“Hijras tried to abduct 5-month old child,” Silchar man lodges FIR; “Show sympathy and don’t discriminate,” says Pipasha Haldar Hijra

The dispute between the two groups of transgenders in Silchar is far from being settled. It has only been blowing and in some cases, blowing out of proportion. Both parties have grown in number and the language of discourse became more fierce and direct. What started as a territorial dispute between two Hijra groups in Silchar is now a socio-cultural issue.

Pipasha Haldar who identifies herself as “Guru of 40,000 transgenders” residing in the East of India, had called for a press conference earlier today in Silchar. Around 70 of them are currently living in a house in Rongpur’s Angarjur area. Congested as well as suffocating. As they pack themselves in these small rooms, they carry the risk of infecting each other with COVID19. And then, they travel all across the town door to door to collect money. “The weather is changing. This is the time of the year when a lot of people catch a cold or suffer from mild fever. This can happen to anyone. None of us here are sick nor do we have any medical complications. These rumours are being spread to create unrest in society. It is being used as a tool to produce hatred towards us,” said Pipasha Haldar.

The dispute originally broke between Nandini Saha Hijra and Anjana Sarkar Hijra. Anjana went and lodged an FIR at Silchar Sadar Police Station. She alleged, Nandini Saha is an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant who kidnapped a transgender from her group and assaulted her. Following the complaint, Nandini went missing for a few days. She returned on August 29, with Pipasha Haldar and a group of 70 other transgenders. She claimed the majority and started chasing Anjana who sought refuge in the Police station time and again appealing for protection and justice.

“We don’t want any dispute, any fight or conflict in Silchar. We want peace. We have invited Anjana, Tamanna, Sonali to come and sit with us and stay together in one group. But, they did not agree. Hijras everywhere stay together in one group. But they are just trying to disrupt the system. Also, we are 70 of us, if we had to beat them up, we could have done that long back. It won’t take us more than ten minutes to do so. We don’t want to do any of that but live in peace. They are not coming with us in this association as they are wrong, they do foul things, consume drugs, Ganja, and sell them,” alleged Pipasha Haldar..

Pipasha Haldar also said that they have been subjected to discrimination and racism. She said that the people in Silchar behave with them in a manner that makes them feel bad. “It is not our fault that we happened to be Hijras. We did not choose this path but it is our destiny. We too have heart and soul and so, when doors are shut on our face, we feel the same as anyone else would. It is our plea to the residents of Silchar to sympathise with us and donate some money to us each time we reach their doorsteps. Or else, shoot us all or serve us poison so that we die,” asserted Haldar.

She went on to say that they visit the residence of people who welcome a newborn and ask for Rs 5,000. Similarly, they reach out on the wedding day to ask for Rs 10,000. “We don’t force anyone, we ask, we try to convince, we request. We tell them that they have a lot of money and if they donate some to us, they won’t go broke. However, forcing anyone or blackmailing is not something we ever resort to,” added Haldar.

Her attempt to whitewash using the press comes a day after an FIR was lodged against them. Yesterday, a Silchar resident Bidhan Purkayastha – Das Colony resident lodged an FIR stating that a group of transgenders entered his residence and demanded Rs. 2000. When his wife denied paying the sum, they snatched his five-month-old child and started blackmailing her. “They compelled my wife to pay Rs 300 which was kept in the house. And then they warned that they will return to collect the remaining money and if not paid, they will abduct our child,” reads the FIR.

They have also printed their receipts, cards claiming that their association is the only legal one representing all the hijras in Hailakandi, Cachar and Karimganj. “They went and knocked on each door in Das Colony, they have also visited other parts of the town. This is a culture that never existed in Barak Valley,” said the complainant.  Not only that, last week they vandalised a resident in Silchar’s Ashram Road and looted it to the T. “FIRs cannot solve the problem between two groups of Hijras. Courts cannot, District Magistrate cannot, Police cannot, media cannot. We will solve our problems in our way,” said Haldar making it clear that she is the don and she does not care about law of the land.

While they repeatedly claim to be “local transgenders” the fact is that they belong to a completely different culture. The trend of collecting money during a wedding or after birth was few and far in Silchar. They say it is a part of ‘Pon’ (Dowry), even that is not a part of Barak Valley culture, at least on the mainland. Many residents of Ambicapatty, Tarapur said that they find it uncomfortable when the group knocks on the door uninvited.

Astonishingly, the Police has been tolerating the unlawful activities. The transgenders vandalised and looted a house in broad daylight in the presence of Police constables. They were obstructing, threatening and abusing the DSP and other senior officers in Cachar Police. Yet, the Police only played the role of spectators. In fact, when the Police stopped the vehicle carrying all the looted items and asked the driver to drive it to the Police station, the transgenders did not allow that. The items looted as dacoits do are still kept at some local leader’s house. Now that the general public went and lodged an FIR, it remains to be seen if the Police take some action as per law.

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