Bangladesh opens first religious school for transgender people

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In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, a Muslim school for transgender students, the hijras, was called Madrassa. Funded by a foundation created by the late Ahmd Ferdous Bari Chowhury, the inauguration was in the first week of September. The information is from the Forum Magazine.

As in many parts of the world, transgender people in Bangladesh mostly lack formal education and many cannot read and write. Due to the lack of qualifications, they do not get formal jobs, working more in the field of dance and singing.

“We have not set any age limits. Anyone can be enrolled here if they are identified as being of the third gender, even if they are a mature person, no matter how old they are” – said the education secretary responsible for Madrassa, Mohammed Abdul Aziz Hussaini.

According to the BBC, the country officially has around 10,000 hijras, and this number can reach 50,000.

WHO ARE THE HIJRAS?

Hijra is a Hindu religious community that, according to tradition, need to transition to the other gender to please the goddess Bahuchara Mata. In general, boys and girls who are victims of sexual abuse are led by their own families to mystical rituals aimed at the gender transition.

From then on, Hijras are forced to dress and behave like people of the opposite sex. Adults can also transition, especially men who cheat on their wives and they have the power to decide whether to castrate their cheating boyfriend or husband in whole or in part. Castrates may decide to join the Hijra community or stay with their families, but in most cases, they start to behave like women.

The practice of gender transition is considered a violation of human rights by the United Nations, as it does not take into account the individual’s real desires and feelings. That is, the person may be born a cisgender boy (who feels comfortable with his gender), however, for a religious and cultural issue, they are forced to transition.

Even though they were part of the Hindu culture, the Hijras had less rights when compared to the cis population. Only in 2009, the Indian electoral court included the genre “other” in official documents to cover this segment of society as well.

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