The third gender (Hijras)
For writing this article I have collected information from Wikipedia and Aljazeera news.
People of the third gender are neither males nor females. They may have both male and female sexual organs or characteristics. In general, Hijras are born with typically male physiologies. Some Hijras undergo an initiation rite into the Hijra community called “Nirwaan”, which refers to removal of the penis, scrotum and testicles.
Scientists suggest that several prenatal, chromosomal, hormonal, biological and genetic factors might be responsible for birth of the population of third gender.
They are normally and naturally born of their parents, just the same way we were born. Yes, it is the same biological process of giving births to babies. In India, Bangladesh and Pakistan they cannot stay with their parents or the parents do not want to keep them because of social rejection or unacceptability.
I do not understand that why they can’t stay with their families. They have families. They have parents, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunties. We sometimes have dumb children, retarded children and children with other disabilities. We are keeping them with us. There is no harm if children of the third gender live with their families.
Besides sexual identity, Hijras are like other normal human beings. They can talk, hear, speak, work and are capable of doing other physical and mental activities. If they are given education, they can become engineers, doctors or professors. There are many Hijras all over the world. There are 700 thousand (0.2 to 0.3% of the total population) transgender people in the U.S.A ( Ref: livescience.com/50635-bruce-jenner-transgender-prevalence.html).
We must agree that they are realities of human existence. We cannot deny the fact that they are humans like us. When we degrade them, we actually degrade humanity.
In South Asia Hijras are separated from the main society. Many of them live in well defined and organized all-Hijra communities, led by a guru. These communities have sustained themselves over generations. They earn livelihoods by performing, dancing and singing in family functions, e.g. birthdays, marriages and childbirths. It is obligatory for hosts to pay them in money, grain or other things.
I have observed a common belief among household owners that if the Hijras are dissatisfied, they will curse them that would become effective. I have experienced that if I don’t pay them money they curse me very badly.
These days they are creating much problems to the shopkeepers, vendors and household owners of Dhaka city.The Hijras demand high amounts of money. If they don’t want to give as much as they want, the Hijras snatch away the products they were selling and curse and abuse the household owners using ugly language.
In Bangladesh, there are ten thousand Hijras. Yes, people complain that their behaviours are rough but they have something to say too. They say that they are deprived of all human rights. They are without jobs, income, education, health care facilities etc. Wherever they go they experience discriminations. They cannot be admitted to the public hospitals. They cannot earn their livelihoods. How can they survive without money? When they were born, their parents rejected them. Is it not shocking that parents rejected their own babies who were of their own flesh and blood? They have no burial rights. After deaths they do not get graves. They are refused and rejected even after death!
There are some positive aspects of the problem that we can discuss now. India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have legally recognized existence of the third gender in relevant official documents including the passports. In Bangladesh, Hijras are eligible for priority in education and they have voting rights too. Bangladesh Government had a plan of recruiting the Hijras as traffic police. Once I read it in the newspapers. I am not aware of any implementation of this idea. In June, 2009, the Supreme court of Pakistan ordered a census of Hijra population which revealed that at that time the number of Hijra population was 300,000.
The Hijras of India are the most well known and populous third sex type in the modern world. Mumbai based community health organization “The Humsafar Trust” estimates that there are between 5 and 6 million Hijras in India. They can cast their votes and they have voter identity cards. They are entitled to reservation in education and jobs. As per verdict of Indian Supreme court dated 15 April, 2014, “Recognition of transgender as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue.” The verdict made India one of the few countries to give this landmark judgement.
I am in New Zealand now. Here birth certificates are available at birth showing “Indeterminate” sex if it is not possible to assign a sex. The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs states, “ A person’s sex can be recorded as Indeterminate at the time of birth if it cannot be ascertained that the person is either male or female and there are a number of people so recorded.” Passports are available from December, 2012 with an “X” sex description where “X” means “Indeterminate/Unspecified”.
I think Hijras are not normal and natural phenomena. They do not look like normal. They don’t have normal reproductive systems. They cannot produce children. Human babies are born with other kinds of abnormalities too. Hijras are like them. They are born because of chromosomal, genetic and hormonal defects. They should be treated the way we treat our other physical defects. Surgical operations may help them. They should be transformed to either males or females with the respective reproductive systems so that they may produce children. The medical scientists will be able to describe this paragraph better. Research should be continued for giving the Hijras their sexual identities as either males or females. At the moment, if we cannot do this, we should recognize their human rights and treat them accordingly. If we achieve something in theory, we should practice it too.
We can give them work. They will be able to work in the factories even if they are not educated. They can be involved in construction work. They can work as cleaners. They can have proper education facilities. Our development partners may come forward for their rehabilitation.
I firmly believe that proper education, health facilities, rehabilitation, protection, security, love, affection and social acceptance can completely change their status. Social rejection and parental rejection will equally negatively affect all of us. In the end, we must remember that they are humans like us and definitely they are our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, nephews and nieces. We must recognize our own flesh and blood.
