Kashmir’s ignored community

Sitting in his compact, dimly lit office in Srinagar, in India-administered Kashmir, Dr. Aijaz Ahmad Bund scrolls through the Instagram account of Sonzal Welfare Trust. The non-profit organization, which Bund founded in 2017, is the only rights group in Kashmir dedicated to the betterment of the valley’s transgender community. Bund himself is practically the sole transgender activist in Kashmir.

An academic and writer with a PhD in social work, Bund began advocating for the transgender community in 2011, after being fired up by a discussion he had with a trans matchmaker. But given the deeply conservative cultural and social environment of the Himalayan region, the task has proved to be formidable. 

“Advocating for the transgender community in Kashmir is like walking barefoot over a bed of hot embers,” Bund told Asia Democracy Chronicles (ADC). He said that merely showing sympathy for trans people can expose one to ridicule. Yet far from being discouraged, Bund has even gone to court to fight for transgender rights. 

“Transgender people globally, and in the South Asia regions, face common daily problems,” he said. “However, in Kashmir, transgender identity intersects with caste, class, religion, and other factors, making their issues diverse and multi-layered. Our social structures have a direct impact on transgender identity and their lived experiences.”

Like other transgenders elsewhere in India, Kashmiri trans people face estrangement, abuse, and stigma both within their families and society. But trans people in Kashmir somehow seem to suffer more compared to those in other parts of India, partly because their situation has remained largely invisible to the rest of society.

That, in turn, is because trans issues are barely discussed – if not totally ignored – in the valley, where a highly conservative hetero-patriarchal culture that breeds a misogynistic mindset prevails, and there is significant discrimination even within the binary gender system. 

A Kashmir-based scholar researching the representation of the transgender community in local media even told ADC: “While going through the archives of local newspapers in Kashmir, I was surprised to see that this community is completely ignored by the press. Except for a few opinion pieces, there were no feature stories, editorials, or significant articles about this community.”

The scholar, who requested anonymity, suggested that personal prejudices within media organizations, coupled with strong cultural and social norms, might contribute to the media’s neglect of the transgender community. Srinagar-based journalist Mohammad Muzamil meanwhile noted that while media persons in Kashmir often cover transgender issues for the international press, they rarely do so for local newspapers. Remarked Muzamil: “The local media might de-prioritize transgender issues because of the taboo attached to their sexuality.” 

Bund said that he has consistently been disappointed by the local media’s coverage of the transgender community. “If the local media had adequately covered transgender issues,” he said, “this community would be in a better position today. I remember once asking a leading newspaper in Kashmir to publish our important press release, but they refused.”

Dr. Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a Kashmir-based writer and Right to Information and climate activist, also commented, “When the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed at the center in 2019, it was the local press’s responsibility to explain it to the transgender community in Kashmir. Unfortunately, they never took the issue seriously.”

“Horrific” stories

Five years ago, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill was introduced in Parliament and eventually enacted into law. This law prohibits discrimination against transgender people in employment, education, housing, healthcare, and other services, and allows for self-perception of gender identity.

But experts in Kashmir say that the implementation of decisions and laws like this remains inconsistent, and awareness among the transgender community is limited. They point out that systemic prejudice and deep-rooted stigma result in biased treatment and unfair rulings. Added to that is what Bhat said is the “limited awareness among the transgender community about their legal rights and available resources.”

“The administration should have organized programs and established units in every area to educate transgender people about their legal rights,” he said.

It has not helped that, according to the National Human Rights Commission, majority of trans people across India lack voter IDs and national ID (Aadhaar) cards. Without these, it is difficult for them to exercise their constitutional rights and participate in government programs.

Bund said that his rights group has documented “horrific” stories of the transgender community in the valley. He recalled an incident where a dead trans person was just left on the road for a considerable amount of time, ignored by passersby until authorities finally got around to dispose of the body. By then, Bund said, “some portions of the body had been eaten by dogs.”  

“We’ve also seen transgender people denied entry to mosques,” he said, “and even space in graveyards after their death.”

In Kashmir, discrimination against transgender people begins at puberty, with bullying in educational institutions leading to high dropout rates and subsequent unemployment.

Research published in 2021 revealed that 45 percent of transgender people in Kashmir were unemployed, while 18 percent worked as matchmakers and 12 percent as wedding dancers. No trans Kashmiri had a government job. The study also found that 50 percent of transgender individuals in Kashmir earned between INR 1,000 and 3,000 (US$11.97 to US$35.9) per month, with only 7 percent of them earning INR 12,000 (US$143.6) or more. The current average annual salary in Jammu and Kashmir is INR 190,000 (US$2,274.75), according to the Indian company review and salary platform AmbitionBox, or nearly INR 16,000 (US$192) a month.

Yet another challenge confronting transgender Kashmiris is being forced to leave home due to family violence. Securing rental accommodation is challenging as well, as landlords demand conformity to societal norms. They are also often denied property rights; old age is particularly harsh for trans people, with many struggling with poor health and isolation. Severe harassment leads to mental health issues like depression, suicidal tendencies, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

“Most of the people who come to us are in distress,” said Bund, adding that his welfare trust provides psychosocial rehabilitation (counseling), trans-affirmative therapy, and crisis intervention services to transgender people.

“In addition to counseling, we assist them in filing police complaints and taking legal actions. We also provide them safe spaces where they can feel accepted and connected with the community, free from judgment, and share their stories.”

Public Interest Litigation as relief

In 2014, India’s Supreme Court recognized transgender individuals as a “third gender” and ordered administrations to prevent discrimination and atrocities against them. But the legal struggle for transgender rights in India actually began in 2001, when the Lawyers Collective petitioned the Delhi High Court on behalf of the Naz Foundation to challenge Section 377, which criminalized consensual same-sex relationships. In 2018, or almost two decades later, the Supreme Court abolished Section 377.

In 2013, Bund appealed to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in Kashmir, seeking rights for the transgender community. Receiving no response from the SHRC, he withdrew his case in 2017 and filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking social, economic, and political inclusion and rehabilitation for the transgender community, as well as their recognition as a marginalized and vulnerable sector of society.

In the Indian judicial system, a PIL allows any individual or group to approach the court to enforce rights on behalf of others. Said Bund: “No lawyer in Srinagar was willing to take the case. So I decided to file a PIL on my own.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bund filed another PIL at the High Court, seeking relief for the transgender community. “Both PILs are still pending in court,” he told ADC. “So far, the court has issued positive judgments regarding housing, voter IDs, and the identification of transgender individuals in the valley.” The next hearing was scheduled for July.

Last February, while hearing Bund’s PIL, Kashmir’s top court directed the administration to undertake an exercise to determine the number of transgender people in the region and issue advertisements seeking information about them in both print and electronic media. Earlier, the administration had filed a report stating that there were 550 transgender people in the valley. This figure was contested by Bund’s counsel, who argued that “thousands” of transgender people remain unaccounted for.

In giving its order, the court pointed out that “a proper district-wise ascertainment of the number of transgender people would be desirable so that the concerned authorities and District Legal Service Authorities could reach out to them and provide the necessary assistance as directed by the Supreme Court.” 

On July 13, 2022, Kashmir authorities announced the formation of a Transgender Welfare Board, which would be led by Kashmir’s lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha. But the board’s composition – all state officials — had angered members of the valley’s transgender community. They said that they had no representation in the body, and accused the local government of deceit. 

“It took the government eight years (after India’s Supreme Court recognized transgender as the third gender) to set up the board,” said Bhat. “But the board has no members from the transgender community.”

It’s also unclear what the board has been doing in the last two years. ADC sent the board’s member secretary, who is also the director of social welfare, a questionnaire inquiring about the group’s work, but received no response. Calls to the office and personal numbers of the member secretary also went unanswered.

 Khan, a Kashmiri transgender working for a multinational company in New Delhi, views the board as a mere formality. 

“We face prejudice in every sector, both government and private,” said Khan, who asked to be identified only by his surname. “When the board members don’t even acknowledge our existence, how can we expect any help from them?” ◉