Editorial Music & Art Reflections Health & Nutrition Imagine That Humour Book Review Women & Society Poetry Prev Issue Next Issue

Remembering Phoolan Devi - By- Sunanda Vashisht Sunanda was born in the beautiful valley of Kashmir, India when Kashmir was known for its unparalleled natural beauty and not as a cauldron of fear and terror. She did most of her schooling in Delhi and dabbled with several professions before moving to U.S last year. she is currently pursuing higher studies here. she likes to introduce herself as an explorer because she wants to spend all her time in this world exploring unknown. Writing for her is a cathartic experience. She can't remember when she began writing first but she does know that writing has always helped her to be at peace with herself and with the world around her.

I was hardly seven or eight when I first heard about Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi. My father would tell me stories about this woman dacoit who was giving entire police department a run for their money. In my juvenile mind I visualized Phoolan Devi to be some well-built, huge woman and for some reason I thought that she must be very pretty. I was shocked when I saw her picture for the first time in Sunday magazine, which carried the story of her dramatic surrender in front of the U.P police. Far from pretty, Phoolan looked very ordinary and hardly amazonic. In fact I had tough time trying to believe that she was the real Phoolan Devi, the dreaded dacoit, the woman behind the Behmai Massacre who was believed to be a savior of all oppressed women and all those who were victims of caste violence. In her police uniform and a bandana around her head she still looked a victim and not a savior. I still remember the look in her eyes. There were no emotions, no remorse or jubilation. She just looked blank and to some extent confused.

Years later she was back in news when she was released from Jail and she became a politician. I saw her on the television looking completely domesticated and very subdued completely unaware of the huge media attention she was getting. She looked blank and confused yet again. Sitting on a couch in her home and wearing a very ordinary saree one could easily confuse her for a housewife. She hardly looked like a dacoit who had spent years in the ravines of Chambal and who had inspired folklores and a hugely successful film. Would the real Phoolan Devi stand up please, I laughed aloud to myself when I saw her on the TV.

Recently when I heard about her murder, unlike most people I was hardly shocked. Strangely enough I was not moved to tears by her fate. No, Not because I am a sadist or enjoy gory murders. For some reason I had always wondered that how long would Phoolan be able to escape her past and when I heard the news I knew that she had been lucky to live this long also.

Everyone had his or her own story about Phoolan to tell. While she was the oppressor for some for others she was the voice of underprivileged. Feminists looked at her as some kind of messiah who had raised her voice against the upper caste Thakurs who had suppressed her and committed all kinds of atrocities against her. While she was a fierce and ruthless dacoit for some, for many others she was a woman wronged by circumstances and who owned a heart of gold. For me she was nothing of above.

Over the years Phoolan had been simply reduced to a symbol where people used her for their own benefits whether they were the feminist organizations or some political parties. For me Phoolan was never a leader of anybody nor did she wish to be one. Phoolan always lived a life that had been granted to her. Most of the time she had no choice.

A lot has been said and written about Phoolan. It is not for me to decide whether she was a ruthless killer or someone who was the victim of her circumstances. But I would really like to comment about her death. Any human being even if he is a worst criminal deserves to die in dignity. The drama that was staged after Phoolan's death portrays the level of decadence in our so-called civilized society. Phoolan was not granted dignity even in her death. She just became the excuse for public mourning and political parties were ever ready to gain political mileage out of it.

It is really sad that all of us easily glorified Phoolan and in doing so completely forgot to ponder on why did Phoolan become the dreaded dacoit Phoolan Devi. The fact that she was married off to a man more than twice her age in exchange of a cycle and a cow, the fact that she was raped by the policemen she went to seek protection from, the fact that she was made an outcaste in her community after she ran away from her abusive husband, all these reflect the sad state of our society. This is a society where there is no respect for women and where illiteracy and lack of awareness still is the main cause for all the atrocities being committed. Instead of reflecting and pondering on these issues, we made Phoolan Devi a leader when she was none in her lifetime to cash on her so called celebrity status and then once she was dead tried to gain as much political mileage out of her. And promptly after few weeks Phoolan Devi today stands forgotten because our politicians are now in search for another controversy and another heart wrenching story to create vote banks.

It is so sad that even though her family wanted to do a simple funeral for Phoolan Devi in Delhi, their wish was not granted. Instead they made a huge tamasha in Mirzapur and shed all the crocodile tears to make her look as a Messiah of oppressed.

The truth however was that Phoolan was a victim as much she was a victimizer. She was used by the society as much she used it. The fact that she successfully made her journey from ravines of Chambal to Parliament House only shows the loopholes in our Constitution.

I have complete sympathy for Phoolan Devi as a person. As a woman my heart goes out to every woman who is oppressed and humiliated. However, one cannot completely ignore Phoolan's brutal acts. No kind of Violence is ever justified. Behmai Massacre was only a case of mindless violence where she went on a shooting spree but never really could kill the two men she was really looking for. The fact that she was never tried for Behmai Massacre is another story altogether. However, I was surprised that after her death no body even mentioned her as a dacoit. All the obituaries that were being poured only portrayed her as a champion of oppressed. If one did not know the facts one would think that Phoolan Devi was some kind of Mother Teresa for the lower castes.

That is because our leaders were only interested in Phoolan Devi as a person. Instead they should have been interested in the circumstances that make Phoolan Devis in our society. Our netas were only interested in exploiting and abusing her even in her death. As long as we have the leaders like these we will continue to have Phoolan Devis in our society who will remind us that our society is still barbaric and despite all the material progress we have made we are still lagging far behind. The real Phoolan Devi remains forgotten in all this noise and drama that was created around her.

Until we connect again....

Credits

View and Post comment on this article