- Sampat Pal Devi
Sampat Pal Devi (born 1947) is the founder and leader of a group of political activists in India's northern
Uttar Pradesh state's Banda area that the "gulabi gang" or "pink gang" - so named because they wear a uniform of pink saris. Banda is at the heart ofBundelkhand , one of the poorest parts of one of India's most populous states."Mind you," she says, "we are not a gang in the usual sense of the term. We are a gang for justice."
The group, numbering several hundred women and a few men, uses vigilante-style tactics to achieve greater social justice for the poor with its main focus on poor women. Their goal is to strike fear in the hearts of wrongdoers and earn the respect of officials who have the power to initial positive change. They brandish sticks and axes when the need presents itself.
She is the wife of an ice cream vendor and mother of five children. She is also a former government health worker.
References
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7068875.stm BBC "India's 'pink' vigilante women"]
* [http://www.bundelkhand.in/portal/search/node/Gulabi+Gang Gulabi Gang Articles at www.Bundelkhand.in]
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