India’s struggle to accepts its transgender community
India’s transgender community, commonly known as the Hijra, has existed for more than four thousand years.
They were once accorded with much respect, having played a prominent role in Indian culture over many centuries. They appear in ancient Hindu scriptures and epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. In medieval India many rose to positions of significant power in the courts of Mughal emperors and Hindu rulers.
However, their fall from grace started in the 18th Century during British colonial rule, when the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 categorised the entire transgender community as “criminals” who were “addicted” to committing serious crimes.
That law was repealed in 1949 after India was granted independence, but mistrust of the transgender community has continued ever since. Even today they remain socially excluded, living on the fringes of society in ghettos, harassed by the police, and abused by the public. Most make a living by singing and dancing at weddings, but some have also been pushed into begging and prostitution.
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In 2014, India’s Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment recognising transgender people as the third gender in India. The court ruled that society had failed to realise the trauma, agony and pain which transgender people had experienced, and also noted that their treatment was evidence of society’s unwillingness to contain or embrace different gender identities and expressions. The ruling also described transgender recognition as a human rights issue, not a social or medical issue, and directed the Indian government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities as well as access to medical care and separate wards in hospitals.
However, it is disheartening to see not much has changed on the ground. Sheetal, a transgender activist, emphasised that even after the Supreme Court ruling, simple activities such as obtaining a voter ID, passport and ration card remained difficult due to the slow and uneven implementation of the equality directive.
It is now hoped that last year’s The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill will provide more rights to transgender communities by ensuring social inclusion and safety through such mechanisms as transgender courts, a crisis helpline for transgender, pension and unemployment allowances, a 2% reservation in government jobs, welfare boards, a prohibition of employment discrimination, and the creation of short-stay homes.
Although activists have stepped up their campaign for passing the bill, many remain sceptical about the ruling BJP government and fear that the party may use the issue to promote its religious agenda. Indeed, just four years ago the BJP government in Karnataka State amended the Karnataka Police Act to introduce Section 36, Part (a) — a draconian law which scrutinised the movement of transgenders by maintaining a register in the local police station.
It means that in the event of a child abduction, transgenders can be arrested without bail — proof again of how much still needs to change within the mentality of Indian society. We need to accept and welcome this community into mainstream society, just like we did more than 4000 years ago.
