Khabar Lahariyaa North Indian weekly news magazine, and its all-low-caste women editorial staff find themselves in the Hollywood spotlight thanks to an Oscar nomination – on March 27 in Hollywood – of Writing with firea documentary dedicated to them.
This Indian film, directed by the couple Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, has already received two awards at the Sundance festival in 2021. “It’s a very inspiring story, a story of women who give hope”the director told AFP at the Los Angeles premiere, “It’s very strong, powerful, especially in today’s world full of distrust of the media”.
All from low castes, the Indian journalists of Khabar Lahariya (Waves of information), founded in 2006 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, cover topics ranging from cow theft to local corruption, rape and other violence against women. Now equipped with smartphones for the digital version of the publication, they report local information, often neglected by the major Indian media.
These committed women only earned respect through dogged determination and are now taken seriously by the authorities and those close to them. “Just getting out of the house was a big challenge,” told AFP Geeta Devi, one of these journalists, “I had to fight so many times”. “My father was totally against it. He told me: you can’t do this job, it’s not for women”she continues.
Geeta Devi and her sisters belong to the Dalit community, at the bottom of the implacable caste system that governs Indian society. Discrimination against Dalits, formerly called “the Untouchables”is supposedly abolished, yet they are still barred from entering temples, not allowed into upper caste circles, and still suffer stigma, humiliation, and abuse.
In Banda, a few hours’ drive from the Taj Mahal, Geeta Devi collects the testimony of a woman reduced to misery since being abandoned by her husband. The news of the journalist’s presence spread quickly and women from the surrounding area flocked in the hope that Geeta Devi would speak out about their grievances, particularly against the municipality, the absence of drinking water, the sewers congested… But some ask her to discuss, face-to-face, intimate dramas, hitherto silenced for fear of being ostracized and reprisals, often involving sexual harassment and violence.
Geeta Devi says she is proud of the processing of information by the “feminist prism”. The correspondents of Khabar Lahariya know better than anyone what can be endured in these patriarchal villages, women in general, those of tribal and Dalit communities in particular, and take a wise look at rural affairs.
For Meera Devi, 35-year-old managing editor, it’s about giving a voice to those excluded from India’s success.
“When I fight for the rights of minorities, tribal people and other marginalized groups in society, when these people are heard and get justice, I feel very satisfied”says this woman who is passionate about her mission.
Born in a remote village, married at 14, Meera Devi had to fight against all odds to study until she graduated from university. She started at the paper in 2006, covering cases of cattle rustling and tragic family disputes before turning to local politics. His work has landed crooks in jail and forced officials to do their job and serve the community. She was able to witness the rise of Hindu nationalism in rural parts of the country.
“Men here aren’t used to seeing powerful women, especially in a field like journalism. But we’re turning the tide”she assures. “We have proven that if women are given the right opportunities, we are capable of anything”she adds, “Once you give women the freedom they deserve, there’s simply no stopping them.”