Red Brigade honours Sarojini Naidu

Completes the rally from Golden Threshold to Lucknow to highlight and fight back against violence against women

Hyderabad: A 15-member girls group of the Red Brigade has embarked on a journey to highlight and fight back against violence against women. They started the rally from the birth place of Sarojini Naidu (Golden Threshold), Hyderabad on February 13th. The date also coincided with the birthday of Late Sarojini Naidu who was a freedom fighter and the first women Governor of India. 

That day was also celebrated as National Women’s Day by the University of Hyderabad (UoH). V Usha Rani, IAS, Director General, MANAGE (National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management) was the chief guest for the event.

The rally was flagged off by Usha Rani and Prof Appa Roa Podile, Vice-Chancellor of UoH. The rally covered almost 1,500 km and passed through many places in the four states (Telangana, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). The major cities covered were Hyderabad, Kamareddy, Nizambad, Nirmal, Adilabad, Wardha, Nagpur, Betul, Chhindwara, Jabalpur, Satna, Reewa, Allahabad, Mahoba, Kanpur and Lucknow.

 The team interacted with more than 20,000 girl students directly and many more indirectly during this rally. This rally ended on March 1st in Lucknow (the Governor's House). This is where Sarojini Naidu lived her last moment.

The rally was welcomed by the honourable Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Ram Naik. He interacted with the girls of this campaign. Usha Vishwakarma appealed to him for celebrating National Women's Day by Government of Uttar Pradesh. Second, she appealed to create a public place which may be known as 'Prerana Sthal/ Samadhi Sthal' for remembering Sarojini Naidu by the citizens. 

Third, she requested him to organise a cultural programme in Governor House where they could share their experience of this rally. The Governor will be meeting the team on March 2nd in Sarojini Park for paying homage to Sarojini Naidu. 

Next the team was welcomed by the Mayor of Lucknow, Sanyukta Bhatiya, the first women Mayor of the city. She expressed her happiness and gave assurance to be with Red Brigade in the activities carried out to highlight issues and fight back violence against women.

The Red Brigade Lucknow was founded in 2011 by Usha Vishwakarma with a group of 15 girls and is dedicated to fight back against sexual violence against women. Now it is recognised world-wide and has 8,500 members across the country. They have trained over 70 thousand girls/women in self-defence.