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| Sunil Jaglan in the Street of Kolkata with his Gali Bandh Ghar campaign |
As India celebrates International Women’s Day, it’s pivotal to highlight the individuals driving real change in the fight for gender equality. While the day is often dedicated to honoring women’s achievements, the role of progressive male allies cannot be left unnoticed. Sunil Jaglan, the man behind the revolutionary Gali Bandh Ghar movement and initiatives like Selfie with Daughter, has turned up as a strong advocate for women's rights in India. His relentless efforts in revolutionizing mindsets, especially in rural communities, have contributed significantly to empowering girls and ensuring they receive the education and opportunities they deserve. On this Women’s Day, let’s take a closer look at how his work continues to inspire a more inclusive and equal society.
BongJournal recognizes his efforts in standing with women and fighting for their cause, honoring him this Women's Day.In an exclusive conversation, Sagnik Bhaduri spoke with him.
Sagnik : A very good morning to you sir! Since you are an individual who is deeply committed to the emancipation of women from gender-binaries,it is an honour to interview you as we approach International Women’s Day on 8th March,2025.
Sunil Jaglan : Thank you so much for the kind words!
Sagnik: So to begin the conversation, what language would be comfortable at your end to converse with me?
Sunil Jaglan : I would feel at home if you converse in Hindi!
Sagnik : Since the question of language came to the fore, our perception regarding gender identity and patriarchy has been shaped in a myriad of ways by socio-linguistic institutions, the reason for which you embarked on a campaign to prevent the use of cuss words which are derogatory to women. Even in recent times youtubers like Andrew Tate ,who promote toxic masculinity and misogyny, are being glorified in popular youth culture in a disturbing manner . So what do you think is the effective way to counter such a malaise?
Sunil Jaglan :I have been running this campaign (Gaali Bandh Ghar ,2014) for a long stretch of time to prevent women-centric cuss words. But during my own youth,when I was a university student, I had committed the same folly of using such pejorative terms but did not ponder about it. But during my tenure as a sarpanch in my village in Haryana I witnessed that there was a tendency to use pejorative and misogynist terms during any verbal engagement regarding any matter concerning the village. It was during this time a solemn realisation dawned upon me that most of the cuss words we use in our day-to-day life are dehumanising towards women and thus I embarked on a campaign to alleviate this which involved efforts to impose a fine on anyone using such language.
In various homes,including the one I lived in , I implemented a “Gaali Bandh” chart to foster awareness to prevent utterances of sexist slurs, the same was done in the schools. Even Gram Sabhas on this issue were initiated. Initially I faced flak and was ridiculed by people but due to the transformative power of discourse to alter society and eliminate the virus of patriarchy. This practice of using cuss words which degrade women is very much rooted in regressive social practices. One can observe that men tend to indulge in this decadence while they are conversing light-heartedly with their peers. Why should we even use such words when we know its not a part of our formal education? Individuals unconsciously tend to learn this from the most essential yet primary institution i.e. the home while when it comes to matters concerning the health of women-menstruation,menopause ,vaginal infections-we as a society hypocritically feign ignorance and express prudery. But at the same time utterances of slurs, which are abusive towards daughters,sisters or mothers, are given a free reign.
Sagnik : As you mentioned the issue of womens’ health being denigrated into something taboo, it is a grim fact that even in 2025 we as a society are ignorant to the prudish attitude towards menstruation . I have noticed this personally in my own house that whenever an advertisement regarding sanitary pads is aired my grandmother,despite being a woman, attempts to change the channel even though it's nothing to be ashamed about. Although the honourable Supreme Court in 2018 declared the practice of the Sabrimala temple to prevent entry to menstruating women as unconstitutional. But still on a national scale in both rural and urban areas this continues to be an issue. How do you think we can eradicate this discrimination?
Sunil Jaglan : Indeed what you said is relevant. To counter this I had launched the “Period Chart” campaign in 2019, which strives to destigmatize periods and menstruation for they are a natural process, where it involved the implementation of period charts in approximately 60,000-70,000 homes and the endeavour was further extended to universities and schools. In the charts an attempt to foster awareness regarding menstrual hygiene by facilitating the females to keep a track of their menstrual cycle. Currently this campaign is undergoing its sixth year.Although the hardliners and conservatives tended to troll me and abuse me, I did not pay any heed to it for I have two daughters, a partner and various strong women surrounding me!
I do not shy away from discussing my daughter’s periods or my mother's menopause in the mainstream by acknowledging my own failure that even how I was conditioned by patriarchy.Outside India the campaign has found itself in Nepal even. On my part I have tried to subvert male-chauvinist ethos by helping to constructing nameplates in the name of the daughters in the family(i.e. the Daughter Nameplate campaign,2015) or helping to build women-friendly panchayats(2010-12)here efforts are taken to empower women socially and politically. The same campaign has been further championed by various governments in India. My team has focussed on constructing ‘Balika Panchayats’ and spreading awareness regarding safe sex and usage of condoms in the mainstream. Throughout the course of my life, I have dedicated my life to the social , political and economical liberation of women through the power of the spoken word in mainstream discourse of which an example is the “Lado Pustakalaya” of 2014 i.e. the undertaking which involved the establishment of a women’s library in Bibipur village in Haryana to empower females intellectually about their autonomy and rights by helping them prepare for competitive exams.
Sagnik : Since the campaign of Lado Pustakalaya aims at helping girls prepare for competitive exams would you suggest some books which people should read to foster awareness of gender inclusivity and feminism
Sunil Jaglan : Personally I haven't academically been involved in my activism but the human experience has molded me extensively since over the years in the public scene I have been acquainted with diverse people from over 10,000 villages and has pedagogically nourished me with invaluable learnings. Apart from that I have also authored a book titled “Lado Rights: Mahila Adhikaron Ka Sankalan,” which has emphasised on the constitutional rights bestowed upon women in India. I would further like to state that our brain is responsible to gather information from our surroundings on any topic be it gender or any other. Thus, I would request all the audiences of your platform to introspect upon themselves to what extent you have contributed to making the women around you feel safe.
Sagnik : You spoke about how we tend to receive information via our brain, it can also be said that gender itself is a social construct which is ingrained in us through years of male-centric conditioning.
Sunil Jaglan : Exactly. Most of the norms prescribed by society are irrelevant. It is thus crucial to rely on dialogic processes to subvert these conventions where regressive practices or aphorisms which glorify abuse ,insult and cursing should be subverted for even in the OTT platforms low-grade films or comedy shows are projected as “cool”.
Sagnik : Even today we tend to hear “working mothers” and our society tends to normalise it wrongly by touting this as a ‘division of labour’ where women are assumed to be homemakers and men as providers but in the current context women are burdened with both household activities and those of the outside sphere.
Sunil Jaglan : Right. The word “working mothers” is rooted in an oppressive assumption that women’s roles are constricted to giving birth and concentrating on household activities. In order to counter this we had started a programme called ‘Womaniya GDP’ which aimed to give women their due share for their “unpaid domestic work”. It's an honour for me to get featured in a front-page article of the NewYork times.
Adding to that I have received appreciation from the respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The President also congratulated me heartily.So I think it’s not so difficult to foster change if you have the zeal.What’s important primarily is to contribute to an environment which is female-friendly.
Sagnik : I believe each of us ought to be a feminist for developing a humanistic consciousness. But in recent times a distorted narrative is projected where there are individuals who label and denigrate feminists ideologues to be “anti-men”.This has taken an ugly form where homophobia has been noticed in that heart wrenching incident of 16-year old Pranshu ,a boy from Madhya Pradesh, who liked make-up but was trolled by a bunch of male-chauvinist homophobes and was pushed to such extremities of cyber that he lost his life to suicide.
Sunil Jaglan : I have heard about it and its harrowing. Each individual has their own autonomy and society should not provide any threat to them. Such is the failure of formal education that even after 78 years of independence the society is an ignoramus when it comes to awareness of the constitution. Even the people who dominate the cultural spheres are the products of a gerontocracy who blindly believe in exploitative norms and institutions. Hence,proper efforts must be directed towards making students study the works of philosophers from a tender age formally so as to foster critical thinking about the inequities of the social and economic system of which they are a part. Even though I admit that despite myself having a BSC degree, a B.ED degree and even a masters degree in computer sciences, I came to realise the importance of a holistic education rooted in the social sciences at a late age of 26. But despite this I have acquired a wealth of knowledge from my village labs and from watching Richard Attenborough’s poignant masterpiece “Gandhi(1982)” which is one of my favourite films .
Sagnik : A philosopher named Jackson Katz has aptly said that we say “a certain number of women were raped or abused” instead of saying “that a certain number of men abused or raped women”. Furthermore alarmingly we witness a rise in rape cases across the country including the one at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital last year.
Sunil Jaglan : Absolutely. I have repeatedly said that language is an important tool for shaping our perceptions. As the world has not recognised this fact prominently, I work on the linguistic sciences to promote inclusivity. Regarding the rampant increase in rape cases I would also like to say that there are a large number of unreported case.It is very important on your part to get to the root of this malaise and hold those responsible accountable in order to radically reconstruct the society. Further there is even the grave issue of child abuse which has been profoundly critiqued in Imitiaz Ali’s 2014 film “Highway”.It still moves me to tears!
Sagnik : As you have arrived in Kolkata recently what do you think is the state of awareness regarding your campaigns of gender sensitisation. What do you think is the difference between the condition of women in West Bengal from other states? Apart from that do you have further ideas in mind regarding your campaigns in West Bengal ?
Sunil Jaglan : The fact is that numerous social movements have sprung up from the soil of Bengal through humanists like Raja Rammohan Roy, Rabindranath Tagore and even Swami Vivekananda. It is my first time that I arrived in the city of Calcutta but to be honest I did not notice the social consciousness which I had expected. The aforementioned names which I took , I feel their significance has been diminished and the government is silent regarding this. Even though the women in Bengal have fine leadership qualities but in rural areas there still exists a patriarchal social structure.Unemployment is also an unfortunate condition alongside the dearth of female entrepreneurs in the state. I also feel that the cultural sphere of Bengal is also rich in films filled with social consciousness.
But again it did not align with the image of Bengal in my mind where I anticipated women to be much more liberated from dogmas and social constraints.I feel that the government should implement immediate steps to improve female leadership alongside working on curbing incidents of domestic violence or molestation which affect women’s safety. Even measures ought to be implemented to improve the quality of life and well-being of sex workers. But I am hopeful. I started my ‘Gaali Bandh’ from here. I even tried to write in Bengali for the first time. There were some memorable experiences including the one when I met Sandip Ray as I have been an avid fan of Satyajit Ray.Despite having a short period of time I travelled to various places. Further I have plans to work with the Gram Panchayats,the civil society bodies and even eminent filmmakers, with whom I acquainted myself , regarding social campaign programmes.
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