在印度最貧窮而邊遠(yuǎn)的北部班達(dá)地區(qū)，有一支由女性組成的義務(wù)警隊，專門對付腐敗官員、家庭暴力，挑戰(zhàn)不公平的種姓制度，爭取女性權(quán)力。她們身穿美麗的粉紅色紗麗，成為了充滿傳奇色彩的“粉紅娘子軍”。

Under a 1)scorching summer sun， a swarm of 400 furious women 2)engulfed the 3)scruffy electricity office of Banda district in north India. They were all dressed identically in 4)fluorescent pink 5)saris. For more than a fortnight they and their families had had no electricity， plunged into darkness at dusk and stewed in sweat at dawn. But they had all been sent bills demanding payment for power they had never received.

There are few places on earth where life is as short and brutal as in Bundelkhand， the 6)desolate region straddling the southern tip of Uttar Pradesh where Banda lies. Farming is the principal livelihood; wages are as little as 60p a day for men and half that for women. Bonded and child labour are 7)rife. Corruption is routine. Its reputation in India is that of a place where people still die of hunger.

But what has made Bundelkhand infamous is 8)banditry. Scores born out of feudalism and 9)caste violence are settled by bullets. It was here that 10)Phoolan Devi， the Bandit Queen of India， used to lead her gang of robbers in vicious acts of 11)retribution on rich， upper-caste villagers.

Products of this cruel environment， the hundreds of pink-12)clad women knew that their electricity supply had been disconnected by corrupt officials to extract bribes from them to get the power switched back on. With no functioning law to fall back on， they knew also that the only way to get a power supply was to take matters into their own hands. Within an hour of their 13)absconding with the key， the electricity was restored.

It is just one victory in a list of successes achieved by the Gulabi Gang since it formed two years ago. Gulabi means pink， and refers to the electric shade of the uniform worn by the 500-plus members， who 14)hail from Banda’s 15)arid villages.

The women have become folk heroes， winning public support for a series of Robin Hood-style operations. Their most daring exploit was to hijack trucks laden with food meant for the poor that was being taken to be sold for profit at the market by corrupt officials.

The targets of the Gulabi Gang’s 16)vigilantism are corrupt officials and violent husbands. The gang has stopped child marriages， forced police officers to register cases of domestic violence—by slapping them—and got roads built by dragging the official responsible from his desk on to the dust track in question.

The gang is led， and was created by 46-year-old Sampat Devi Pal. When I meet her， she is demonstrating self-defence moves with a stick. “We always carry them but only for protection，” she explains， twisting the weapon high over her head and 17)thwacking it hard against her opponent’s.

The daughter of a shepherd， Pal was put to work on the family’s land while her brothers

went to school. Married at 12 to a 20-year-old man from a neighbouring village whom she had never met， she was pregnant by 15. She wanted to be 18)sterilized after having two daughters but her mother-in-law wouldn’t allow it until she had produced a son. Another four children followed. As is common among Hindu families in rural north India， her

in-laws wanted Pal to veil her face and remain silent in the presence of male family

members， as a sign of respect for authority. “I never did either，” she giggles 19)throatily.

It took Pal over a decade to 20)muster the foot soldiers for the gang she now calls her “army”. Travelling from village to village， she 21)amassed hundreds of female fans by belting out her 22)repertoire of protest songs. “I wanted to lift them out of the black hole they’d been pushed into，” Pal says， like a true 23)orator. Only 20% of women in Bundelkhand’s villages can write their name and most are child brides. “I realised that without education， women are steeped in superstitious beliefs.” Eventually， hundreds of women were turning out to hear Pal. They also brought their problems: land grabbing by powerful 24)thugs that left whole families homeless; their violent husbands’ alcoholism and drug abuse; how officials demanded bribes even for payment of a widow’s pension.

“I realised that if I could have this kind of control over women then I could get them out of the clutches of their husbands，” Pal says， narrowing her eyes. There is not the faintest hint of a smile on her lips.

Pal is difficult company. Those not showing her the utmost respect get crude abuse. Yet in a place where expectation of female restraint is so faithfully observed， only someone as 25)irascible as Pal could defy it. I meet her husband in the couple’s home， which is built in a 26)ditch with plastic sheeting for a roof. He is mute and utterly obedient to her every order. Later， an astonishing role reversal takes place as half a dozen loyal and obedient male 27)hangers-on are sent running at the snap of her fingers to fetch us tea and 28)guavas.

To them， Pal is someone who can defend the weak， which， in the badlands of Bundelkhand， is rare indeed. Although 80% of the gang’s actions are on behalf of women， they are increasingly called upon by men. When 7，000 Banda farmers decided to take to the streets to demand compensation for failed crops earlier this month， they asked the Gulabi Gang to be there.

The gang’s challenge to the 29)throttling grip of male authority has brought new confidence—and dangers—to its members. I meet Radha， 40， the leader of the 30)ambush on the electricity office， walking with a friend in the market. “Before I joined the gang I was in

31)purdah and never went out of the house，” she says. “Now I’ve tackled ministers and officials and I’ve done away with my shyness—and the veil.” Others have been less fortunate. A few days before I arrive in Banda， one of the gang’s youngest members， a 14-year-old girl， had been attacked with a 32)sickle as she went for her morning 33)ablutions in the fields. She had put up a fight when a 16-year-old neighbour tried to rape her.

Meanwhile， Pal herself is in danger of being criminalised. Following a complaint by the police， she is waiting to hear if she will be formally charged with 11 offences， including unlawful assembly， rioting， attacking a government employee and obstructing an officer in the discharge of duty. “To face down men in this part of the world， you have to use force，” Pal says. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I have faith that justice will prevail.”

在夏日炎炎的烈日下，400來個女人怒氣沖沖地涌進(jìn)了印度北部班達(dá)地區(qū)破舊的電力局辦公室里。她們?nèi)即┲练奂t色的紗麗。在過去的兩個多星期里，她們家里一直停電，黃昏時便陷入一片漆黑，凌晨醒來時則滿身大汗。但是，她們一直收到索取電費(fèi)的帳單，為沒能用到的電付錢。

在這個地球上，很少有地方的生命比印度的本德爾坎德區(qū)更短暫、更殘酷了。這個荒涼的地方位于北方邦南端，班達(dá)地區(qū)就屬于這個區(qū)域。當(dāng)?shù)厝酥饕哭r(nóng)業(yè)維持生活；男人的日平均工資僅為60便士，而女人的工資還要減半。債務(wù)奴隸和童工在當(dāng)?shù)胤浅Ｆ毡?。腐敗早已成為慣常的現(xiàn)象。在印度，這片地方由于人們?nèi)匀灰蝠囸I死亡而聞名。

但是真正讓本德爾坎德區(qū)臭名昭著的是猖狂的匪盜。由封建主義和種姓制度遺留下的宿怨依然要靠子彈來解決。正是在這里誕生了印度著名的強(qiáng)盜女王璞蘭#8226;戴薇，她曾帶領(lǐng)匪幫洗劫當(dāng)?shù)馗蝗撕透呒壏N姓的人作為對他們的懲罰。作為這種殘酷環(huán)境的產(chǎn)物，這些數(shù)以百計的穿粉紅紗麗的女人們很清楚，腐敗的官員故意切斷了她們的電力供應(yīng)，希望以此向她們訛詐賄賂，來換取電力的恢復(fù)。她們還知道，由于沒有法律可以求助，恢復(fù)供電的唯一辦法是依靠自己的力量去解決。在她們拿走了電力局的鑰匙一小時后，電力恢復(fù)了。

從粉紅幫兩年前成立至今，爭取恢復(fù)電力只是她們?nèi)〉玫脑S多成就之一。Gulabi是“粉紅”的意思，因為它的成員們以亮麗的粉紅色紗麗為標(biāo)志，目前成員數(shù)量已經(jīng)超過了500人，全部都來自于班達(dá)地區(qū)的貧瘠鄉(xiāng)村。她們已經(jīng)成為了當(dāng)?shù)氐拿耖g英雄，憑借一連串俠盜羅賓漢式的行動贏得了公眾的支持。她們最大膽的行動是劫持運(yùn)載食物的卡車。這些食物原本是用于救濟(jì)窮人的，卻被腐敗的當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T扣押，準(zhǔn)備拿到市場上賣掉進(jìn)而贏利。

粉紅幫針對的主要目標(biāo)是腐敗的官員和暴虐的丈夫。她們成功地阻止了多起童婚，還迫使警方將家庭暴力案件記錄在案——她們使用的方法是扇耳光——她們還把腐敗的官員從辦公室拖到泥濘不堪的路上，迫使他答應(yīng)修路。

粉紅幫是由46歲的薩姆帕特#8226;德維#8226;帕爾創(chuàng)辦并領(lǐng)導(dǎo)著的。當(dāng)我見到她時，她正在用棍子演示自衛(wèi)術(shù)。“我們總是隨身攜帶著棍子，但只是為了自衛(wèi)?！彼吔忉?，邊旋轉(zhuǎn)著高舉過頭頂?shù)墓髯樱⑼蝗挥昧Φ爻瘜κ值奈淦鞔蛉ァ?/p>

帕爾出身于牧羊人家庭，當(dāng)她的兄弟們?nèi)ド蠈W(xué)時，她卻不得不在地里干活。12歲時，她被嫁給鄰村一個20歲的素未謀面的男人。15歲時，她懷孕了。生下兩個女兒后她想做絕育手術(shù)，可她的婆婆不允許，除非她生下兒子才行。之后，她又生了4個孩子。就像在印度北部鄉(xiāng)下的印度教家庭一樣，帕爾的婆家人希望她用面紗遮住臉，在男性家庭成員面前保持沉默，以表示對權(quán)威的尊敬?！斑@兩樣我從來都沒有辦到過，”帕爾大聲笑著說。

帕爾花了10多年的時間才召集到她的粉紅幫成員，如今她將她們稱之為她的“軍隊”。她走村串巷，對女人們大聲演唱她的抗議歌曲，贏得了成百上千女性的支持。“她們一出生就被推進(jìn)了深淵，我希望能把她們從那黑洞里拉出來，”帕爾說，口氣就像是一位真正的演說家。在本德爾坎德區(qū)的農(nóng)村，只有20%的女人會寫自己的名字，大多數(shù)很小就被逼嫁人?！拔乙庾R到，正因為缺乏教育，才使女性專注于迷信的信仰中?！弊罱K，幾百名女性被帕爾說服，轉(zhuǎn)而支持她的行動。她們也提出了自己的問題：有權(quán)有勢的暴徒搶奪她們的土地，使得全家人無家可歸；她們粗暴的丈夫酗酒和濫用藥物；政府官員索要賄賂，甚至連支付寡婦的養(yǎng)老金時都不例外。

“我意識到，既然我能夠帶領(lǐng)這么多女人，我也能把她們從丈夫的控制下解救出來，”帕爾瞇著眼睛說道，嘴角不帶一絲笑意。

帕爾是個難以相處的人。任何對她不夠尊敬的人都將受到嚴(yán)厲的懲罰。然而，在這個信奉女性要絕對順從克制的地方，只有像帕爾這樣個性強(qiáng)硬的人才敢于反抗傳統(tǒng)。我在她家見過她丈夫。他們的家建在一個山溝里，屋頂用塑料布蓋成。帕爾的丈夫沉默寡言，對妻子言聽計從。后來，我目睹了更驚人的形勢大逆轉(zhuǎn)：帕爾打個響指，六七個忠誠的男隨從就乖乖地去沏茶倒水，端上番石榴招待客人。

在這些男人看來，帕爾能夠捍衛(wèi)弱小，她這樣的人在本德爾坎德區(qū)這塊荒蕪的地方實屬罕見。雖然粉紅幫80%的行動都是代表女性實行的，她們也得到了越來越多的男性的支持。這個月初，當(dāng)7000名班達(dá)農(nóng)民決定上街抗議，要求政府賠償壞掉的作物時，他們也邀請粉紅幫參加。

粉紅幫對男權(quán)控制的挑戰(zhàn)給其成員帶來了新的自信，也帶來了危險。一天我遇見了40歲的拉達(dá)，當(dāng)時她正和一個朋友逛街。她就是率眾沖擊電力局的帶頭人。“在加入粉紅幫之前，我一直戴著面紗，從未走出過房屋半步，”她說，“現(xiàn)在我對付過政府官員，我不再害羞，并扔掉了面紗?！钡渌司蜎]有這么幸運(yùn)了。在我抵達(dá)班達(dá)的前幾天，粉紅幫的一位最小的成員，一個年僅14歲的女孩在清晨去野外做洗禮時被鐮刀襲擊。一個16歲的鄰居企圖強(qiáng)奸她，而她在奮力反抗中受傷了。

與此同時，帕爾本人也面臨著被抓進(jìn)監(jiān)獄的危險。當(dāng)?shù)鼐教岢隹卦V，她可能面臨11項正式指控，包括非法集會、暴亂、襲擊政府雇員、妨礙公務(wù)等?！霸谶@個地方，要想挑戰(zhàn)男人就必須使用武力，”帕爾說，“我沒有做錯任何事。我相信正義能得到伸張?！?/p>