Overshadowed by the conflict, the transgender people in Kashmir belong to an extremely vulnerable community. They have retrieved from the public domain in order to hide and protect their sexual identity and have been steadily silenced in the history of Jammu and Kashmir over the course of time.
As per 2011 Census, there were 477 transgender people in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, but only 98 persons had registered with the Department of Social Welfare to declare themselves as transgender people. However, there is no written documentation, official or unofficial, available to assess their lives and lifestyle and on how they have come out as an existing ingroup. There are very few occupations available for them in the valley through which they are able to sustain themselves financially and, if reports are to be believed, even those opportunities have been curtailed now.
This case study attempts to articulate and analyze the patterns of harassment and social ostracization faced by the transgender community in Jammu and Kashmir. It also draws special attention to their safety and worth.
In the National Legal Service Authority vs the Union of India, 2014, the Supreme Court recognized transgender people as the “third gender” and affirmed socio, cultural and political rights guaranteed by the constitution to be applied to them as well. However, the transgender community in Kashmir continues to be at the receiving end of inequality and disparity. The community has been marginalized and callously neglected. The transgender people face social ostracization and harassment outside the political loop of violence. They are more likely to face a whole new range of problems, with little to no support, irrespective of the fact that they already have a lot on their plate.
Right up to the present day, society, in general, has condemned, intimidated, and alienated transgender people who do not conform to the so-called “mainstream” culture. They face discrimination in every aspect of their lives be it employment, legal recognition, access to social and economic opportunities, quality of life and livelihood, education, and other means of survival. In simple words, a life of dignity and respect is denied to them. The members of the transgender community rarely speak about these experiences in public spaces due to the taboos and stigmas attached to their sexuality and sexual orientation. As a result, the valley’s transgender people are exposed to discrimination and abuse in many aspects of their lives, and in most of the cases, it starts from home. Families try to convince and persuade the “one’s” – whose gender identity is not in conformity with the psychological characteristics of the sex they are born with – to believe that he or she is supposed to act contrary to his or her conscience. Members of the majority of the families, including parents, siblings and even so distant relatives, hide the identity of their transgender kids in public. There is a forced imposition of conventional gendered expressions like clothing, talents, sports and so on that lead to several psychological or emotional distresses and traumas that persist for almost a lifetime. Such kinds of treatments compel the majority of transgender people to migrate from rural areas where they are not able to give full vent to their feelings due to traditional conservative values.
Transgender people in Kashmir struggle to make ends meet
The traditional occupation for the transgender people in Kashmir is matchmaking that has continued for centuries, in addition to the singing and dancing at wedding functions. Zareef Ahmad Zareef, a historian, confirms that the tradition of transgender people performing at weddings dates back to the 14th century. However, this profession, the sole source of their income is under great threat due to the arrival of disc jockeys, who are slowly replacing them at wedding functions. “Today, boys and girls have the freedom to choose their partners,” Subhan said, who is a transgender matchmaker. “Nowadays, people hire women singers or bands for performing at weddings; as a result, we are left with no opportunities to earn”. This kind of financial instability has added to Transgender people’s economic woes. Their monthly income varies from Rs 6000 to Rs 20,000 and the income is not enough to make ends meet amid the ever-rising cost of living. Due to the denial of property rights to transgender people in J&K, their financial insecurity is unlikely to improve. Such a disparity severely impacts the elderly transgender people who like most of the senior citizens depend on the land and the property, they own, for livelihood.
Government financial assistance for transgender people
Not much has been done to defend or promote transgender rights, at the government level, in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two years. However, in 2018, the then Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu presented the state budget with a proposal that “transgender people be treated as living below the poverty line to help them get state subsidies. Such people are considered as not having enough money for a full meal a day and are entitled to subsidized food grains, electricity and water. They also qualify for medical insurance and a monthly sustenance pension for the elderly.” This scheme was announced 2 years ago — but there appears to have been no follow-up to determine the stability of the benefits that were announced in the form of the scheme and anecdotal evidence indicates no improvement since then in getting the transgender people rehabilitated through this scheme.
Problems at educational institutions
During the early school years, transgender kids get bullied and harassed at school, at a time when they are exploring and discovering their sexuality. It is during the adolescent years when the verbal and physical harassment and abuse against transgender people increases, and are compelled to drop out of school. Bullying is regarded as the main cause for low levels of education and skills among transgender people, which in turn contributes to their ongoing struggle to find employment. Mohammad Aslam, 40, now goes by her chosen name, Babloo, and she says the torment she faced as a young transgender student is impossible to forget. “It was hard,” she says of her time in a government school in the Dalgate area of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. “As I explored my sexuality, that’s when I started to get bullied by my classmates.”
Documentation of transgender people in Kashmir
There are no written records detailing the existence of the transgender community in the valley. However, Dr. Aijaz Ahmed Bund, a Kashmiri who claims himself as an LGBTQ rights activists, wrote a book; – “Hijras of Kashmir: A Marginalized Form of Personhood” – hence this work is the first of its kind to throw light on what is going “wrong” in the lives of transgender people of Kashmir. With the publication of the book, Bund was met with cynicism, criticism and name-calling, bordering harassment and abuse due to the prevailing stigmatization and the existence of stereotypes associated with the transgender community in the valley. “The transgender people are deprived of all rights and one often wonders how do they even manage to live in such an atmosphere,” said Aijaz. According to Aijaz, who calls himself an LGBT activist and military feminist, the transgender community is the group of people in Kashmir who have to face the wrath of society right from the time of birth and even after death. “They are shunned by their families deprived of property rights, banned from mosques, denied any jobs and even a graveyard”. This has forced some transgender people to migrate and avoid participation in weddings, other festivals and visiting places of worship.
As mentioned earlier, there is no anecdotal or research evidence to read the lives of transgender people in Kashmir. According to the 2011 census, the total number of displaced transgender people is evaluated at 477 in the erstwhile state. However, only 98 transgender persons registered themselves with the Department of Social Welfare. These figures have been constantly contradicted by transgender people and activists. “The government, the people, everybody wants us to perish from the face of the earth, so why should they be concerned about us?” said Dazy Jan, who identifies herself as a trans woman, from uptown Srinagar.
Initiatives at the local level
“The Sonzal Welfare Trust”, a non-profit, apolitical grassroots organization founded by Dr. Aijaz Ahmad, is working for the well-being of gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQIA+) in Kashmir. It aims to build a supportive institutional framework for transgender people by providing them training on the concept of Self-help Groups (SHGs). The social media handle of the organization provides an opportunity for the members of the LGBTQ community to voice their opinions and experiences, with anonymity and confidentiality guaranteed. The organization also provides assistance on economic, emotional, mental and legal matters and therefore serves as an entry point in initiating dialogues, within the society, over the experiences and existence of the transgender community. Dr. Aijaz says, “Sonzal has been at the forefront from the inception of COVID-19 pandemic and has been addressing the unique challenges of our community. Soon after the outbreak of the pandemic we initiated telephonic counselling services and mobilized all our community resource support to address the issues like scarcity of food and medicines and domestic violence. So far we have been able to cater the ration needs of 120 families and the process is still going on. We have also been able to revive our safe community spaces to cater the psycho-social needs.” Currently, the organization is fighting a legal battle and has filed a PIL in the court, petitioning that the erstwhile state implements the NALSA Judgement of 2014 and form a transgender policy.
Conclusion
Transgender people of Kashmir continue to live in an extremely hostile and intimidating social-setting. They are identified by a derogatory term, implying impotence or powerlessness, and thereby denying them personhood and agency. The severe discrimination, stigma and systemic inequality faced by the transgender community in Kashmir puts a huge question mark over the relevance of Article 15 which ensures equality before law and prohibits discrimination on grounds of race, religion, gender, and caste or place of birth and provides for equality of opportunity in matters of employment, abolition of untouchability.
The government, as well as the citizens, should acknowledge the plight of the transgender community of Kashmir, communicate with them and empower their voices.
References
https://www.livescience.com/54949-transgender-definition.html
https://thewire.in/lgbtqia/transgender-community-kashmir
https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/01/margins-of-the-margins-lgbtq-kashmir/
https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-state-offers-financial-help-to-transgenders/81277#
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