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Thane’s six-yard protest to Michelle Obama

The outrage over the ‘pat-down’ search of Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to the US, shows no signs of dying out.

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The outrage over the ‘pat-down’ search of Meera Shankar, Indian ambassador to the US, shows no signs of dying out.

Just when one thought the entire gamut of protests had played out, here comes a unique one. This is aqua green in colour and six yards long.

Adishakti Sanghatan, a Thane-based women’s group, has decided to send a sari to US first lady Michelle Obama as a Gandhian way of protest against the incident.

“We have been reading about how the US, which calls India its closest friend and ally, is treating our diplomats and ambassadors. It was shocking to see that the American authorities thought nothing of harassing our ambassador just because she was wearing a sari,” said Sanghatan chief Purnima Kabre.

The organisation has been working in the area of women’s empowerment for over a decade. Along with providing relief to women in distress due to family violence and abuse, the organisation also helps them to be financially self-sufficient by arranging training in computers, sewing, cooking and seed capital in the form of micro-credit.

“I was particularly amazed when women, who are barely matriculates, raised this issue in our micro-credit group meetings. It was they who came up with the idea,” pointed out Vaishali Birje, a micro-credit group head, explaining how this protest was then tweaked into a Gandhian idea.

“At first there was just ire. A few women at the meeting suggested that we send a sari and bangles to the American president to protest. But then the others said they should first appeal to his wife’s sensibilities as a woman. As someone who has seen hardship, we are sure she will understand what her Indian sorority wants to say to her,” said Kabre.

The letter that will accompany the parcel being sent to the White House, Washington, makes this feeling clear.

“We want you to wear this sari and see how feminine and special it makes you feel. You will then understand how the targeting of a woman simply for wearing a timeless garment like this is an insult to not only the 496.4 million women in India but to universal womanhood,” says the letter.    

The colour was also decided by a group who want Michelle to wear what a traditional married woman wears. Accordingly, a silk-cotton mix weave was chosen.

The Rs3,000 sari in paithani-type weave was paid for by contributions from all the women.

“We wanted her to know that women who drape themselves in tradition can be equally, if not more, modern in their outlook,” Birje said.

“We want her to understand how much the episode has moved us since many of the women make as little as Rs50-75 a day.”

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