Rebels in hot pink

Fed up with abusive husbands and corrupt officials, the women of Bundelkhand, one of the most backward regions of India, are banding together in pink saris and arming themselves against their oppressors, reports Akshay Mahajan.

Prologue: In the blighted region of Bundelkhand in southern Uttar Pradesh, where women bear the brunt of poverty, hope comes dressed in pink. Fed up with abusive husbands and corrupt officials, the women of Bundelkhand — one of the most backward regions of India — are banding together in pink saris and arming themselves against their oppressors. They are called ‘the Gulabi Gang’ (Pink Gang), gulabi being the electric pink of the uniform worn by the group’s 500-odd members, who hail from the arid villages around Bundelkhand’s Banda town. They fight corruption and injustice with pink lathis (sticks) and raise their voices against the system to fight for the rights of women.

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The women have become folk heroes, winning public support for a series of Robin Hood-style operations. In their most daring exploit, they hijacked delivery trucks to reclaim food for the poor that would have otherwise been sold in markets run by corrupt officials.

Their ultra-feminine uniform and vigilante methodology may be shocking — but their unbelievable retaliation and quest for justice might actually be working.

Akshay Mahajan, 23, is a Bangalore-based photojournalist