Indian women fighting for women's rights 
in Genoa yesterday I saw the documentary " Pink Gang" commented the protagonist Sampat Pal Devi. E 'was a wonderful experience and further reflection on what happens daily to many women of the South. In India every 37 minutes a woman is raped and every 90 minutes a woman dies in the home ... and we is not doing much better even though, apparently we have more rights ... Although I can not define very Gandhian movement for the methods used to write this post I decided to publicize the movement of the Pink Gang, and even mentally join the thousands and thousands of women the world continue to violence and deprivation subir!
"One day, when Sampat is still small and has its feet wet in a rice paddy, seen passing a group of children. Tidy and clean, are certainly not direct working in the fields. They go to school, someone says. Sampat not know what the school, but he knows that only the rich go there. For the poor, the children are in the fields. Sampat is more than poor, belongs to one of the lowest castes in India, it is almost an untouchable, and lives in a poor village in Uttar Pradesh. His fate seems sealed. But she is a little girl wakes up and that day he decided to go to school with the other. There will be many other times, the top remaining on the sidelines, ready to demonstrate intelligence and an innate sense of giustizia.Nulla may, however, against the ancient traditions of his country. He's only twelve years old when, as is customary, is given in marriage to a man much older. He does not know her husband knows nothing of marriage, has not yet reached puberty. It is not that a little girl . Since then the custom wants her to be silent and should submit to her husband, mother-in-law and the abuse of anyone who belongs to a higher caste. Why should you do so. For what, they tell her, is her destiny.
Sampat But can not stand the lies, and do not agree to be considered inferior to anyone. When you dare to respond to the nth oppression, the mother-in-law's house hunting, along with two sons who were born in the meantime. could be the end, and instead is a new beginning. In a short time, become the champion of the oppressed, especially women. What in thousands, from all over India, to join her to launch a revolution pink, the color of the sari that they have chosen as uniform. A wave rose that scares people who do not want things to change. "
" They dress sari with pink, but their reputation is far from ' be tender. They are the executioner rose, a group determined to eradicate the corruption of police forces and to apply ruthless justice those guilty of domestic or sexual violence.
They act in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. They chose the rose as a symbol of their struggle and can count among them hundreds of militants. are armed with lathi - traditional sticks - used to beat the men who were violent with their wives or have abandoned, and also to crush the police who refused to register complaints of rape.
The team was able, despite its original members are the lowest castes of Indian society, to denounce the wrongdoings of the corrupt politicians. Since its creation, the Pink Gang , as self-appointed, has undergone a series of criminal charges, but are holding firm and resist the threats.
"No, we are helping in this region," says Sampat Pal Devi, 47, who founded the group that the other women lessons of combat. "The police and officials are so corrupt and anti-poor that we must enforce the law. At other times, cover with shame those who behave badly. But we are not a gang in the usual sense of the word. We are a gang for justice. We wear the color pink because it is the of life. "
The Pink Gang is based in the region of Banda, one of the poorest parts of Uttar Pradesh and gently as women earn the respect of local officials reluctant. More than 20% of the population of Banda are "untouchables", the lowest caste. Women are the first victims of poverty and discrimination in a feudal society dominated by men and submissive to the upper castes. Almost all of the Pink Death live in huts of mud and brick, with no running water, no electricity, and survive on less than 50 pence (0.75 euro per day).
Aarti Devi, 25 years, says: "By myself I have no right, but together as a group of Gulab, we have power."
"When I go to fetch water, the upper caste people beat me, tell me that I have no right to drink the same water with them. But when we are in the band, they fear us and leave us quiet. "
" Six months ago, a woman was raped and went with her to the police police. At first the leaders have refused to take the complaint, but together, we were able to force the police to act. We dragged the police officer outside the police station and we've beaten with clubs. "
Last year, after receiving complaints because the state did not give a store the food that they are required to distribute free of charge to / * to the poor, the gang began to monitor the owner and his son. One night, they saw two truckloads of grain on the market street where the store owner thinking of selling it and keep the money. The Pink Gang put pressure on local government because the grain seized and controlled the grain was then successfully deployed ... "
For further information read the "sari with pink" Sampat Pal ed. Piemme
