Gulabi Gang, the Feminist Vigilantism of India

An all-women vigilante group captures popular imagination by wielding sticks and taking on villains, this popular women’s group is Gulabi Gang (Pink Gang). The women’s group is popularly known as Gulabi or ‘Pink’ Gang because the members wear bright pink saris and wield bamboo sticks.

The Gulabi Gang is an extraordinary women’s movement formed in 2006 by Sampat Pal Devi in the Banda District of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India. This region is one of the poorest districts in the country and is marked by a deeply patriarchal culture, rigid caste divisions, female illiteracy, domestic violence, child labour, child marriages and dowry demands.

The Gulabi Gang was initially intended to punish oppressive husbands, fathers and brothers, and combat domestic violence and desertion. The members of the gang would accost male offenders and prevail upon them to see reason.

Most, if not all, are members of lower castes. Al Jazeera reported that the group has an estimated 400,000 members as of 2014; the Hindustan Times put the figure at 270,000. While there are many men who associate with the ideals of the gang and even help them out in all ways possible, there are no men who are a part of the core gang. Their biggest support, according to Sampat, is by not being obstacles. Every male member of the community who isn’t a hindrance to or who doesn’t stop a woman from being a member of the gang, is in his own way, supporting the gang.

A Bollywood movie ‘Gulaab Gang’ was made based on the stories of this group. Gulaab Gang is a crime drama film directed by Soumik Sen. Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla play the major characters Rajjo and Sumitra Bagrecha respectively. The film is centered around the struggle of women in India, and the title throws light on a gang of members who are activists and vigilantes in the North of India.

From fighting violence against women, preventing child marriages, arranging weddings of couple in love despite local resistance, to ensuring delivery of basic rights for the poorest of poor, the Gulabi Gang's vision is to 'protect the powerless from abuse and fight corruption' has found easy resonance across much of India’s hinterland, blighted by unending reports of sex crimes and gang rapes. It is said that the Gang has stepped into the vacuum left by the state and offers an alternative means of attaining justice.

 

 

 

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