Our Sarfaroshis are often people from backgrounds that the police and administration tend to undermine. This is where the collective matters most. When one of us is under threat or is beaten up and the police do not register a complaint, we step in to show exactly how important standing by each other really is. Powered by the institutional support and the knowledge that there is access to lawyers and systems of justice, our people feel much more secure in our ability to have justice delivered. Most of all, we need each other to feel less scared when we have to go to the police to file that complaint.

One instance was the beating up of one of our women members by men from a dominant caste. This woman went to dispose of garbage in a section of the village that caste bullies saw as only theirs. They forbid her from throwing her waste in `their zone.’ When she refused to follow the caste diktat, they hit her on the chest with bricks. They also ordered her to not go to the police, saying they would attack her whole family.  Our immediate assistance was to get our woman Sarfaroshi medical attention and then enable her to go to the police.

On another occasion, village bullies attacked one of our Sarfaroshi women, causing a head injury. The police were initially reluctant to listen to her side of the story. Once we arrived, that is the Sarfaroshi leader from the area along with staff from the head office, the tables were turned. The police swung into action and filed her complaint. And acted on it.

Yet another time, a girl from a community that faces social ostracism was assaulted by a man. We introduced the young woman and her family as well as community leaders to the senior-most police officer in the district and action was taken immediately.

The Dehwa community in Shamli city has been asking for their caste to be listed under the reserved category so they can use this to combat the historical stigma they have faced in getting their children into school and college and securing government jobs. We have apprised the district administration of their demand and are helping them move forward with their demand.

The Bawariya community spread over twelve villages in Shamli district has been asking for an undergraduate degree college to be set up so that the ostracism they have faced in being able to get an education can come to an end. A proposal for such a college was passed but subsequently stuck somewhere in the bowels of the bureaucratic framework of the district. We’re helping them press on with their demand by taking it up with the administration.