Database of third gender alone will not do

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have prepared a database of the third gender which comprises mainly those called hijras and other variants within its fold such as eunuchs, intersex and  transgender people living in the capital city. A total of 411 members of this particular community made it to the DMP list. Here is a community that is bound by its own strict secretive hierarchy rules. But that would have been no one's concern had they not bullied the public on roads and streets and in some cases created nuisance at residences on the occasion of the birth of a baby for collection of what can be called tolls.

More often than not a gang of three to five or more demand money, as if it is their birth right, and members of the public have to concede to their demands in order to avoid untoward incidents. But the problem arises when a student or a youth with his/her fixed pocket money allowance refuses to pay them the toll they demand. Years ago a youth got crushed under the wheels of a bus near Farmgate following a scuffle with an aggressive member of the third gender.

Time has changed since the Hindu community had accepted their role as people with special power to bless the grooms and bride at weddings and the newborns notwithstanding their bedlam in the name of song and dance. Now they are considered an unwelcome marauding troop. Also, the majority of people now forced to save every single taka they can in this time of financial hardship find the third gender's arm-twisting tactic to make them cough up money intolerable.

Earlier the DMP was not interested, let alone strict, in disciplining the third gender people. Sensing the people's sentiment against the inappropriate approach for money, the police have moved to bring an end to such toll collection and public harassment. The officer in charge of each police station in the city was directed to prepare a census of the third genders in his or her respective area. The OCs held meetings with the top hierarchy called guru ma (teacher mother) and members of the community living in their respective thana. They were informed of the police initiative against the illegal toll collection. If they did not comply with the police request, cases would be filed against them.

While submitting the database with 13 different kinds of information inclusive of photos as a report to the police headquarters, the OCs also have, reportedly, made some recommendations for the rehabilitation of third gender people in the city. What the suggested measures are could not be known but this is the most vital part of the entire exercise. From the point of human rights, the term 'third gender' is offensive enough. If they do not fit into the gender binary, it is none of their fault. Patriarchal society has long forced them to hang on to the fringe of society. Today in most countries, their equal rights with the rest of the population are recognised, at least on paper.

Although there is a long way to go before they enjoy equal rights with others in society, there has been a paradigm shift in mentality of some people. In November 2021, Nazrul Islam Ritu, a member of the transgender community, became the first union parishad chairman through popular vote in one of the Jhenaidah's unions. A few of them are receiving higher education and some of them are employed in low-paid jobs.

Since it is a tentative step for them, they are yet to make what can be called breakthroughs. The training they are receiving and the monetary support at the end of the training given are inadequate for them to lead a decent life. The third gender people living in the capital city are only a small portion of such a population. Although estimates vary, their number has been put at 11,000-12,000. But knowledgeable people think their number is many times higher. So the government has to devise a programme for their integration into mainstream society. Their education should be at the top of the agenda if they are to be entitled to their basic human rights.

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