Gulam Rabbani :
Hijra (or transgender) people are the inevitable part of the society. But most of the families don’t show normal attitude to them like other members, forcing them to choose an isolated life. Even they don’t get a good job anywhere. As a result, they always come across an economic crisis in their lives.
In recent years, the government has taken some initiatives towards acknowledging the socio-economic and health development of the Hijra community.
The government, on November 11, 2013, recognized Hijras as a third gender category. Then it was declared that Hijras would be given
rights to education, employment, residence and Medicare facilities like other citizens. They (Hijras) already have voting rights and passports. But after all these initiatives are not big changes in their livelihood as the society did not recognize them yet.
According to a recent survey of the Department of Social Welfare, there are around 9285 Hijras in Bangladesh. Another organization, Bandhu Social Welfare Society, which has been working with the Hijra people, said the number of transgender people is around 15,000. They are rejected first by their parents and then by the society, it added.
Ultimately, they have no choice other than those like them to rely on and join the Hijra community and remain illiterate.
Shova Sarker, who now lives in Dhaka, said, “I was grown up in a wealthy family in Narsingdi district. But as soon as I grew up, there was a girlish feeling inside me. I was a boy but liked to play with the girl. But no party wanted to take me in the play. Even, I was rebuked at home as I wanted to play with the girl. I faced same problems in my school. I took admission with the boys. But I was joked as I had girlish tone.
At last, I left my family and served as a home servant in my uncle’s house in another district town. I passed SSC from there and tried to do something. I joined in a private organization in 2005. But in 2008, they forced me to leave the job blaming that I was a Hijra. Finally, I joined with the Hijra community with many sorrows.”
Shova Sarker, now working as an Advocacy Officer in the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), said, “I have fought a lot in my life. I would have lived with the family if they accepted me normally. I have not had the life of eating from others.”
Most of the Hijras have almost the same stories behind leaving their families.
Samiul Alim Shammi was born in Dhamrai upazila of Dhaka district. Now she lives in a dormitory in Dhamrai maintained by Hijra people. She said, “I born as a boy. But when I was in class five, I felt girlish feelings inside me. Some changes came to my attitudes. Then my mother, brothers and sister started to misbehave with me. They thought, I was a curse in the family. Then I left my school and stayed in the house all day long. But as the misbehave continued, I finally left my family in 2003 and joined to the Hijra community.”
“I have passed a long miserable time in my life. At a stage I joined in a NGO as a professional. Now, I am working for establishing the rights of Hijra people. I get salary from my institution and many times I support my family financially,” Shammi said.
Once they used to earn a living by performing dances and songs, but with the progress of technology, demand for such performance has gone down. Now they have no guarantee of livelihood. Prostitution and begging have been their profession for a long time. People complain about the rough behaviour of the Hijras and their begging. But nobody thinks of the hardships they go through for their survival. They can’t earn required money for a decent living without education.
It is alleged that some fake Hijras are committing crimes in the society. It should also be considered that due to the rise of fake Hijras, the genuine Hijras are being misunderstood. The members of the fake Hijra recruiting syndicate should be punished. The hospitals that are involved in this process should be sealed off. The government has a narrow initiative to change the situation. It is important for people to be more accommodative to change old-fashioned thinking to establish equality for all.
Md Mashiur Rahman, Deputy Manager for Policy and Advocacy Department, Bandhu Social Welfare Society, a very renowned organization working for Hijra people, said, “Hijras haven’t chosen the way they are in. They bear a natural change happened to the human children. But our families do not take this change easily which forces the Hijras to choice an isolated life.”
“Bandhu Social Welfare Society had been counseling to the Hijras for a long time. Now the organization has taken initiatives for counseling the respective families to adapt the Hijra children easily,” Mashiur Rahman also said.
Rezwana Karim Snigdha, Assistant Professor at the Department of Anthropology in Jahangirnagar University and also a researcher on transgender people, said, “Social position of the Hijra people were not so bad in the past. They were honoured in our society in the Moghal period and before that time. But in the British period, the Hijras were identified as the criminals for their unusual sexual behavior. That is why, they went to the underground then. Later, they came out from that situation slowly.”
“If you force someone to be isolated, then he/she will make his/her own way of life. Hijras have done this. But our society is not also accepting this easily,” Rezwana added.
Kazi Reazul Hoque, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh, said, “It is not a crime to become a Hijra. It can happen to anyone at any time. We are trying to find a way so that they can be grown up in the family like other children. National Human Rights Commission drafted a law to remove the discrimination regarding the Hijra people and handed over it to the government.”
