Becky Blab

A quest for clarity

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The Gulabi Gang

January 20th, 2008 · 5 Comments

Rough justice: Leader Sampat Pal Devi and members of the Gulabi Gang with their traditional fighting sticks

Some women from UP have taken matters into their own hands, forming a group which is determined to mete out justice.

“But we are not a gang in the usual sense of the term. We are a gang for justice. We wear pink because it is the colour of life.”

While I can’t necessarily endorse the use of violence, these women do seem to have an effective means of retribution–the sticks pictured are used to beat men who beat or rape their wives, policemen who don’t believe the cases. Notably, the group is made up mostly of low-caste or dalit women.

Girl power: Aarti Devi says the gang has battled caste prejudice

Via Daily Mail.

Related posts:

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  2. Same old song
  3. Disturbing study of the day
  4. Marching for land rights
  5. Crimes against women on the rise

Tags: empowerment · leadership · legal issues · violence against women/harrassment

  • bonnybhardwaj

    Rural India is an exceptionally violent society. So I found nothing wrong when women are taking law in there own hand. Violence is an effective tool to expedite change but should be selective and well guided. One has right to protect herself, if law is deficient

  • http://beckyblab.com/gulabi-gang-goes-at-it-again/189/ Becky Blab » Blog Archive » Gulabi gang goes at it again

    [...] The Guardian takes an in-depth look at the Gulabi Gang, the group of 500-plus female vigilantes from Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh. Not only is this the place where Phoolan Devi, the Bandit Queen of India is from as the article mentions, but also the Queen of Jhansi who notoriously fought the British for her kingdom. Coming from such a tradition, I suppose it is less surprising that these women have so forthrightly used force to combat corruption. Products of this cruel environment, the hundreds of pink-clad women knew that their electricity supply had been disconnected by corrupt officials to extract bribes from them to get the power switched back on. With no functioning law to fall back on, they knew also that the only way to get a power supply was to take matters into their own hands. Within an hour of their absconding with the key, the electricity was restored. [...]

  • http://beckyblab.com/gulabi-gang-video/339/ Becky Blab

    Gulabi Gang video…

    Via Feministing.
    ……

  • dayal sharma.

    you can register your complaint with n.c.w.delhi.

  • beckyblab

    Thanks for stopping by & commenting!