The Third Gender - India’s favorite Hijras
I have seen and heard of hijras, but I knew nothing about them. The transgendered people have had a long history in India, the country of paradoxes - our orthodoxy and heterodoxy are both vibrant.
Sonia Faleiro is a journalist with Tehelka who has accomplished many wonderful works of journalism. Her latest is an interview with a Hijra about their community; the article is quite an eye-opener.
The interview is with a Laxminarayan Tripathi, a biological male, who chose to be a hijra. She reveals that not all hijras have to undergo castration, and with castration being illegal in India, less of them do it.
She is a popular spokesperson for her community which is much neglected and slandered in our country of abundant diversity. Surprisingly, their worries are two-fold: the society shuns them for what they are, and their own seniors exploit them both physically and financially.
One interesting point that Laxmi says is about when their problems started - and she pinpoints the origin to the British.
We all know that in Hindu India they held high positions and were very trusted royal servants - safe-keepers, queens’ helpers etc.
In Laxmi’s own words: The British exploited and marginalised the community and we haven�t recovered since then. They saw the power of the Third Gender, their influence among the Nizams, the Rajputs, as holders of the palace keys, as protectors of the queen�s harems, as members of the advisory committee, even as warriors like Shrikhandi in the Mahabharata. The British chopped our power and hijdas needed the permission of the Collector�s office to even leave home. After India gained Independence, hijdas lost their freedom even more. We became more vulnerable. So what remains? Clapping hands, begging, dancing. Otherwise you sell your body for survival.
It is highly necessary to remove the misconceptions and the prevalent phobia from people’s minds with regard to hijras. For example, while a hijra’s presence is considered auspicious during weddings and childbirth, they are otherwise seen as nuisance.
The society does not accept them for what they are, so they are forced to resort to socially unacceptable professions like begging and prostitution.
It would make a big difference if we treat them as fellow humanbeings with kindness and just as we would treat anybody else.
On the other hand, we should restrain from giving in to their indecent and unwarranted skirt-lifting behaviour by giving alms. Expect charity only from decent begging.
Head over to read the entire article and interview at Sonia Faleiro’s blog. Before you leave, do share with me what you think of hijras.
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Human Rights Defence has now announced the results our essay competition. At third place Shoma A. Chatterji’s “Eunuchs of India - Deprived of Human Rights” is placed. Here is a snippet from its introduction…
“The International Human Rights Day comes and goes every year. Human Rights activists talk of torture of under trials in police custody. They talk about human beings being subjected to medical experimentation without their conscious knowledge. They discuss socially relevant subjects like violence against women, child abuse, trafficking or exploitation of child labour in TW countries. But the lot of the community of eunuchs is largely ignored even by their own. It is also true that at every stage of their existence, their rights to live and work like normal human beings are violated with impunity.”
If you like to read more, you will find it on our site: http://www.humanrightsdefence.org
Yours sincerely,
Tomas Eric Nordlander
HumanRightsDefence
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