Sharing the screen space with haute and happening of the glamour world in Bigg Boss 6 , Sampat Pal Devi manages to hold her own with élan. The leader of the women’s collective, Gulabi Gang, had never heard of the show Bigg Boss when she was first approached for it by Colors.
After much persuasion when she finally agreed to come to Delhi to meet with the channel she switched roles on them and instead called them over to her village in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh.
“I wanted the channel to come and see the kind of work we were doing and what the Gulabi Gang’s work was about. It was only after I held a meeting with my zila commanders and was assured by them that the workings of the gang would not be affected did I agree to be a part of the show,” she told us before she entered the Bigg Boss house last week.
The fiery woman leads a unique women’s movement, Gulabi Gang, that was formed in 2006. Agitated by the societal ills that plagued Banda — poverty, illiteracy, child marriage, domestic violence, child labour, dowry and a very deep rooted caste system — Sampat decided to take it head on. On her participation in the show, she commented, “I am here to promote the value of justice and also to spread awareness against domestic abuse and exploitation of women with the help of the show’s mass reach. I am not against men per se, just those who exploit others.” She added, “This is a competition and I am not one who shies away from competing.”
