'Burqa gang' to check eve-teasing during Ramzan shopping

Taking a cue from the Gulabi Gang, a group of Muslim women from Bhopal are set to form Burqa Gang that would keep a vigil in city’s crowded markets to check hooligans from eve-teasing during the Ramzan shopping.Burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by Muslim women to cover their bodies and face when in public.

Head of the Burqa Gang Afreen Jahan while talking to The Pioneer said, “The woman cell of the Sanyukta Morcha would work as the Burqa Gang to ensure safe, peaceful and relax Ramzan shopping in the crowded markets of old city.  Afreen further said that over a hundred Burqa-clad women from the city are set to guard the women shoppers in the crowded walled city markets so that woman could have relaxed shopping without fear of goons bothering them.

She said that the Burqa Gang members would be armed with cane and move in small groups of five to six members in the markets to check that antisocial elements did not harass the women shoppers. If they come across bad elements teasing or harassing women shoppers first they would exhort them to refrain from such activity but if the goons does not make sense of this than they would use their cane on them and would handover them to the police, she added.

Afreen said, “We would roam mainly in Chowk Bazar where most of the community women do their Ramzan shopping to ensure them hassle free shopping. Rumour mongers, eve teasers and hooligans should beware of us because if they are found troubling women shoppers by our gang they would for sure bear the consequences. Not only a good beating by the gang members would be given but we would also handover them to the police.”

She said that the gang would also keep an eye on hooligans in other markets of the city including New Market, Bairagarh, BHEl, Kotra and others. “Our teams would hit the markets in next couple of days when the Ramzan shopping would be at its peak and markets would be crowded with women shoppers,” She said.