareness in neighboring villages. I always wear my pink sari and carry my lathi with me.




Aarti Devi, 22

My father, Chnadra Bhan, is an educated man. He has a double Masters from the university despite being a dalit. He has always had to fight for his rights and the dignity of the local villagers. About six months back, an upper-caste man raped a local dalit woman. Police refused to register the case. When my father protested, he and two others were taken into custody. I went to Sampat Devi and asked her for help. That same day I joined the gang and, led by Sampat Devi, we stormed the police station demanding the release of my father and the other villagers. The police still refused to register the case against the rapist. We ended up beating a policeman black-and-blue with lathis. I cannot take injustice lying down. My father is a great inspiration to me, he was very proud when he saw me in a pink sari demonstrating and shouting slogans, rubbing shoulders with the rest of the Gulabi Gang. Sampat Devi trained me in lathi warfare. She insisted we learn to defend ourselves before we attack someone. The goverment muscle and the administration have threatened me many times, once at gunpoint, but I am not scared of them. Being in the gang gives me confidence and self-assurance. In most of the operations we carry out, our emphasis is to empower women, create employment, promote education, and thereby uplift the poor and the needy. We are the future of the Gulabi Gang. We will do whatever it takes to provide equality and justice to the ones who have been deprived of it.


A FLUX OF PINK INDIANS | 1 | 2 | 3 |

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