Running a vigilante organisation in unruly Uttar Pradesh, large swathes of which is effectively lawless, is one thing. Being a vigilante in Royal Tunbridge Wells, the epitome of middle-class England, is another….

Apparently, a man in a ninja costume has found it necessary to take the law into his own hands in this wealth part of South England.

“Sally Everson, 43, who saw the Ninja help some ladies across a road told the Sun: ‘It was very odd, but the ladies were happy. Then I saw him stand outside a shop where some undesirables hang out and they moved on quite quickly.’

West Kent Police said it was not aware of the Ninja and warned residents not to take the law into their own hands.”

Read about it here:

News of the pink gang has reached the white sand shores of Bermuda.

The Royal Gazette, Bermuda’s only English-language newspaper, featured the pink gang today.

“Don’t let their pretty pink saris fool you” they write “the Gulabi Gang, or Pink Gang, are a bunch of women who mean business.”

It’s great that the gang is attracting so much attention internationally, even in unexpected places.

Just goes to show that there is something universally appealing about this movement.

Be inspired, Bermuda!

Last time I went up to Uttar Pradesh in February, to cover the Pink Gang day, the gang’s Commander-in-Chief, Sampat, had a private screening of Kim Longinotto’s documentary ‘Pink Saris’.

Kim is an amazing documentary filmmaker and a lovely woman. I had the pleasure of  interviewing her on skype and she had some very interesting insights into the gang.

For those of you who haven’t seen Pink Saris, I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Here’s an interview with her in the Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog by Margherita Stancati.

When researching women’s issues in India, there are many numbers and statistics I have to trawl through. Few speak as clearly about the state of women as the Indian census. 

The other week, the Indian census was released. It was an exciting moment. Over 1 billion people were counted, making it one of the largest census’ in history.

My heart sank, however, when I read that the sex ratio between women has only gotten worse since the last time the census was taken.

The Indian PM has called this a “National Shame” and rightly so. There are now 914 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of six. That’s down from a ratio of 927 for every 1,000 a decade ago.

When will all girls born in India be welcomed?