Don’t we all have the experience of avoiding an individual or a group of persons, trying to make us uncomfortable by throwing verbal abuses, asking for money at the streets of Dhaka? Yes, I am speaking of the Hijra community. Those, who can be distinguished from men and women, hence, generalized as the third gender. The term ‘third gender’ is now officially recognized by the Government of Bangladesh, which means Hijras now can secure their rights as civilians — indeed a long-awaited result after a number of continuous movements over years by the Hijra community and certain human rights activists. Nonetheless, they are still subject to societal discrimination and rejection, despite being part of the Bangladeshi (South Asian subcontinent to be more precise) culture since the Kama Sutra period from 400 BC to 200 AD.
As a nation, though we have begun to take positive steps towards their welfare, it is of importance that we address the crimes Hijras in our society tend to commonly commit (still now), alongside the laws in place to protect the victims.
Their crimes and the law
As previously mentioned, a considerable number of Hijras earn their livelihoods by forcefully extracting money from the pedestrians, persons commuting by public transports and street vendors. If you have experienced this even once, I am sure you would not be reluctant to term their malicious act as a form of ‘extortion’. Over the past few years, it has become a common scenario in Dhaka, especially at traffic signals. They usually attack in groups so that the portrayal of muscle power, adds well to their advantage. It is to be noted that according to Section 384 of Bangladesh’s Criminal Law (The Penal Code, 1860), whoever commits extortion shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Another common crime, which has throughout the years become a culture, is forcefully taking possession of newborn babies away from their guardians and demanding money. Reference to Section 369 of the Penal Code, 1860 may be made, which mentions that, whoever kidnaps or abducts any child under the age of ten years with the intention of taking dishonestly any movable property from the person of such child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Freedom from punishment
Many people tend to defend their illegal practices of making money, arguing that they are left with no other option, given their tainted and tabooed social recognition and the unwillingness on the part of employers to give them work. Hence, in practice, implementation of the sanctions in case they commit the talked of crimes have gone down, creating a culture of impunity from the Hijra community’s end. In fact, journalists of a private television channel have in the recent past, reported instances where men and women disguise as Hijras to earn money — a much better alternative to begging on the streets of the capital.
At the risk of sounding inconsiderate, I am of the belief that one’s belongingness in the Hijra community now acts as rather an effective shield towards exemption from criminal sanctions, irrespective of the fact that Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh provides that all citizens are equal before law and therefore, are entitled to equal protection of law. Moreover, Article 28(1) provides that Bangladesh shall not discriminate against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste or sex. Although in practice, there is huge discrimination, it is high time that the government begins to think of ways that would truly make fruitful, the recognition of the Hijras as a part of the civilian community.
To start with, the government may choose to abide by its duty to provide security to the citizens by preventing crimes committed by the Hijras. As much as we must all appreciate the government’s step of recognizing Hijras as the third gender, an act that took human rights in Bangladesh to a next level, it would be an irony if the rights of the other genders are curtailed.
Nafiul Alam Shupto is an LLB student at North South University, Bangladesh.
