In "Writing With Fire," reporters from India's lowest caste defy the patriarchy to seek justice

By Dilip -

The inspiring documentary, "Writing with Fire," premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, chronicles the impact Dalit women in the Uttar Pradesh state of India have had reporting for "Khabar Lahariya," a newspaper and website. The journalists, who are in the lowest caste in India, have been working for nearly two decades, despite being told what they are doing is "unthinkable." Moreover, the chief reporter Meera's husband, Shivbaran, states in the film, "I never expected them to achieve anything." 

But their reporting is effective. Stories on rape and human rights abuses, illegal mining, the lack of toilets, roads, and electricity, as well as politics are creating change. They ask meaningful questions of men in power and hold folks accountable. Meera states that "journalism is the essence of democracy," and reporting is how she fights for justice….

https://www.salon.com/2021/01/31/writing-with-fire-sundance-sushmit-ghosh-rintu-thomas/

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