Sampat Pal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sampat Pal

• She is the head of “Gulabi Gang;” active in the impoverished Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

  

• She has been a child marriage victim, who was married to an ice cream vendor (a resident of Banda district of UP) at the age of 12.

• When she was in her sixteen, she opposed one of her neighbours who was beating up his wife. She decided to teach that man a lesson. She motivated other women in the area to take a stand for themselves and made that man apologize publically.

• After some time, she came in touch with Jai Prakash Shivharey; a social activist who motivated and supported her to raise her voice for women’s rights. Consequently, she built the Gulabi Gang in 1980.

• By the age of 20, she had become a mother to five children. The incident that stole her childhood from her, became the motive of the Gulabi Gang, i.e. “women empowerment and child education promotion.”

• Without any formal education, she learned to read and write and made up her mind to bring a change in the living standard of the women of the Bundelkhand region.

• The ladies of this Gulabi Gang wear pink sarees and carry pink bamboo sticks whenever they carry out their activities. Pal chose pink colour as it was free of any political and religious intentions.

  

• Started on a small scale, today, this gang has become an active women movement with more than 2,70,000 members all around Uttar Pradesh and nearby areas.

• After the foundation of this gang, a lot of women became aware of their rights and independence.

• The role of this Gulabi Gang inspired the making of two movies; “Pink Saris” (2010), a documentary by Kim Longinotto and “Gulab Gang” (2014) by Nishtha Jain. However, a few days before the release of the film Gulab Gang, Pal filed a case against Gulab Gang team for making a movie based on her life without her approval; the issue was resolved later. Gulab Gang stars Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla in lead roles.
  

• In 2012, she participated in India’s biggest reality show “Bigg Boss Season 6;” aired on Colors TV channel.

  

• In 2013, Amana Fontanella-Khan (Pakistani-Irish Author) launched a book named “Pink Sari Revolution.” This book is based on Sampat Pal’s journey from a simple girl to the chief of the Gulabi Gang.

  

• On 31 August 2017, Rangapayana (a theatre company) performed a play on Sampat Pal and her Gulabi Gang journey. The play was directed by Rajguru Hoskote.

• She is considered as an independent, creative, energetic, and courageous person; who has become an inspiration to many.