The award for best subtitle of the week goes to BBC News for: "They wear pink saris and go after corrupt officials and boorish men with sticks and axes."The article is pretty great too. Apparently, there's an all-female vigilante gulabi gang in India bent on social justice. From the report:
The women in pink have thrashed men who have abandoned or beaten their wives and unearthed corruption in the distribution of grain to the poor. They have also stormed a police station and attacked a policeman after they took in an untouchable man and refused to register a case.
In other words, these women are like an army of Mother Teresas, only dressed in hot pink and a bit more physically aggressive. We're no fan of vigilantism, but the writer says no one else is looking out for the poor in this part of India -- so, better a bunch of pink-sari-wearing women than no one, right?
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I can see this ending very badly. Eventually they will threaten some one with enough power that will use the police to crush this gang. Unless these women are painted as literal robin hoods, out only to protect the powerless, in India's media then maybe they might gain enough public support to lever social change into place.
I imagine though that there are guys who are more than a little nervous of the color pink right now.
Somber at 11:12AM on Nov 29th 2007
2. Good for them! Someone in that God forsaken land needs to stand up for what's right!
Robert E. Quillen at 12:33PM on Nov 29th 2007