Britishers Represented Transgender Community - Known as Khawaja Sira in India and Pakistan – As a Community of Hatred
By Dr
Abdullah Fazi
December
10, 2020
Since the
British raj in the subcontinent, the transgender’s community which is commonly
known as Hijra also known as Khawaja Sira in India and Pakistan have had a
difficult time since the colonial rule in the region.
Britishers
in subcontinent had represented Hijras as an immoral community, after 1850 the
community became the subject of hatred among British colonizers of
subcontinent. The then colonial courts criminalized and stereotyped the
transgender community in general and seen them as “eunuch problem” and
portrayed them as prostitute. According to Jessica Hinchy, a prominent
researcher, the judges appointed by the colonial power viewed Khawaja Sira as
morally offensive and described them as “pollution.” On political front, the
insecurity of colonial rulers was also overwhelmed.
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Before the
British colonial rule, Hijra were entitled for rent- free land and other
rewards in many small Maharaja/Nawab polities, i.e. precolonial Maratha’s rule
in the Bombay region. Under the East India Company, the colonial rule tried to
redraw the agreement between the Hijra community and the new colonial rule.
These executive efforts made the issue more critical particularly in term of
“rights” the Hijra community was entitled to in Maratha polities in Bombay region.
Consequently, the Bombay presidency stopped all the rights, i.e. rent-free
land, right of begging and other small grants that this community had received
from previous rulers. Moreover, the Hijra’s discipleship system was perceived
as a parallel political force that can challenge the British colonial rule.
Hence, East India Company’s official Charles Raikas was appointed to compile a
detailed report on Hijra whether a special anti-Hijra was law was required to
control the community.
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By virtue
of the Criminal Tribes Act 1871(CTA) the elders or village headmen have been
given a power to monitor the community in a way seeing them criminals or harm
to the society
As stated
earlier, the British rulers of subcontinent have perceived transgender
community (Hijras) as a potential threat to the colonial rule as a parallel
community that was ungovernable for the new rulers.
Therefore,
colonial rulers have perceived Hijras as “sodomites” who also challenged the
English legal system that was on that time based on family, heterosexual and
reproductive sexuality. Here, it is also pertinent to mention the Criminal
Tribes Act 1871 (CTA) as introduced by the Britishers to “govern” transgenders,
this particular legislation criminalized the transgender people in colonial
period. The CTA in its introduction bracket the transgender community with the
“criminal tribes.” Therefore, it describes the CTA as: “An Act for the
Registration for Criminal Tribes and Eunuchs.” The Act also gives the power of
“surveillance and control” against these so-called criminal tribes. Moreover,
categorization of transgenders among “criminal tribes” shows the colonial
mindset which corroborates the impression that the British rulers have viewed
them as a potential threat to the colonial rule. By virtue of the Criminal
Tribes Act 1871(CTA) the elders or village headmen have been given a power to
monitor the community in a way seeing them criminals or harm to the society.
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Read: To Sustain an LGBTQ Affirming Islamic Discourse,
Lateral Violence Must End
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Therefore,
hatred have seeded in the entire society against transgenders which is still
persisting in the Indian and Pakistani societies because the roots of this
discrimination have penetrated so deep.
Similarly,
the CTA under section 30 requires a property registration and penalizes the
refusal of related information. Penalizing the clothing and other social
attributes in a “Registration Act” which was actually meant to record and
register certain communities, the legislation was unnecessary rather an
insecure measure.
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It also
worth mentioning that other than “eunuchs” there were no other community have
mentioned in the legislation that made the entire legislation discriminatory.
Although the CTA 1871 was only enforced in the North West Province now Punjab,
Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the implications of application of CTA have
impacted all transgenders even after the colonial rule. In this context, the
post independent India and Pakistani societies inherited the colonial mindset
of sexual morality. A detailed research that highlights the historical roots of
discrimination against transgender community has been recently published in the
international journal of law and Management (UK) which further unfolds the
imprints of colonial hatred in the Pakistani and Indian Societies in a critical
manner.
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Also
Read: The Quran on
Homosexual Relations
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Dr
Abdullah Fazi teaches law at the Multimedia University Malaysia and holds a
Ph.D.
Original
Headline: Colonial roots of hatred against Transgender community in the
subcontinent
Source: The Daily Times, Pakistan
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