Jalaun (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 3 : Bandit queen-turned-politician Phoolan Devi has been conferred the title of 'veerangana' (a brave warrior) by the Eklavya Welfare Society in Jalaun district. Phoolan's native village Garha Ka Purwa is located in Jalaun district and the Eklavya Welfare Society represents the Nishad community to which Phoolan belonged. "The title of Veerangna has been conferred on Phoolan Devi because she was a true warrior -- she fought for her honour and later, for the welfare of the oppressed. "She deserves her and the young generations need to be told about her contribution. We will soon install her statue here," said Gopalm Nishad, a member of the Eklavya Welfare Society. Phoolan Devi, a bandit in the ravines across Uttar Pradesh and present Chhattisgarh and also Madhya Pradesh, had hit the headlines when she massacred 22 Thakurs in Behmai in Kanpur in February 1981 to avenge her sexual exploitation by a Thakur gang led by Lala Ram and Sri Ram. In 1994, then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh withdrew the cases against Phoolan and she contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Mirzapur in 1996 on a Samajwadi Party ticket. Phoolan Devi emerged as an icon for the Nishad community (boatmen) but after her brutal death in 2001, the community was not given adequate representation by political parties. The Nishad community constitutes about 4.5 per cent of the state's population and are known to be among the Most Backward Castes (MBC). The Nishad community has a sizeable population in about 40 assembly segments. Since the past one decade, they are trying to be included in the Scheduled Caste's category but their demand has been caught in legal hassles. An attempt was made to install Phoolan's statue in Gorakhpur in 2016 but the attempt was foiled by the district administration that claimed that requisite permission for same had not been obtained. The issue had revived an intense caste war between OBCs and MBCs in Uttar Pradesh. Last year, Phoolan's mother, Moola Devi, 90, who still lives in the village in abject poverty, had released the Chambal Manifesto on the eve of Lok Sabha elections to press for development of the Chambal region. The 4-page manifesto was a compilation of the demands for the region which included the formation of the Chambal Commission for a scientific study of the issues and challenges faced by the people living in Chambal region along with solutions. More than 40 years after she picked up the gun and turned into a bandit, following a dispute over four bighas of land with her cousin Maya Din, Phoolan Devi's family in her native village in Jalaun district is still waiting to reclaim that elusive piece of land. Meanwhile, the land that was initially owned by Phoolan's father, Devi Din Mallah, and after his death, it still eludes her mother Moola Devi as the rightful owner. Maya Din, son of late Devi Din's elder brother allegedly grabbed the plot and did not allow Phoolan's mother to till the land. Maya Din claimed the land was passed on to him as legacy. Moola Devi said, "My daughter Phoolan fought with Maya Din for this land. Maya Din and his men ridiculed her and hurled abuses at her. She got together some girls from the village and staged a dharna on the land. The village elders tried to remove her from the land but failed. Then Maya Din hurled a brick at her and she fell unconscious. After this, she became a 'baaghi' (rebel)." It is said that Maya Din 'sold' her off to Lal Ram and Shri Ram -- heads of a Thakur gang of dacoits -- who not only raped her but also held her captive. A few years later, Phoolan Devi fell in love with another dacoit Vikram Mallah, who was later killed by the Lala Ram and Shri Ram gang. To avenge the wrong done to her by the Thakur gang, Phoolan Devi gradually built up her own gang and the rest, as they say, is history. /IANS