Romal Laishram RJ Kajal
Mangaluru: India, a land which has a rich background of mythology believes in the incarnations that the Gods and Goddesses have evolved in. In this Lord Vishnu is believed to be the only God to have taken the form of a woman in the form of “Mohini”, who had seduced the demons during the “Samudra Manthana” (churning of the ocean). On the other hand Lord Shiva who had taken the form of half male and half female as “Ardhanarishwara” (Shiva and Parvathy being one body).
These two incarnations are the ones, which are widely worshipped by the transgender community throughout the country. When the mythology has it recorded and that the transgender is believed to be the incarnation of these two God’s, the questions still remain, “Why to discriminate transgender based on gender and appearance?”
NewsKarnataka caught up with transgender RJ Kajal and Romal Laishram, an independent volunteer of Coalition for Sex Workers’ Sexuality and Sexual Minorities’ Rights (CSMR)
Why can’t we too become the face of society? Asks Kajal
Kajal, a first transgender RJ of the community radio, Radio Sarang 107.8 FM who hails from Mandya district expresses her opinion and experiences with newskarnataka.com
Speaking to newskarnataka.com on the questions of transgender section being neglected with respect to employment on the basis of suspicion, Kajal said, “Why don’t people take a note of noble contribution and good deeds of a transgender towards the society, but keep recurring the same news of one small mistake time and again on the news channels?”
When asked on the Kadri park incident where a localite had taken the law into the hands in identifying who was the actual transgender between the two, Kajal said, “There are different associations who fight for the betterment and rights of transgender. When such organizations exist, that person who attacked and ripped the clothes off of a person to check whether they were transgender or not is unlawful.”
“The localite who attacked could have informed any of the transgender organization”, she added.
She said, “Tulunadu (people of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi) are very kind and soft-hearted. They respond to the problems of the people, they are intellect and very friendly too. What will be the message that goes out when such incidents happen?”
“Even though I come from Mandya and have drunk the holy water of River Kaveri, whatever I’m today, is just because of this land called ‘Tulunadu’. I’ve immense regards towards the people here”, she added.
Addressing the issues of employment, Kajal recalled a meet that she had attended four years back In Udupi district where the then deputy commissioner and senior leaders from the Congress party namely V S Ugrappa and Motamma were present. She said, “I was shocked to hear only ‘male’ and ‘female’ words repeated when it came to job opportunities and other matters. I had asked them if the transgender weren’t visible to their eyes and were they any sort of animal?”
Speaking on the job opportunities in the field of media, Kajal said, “If you observe the manner in which they put up the advertisements in the newspapers and TV channels, regarding candidates required for job with ‘beautiful face’ male/female, it hurts us. We tend to think that don’t we have any talents? Aren’t we eligible to become reporters, news readers and work in a media firm? Aren’t we beautiful?”
“We don’t have any interest in begging and working as sex workers. If the advertisements in print and electronic media support us in employment, we would greatly appreciate it”, she added.
Untoward incidents regarding transgender due to urban terminologies
Romal Laishram, an gay who is a content professional and independent volunteer in Coalition for Sex Workers’ Sexuality and Sexual Minorities’ Rights (CSMR), Bengaluru says that he is happy to see the LGBT section roaming freely in the pride march’s especially after the Supreme Court verdict on ruling out Indian Penal Code Section 377.
He said, “It is a revolutionary move which has made the LGBT move freely in public, who wore masks to cover their face earlier.”
Speaking to newskarnataka.com on the untoward incidents that happen on LGBT and especially the transgender, Romal said, “The untoward incidents happen because the terms like gay, transsexual, bisexual are more of urban terminologies. In the village areas, they have a completely different perspective towards these terminologies and especially the transgender are called by slangs such as ‘Hijada’ and others.”
“A large part usually comes from an economically backward background, and these are backed by fringe groups within the community, which becomes responsible for such untoward incidents as well as settling the matters”, he added.
Speaking on how receptive is Mangaluru to such developments and change, Romal says, “Mangaluru being a small city and town, the negative aspects from the part of transgender is usually observed because the transgender community is not well organized and are from poor backgrounds, due to which the transgender themselves try to extort money and trouble the public. The district is itself problematic.”
On the attack on transgender due to some miscreants activities of faking the community, he said, “There are strict orders by the Apex Court as to it is not ethical and mandatory to operate their penis or have other surgeries to transform their body. Because of this, there are cases of being misjudged and assaults too are reported from such small towns.”
On the employment issues after the Supreme Court verdict after the exclusion of Section 377, he said, “The conditions have become much better as the Supreme Court has directed the state and Centre and every other administration to provide reservation for the transgender, but both the government is taking its own sweet time.”
“The acts and judgment look beautiful and flowery on the papers, but the tragedy is even after the Apex Court forcing them to implement the transgender right bill, it is taking its time”, he added.
According to him, the concern is the North Karnataka region like Sirsi, Karwar, which he opines that they are living in a different century, as they are not willing to accept the LGBT community, due to their orthodox mindset.
When the topic of employment opportunities and social prejudices against transgender is the burning discussion, comes a sigh of relief from the lower house of the Indian Parliament, Lok Sabha on Monday, December 17 with the passing of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill which was moved by the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot.
The bill ensures welfare schemes and no discrimination against the transgender in the areas of education, employment and healthcare. The bill has also aimed at bringing the transgender community to the forefront in all aspects of the society.
It is now time to wait and watch if this really becomes applicable or stays on papers.
