The Third Eye! (Part 1)

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have deemed to have found their origin some 200,000 years ago. The early human, like its ancestors, hunted and reproduced. The human being, as the history sates, started to socialize, raise cattle and grow food grains. Hence followed the establishment of the  new era  , where people assembled together and ultimately formed the society; family being the unit for it which strived to stay in harmony. But, In the modern era, discrimination and hatred formed a parallel track with solidarity and affection between families and societies at large.

Discrimination has had plethora of reasons, be it colour, creed, gender, economic status, religion and many more. Gender discrimination in particular has grave repercussions. Even in 21^st century, women in many parts of the world are considered inferior to men. When the third gender i.e. the “Eunuchs” is brought in to picture, the situation turns out to be worse. Many countries including India do not even recognize the third gender. Eunuchs in India today are fighting for an identity problem of which they are denied across the nation.

A eunuch is a castrated man, usually one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences. The origin of the word “Eunuch” is from the Greek eune ("bed") and ekhein ("to keep"), effectively "bed keeper". Eunuchs or Hijras have been part of Indian culture form time immemorial. They were a respectable figure in the medieval period, where they possessed the responsibility of protecting the Harems. Today India supposes to inhabit 5-6 millions of eunuchs scattered across the nation.

Problems faced by eunuchs in india:

Education:  The eunuchs or hijra in India, still find it hard to receive a proper education. They are outcaste from society and remain backward due to lack of enlightenment. Employment opportunities are few and far between. Almost all public and private companies use various excuses to reject them. Suffering from gender-crisis, members of this "third sex" usually adopt feminine names and dress. Living their lives in isolation, poverty and public ridicule, they quite often resort to prostitution for economic survival.

Unemployment: Major part of their livelihood is earned by the age-old traditions of song and dance routines at weddings, babyshowers etc. It is widely believed that they possess supernatural powers people pay cash to seek their blessings.  Eunuchs in Southern India  have a different cultural role from their counterparts in North India and usually take up sex work as a profession because employers reject them due to their gender identity. Even as commercial sex workers, eunuchs are the most vulnerable group, occupying the lowest position in the hierarchy of sex workers. As a result, they have little bargaining power and are unable to ensure that their customers practice safe sex.

 

Violence: Several reports on Human Rights Violations Against the Transgender Community document the acts of prejudice faced by  hijras in Bangalore. It shows that this prejudice leads to violence, often in public areas, police stations and even in their homes. The primary cause for this is that society is not able to adjust to the fact that hijras do not conform to any accepted gender category. Apart from this, most eunuchs belong to the lower middle-class background, which makes them vulnerable to harassment by the police.

Discrimination: They seek  an official gender status of the third sex, health check-ups in hospitals. Currently most hospitals deny them entry. They also want the same job opportunities as everyone else. A group of eunuchs had moved the Supreme Court, seeking their rights to education, social and political rehabilitation. The petition filed by Sonam Singh, a eunuch from Ajmer, sought direction to the union government to constitute a National Kinnar Ayog or commission on the lines of those for dalits and tribes.

Political Rights: Part III, Article 5 of the Constitution of India clearly states citizenship as the political status of a person, which come along with some fundamental rights. Eunuchs have for long been deprived of such rights in India. This mainly happens due to the fact that they do not Article 14 of the Constitution of India states “the state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India”. The eunuchs are deprived of the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Article 7 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights provides that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of law”. The Indian state policy does not recognize eunuchs/hijras as being male or female. This act of omission by the Government of India has completely deprived the transgender community of various rights such as, right to vote, right to own property, right to marry, right to claim a formal identity through a passport and a ration card, driving license and even employment

Continued..