The tussle among the transgender community based in Dehradun continuing unabated with one group accusing the other loyal to Rajni Rawat of unleashing terror has taken a new turn as Rajni Rawat said while addressing a press conference in Dehradun on Saturday that she and others loyal to her are the victims of the attack and vilification campaign launched by the other group.
“We are rather at the receiving end of things as we are being abused for deeds we have done to stop the image of the community from being sullied,” she said. In the same breath, she said that she was ready to acknowledge her mistakes which might have been committed in the past. “Some people say that we are unleashing violence. However, the fact is that it is just a form of scolding given to some of the community members whom I consider as my own for things which are against the ethos of the community,” she said. She also named Ajay Pal, a transgender who was allegedly thrashed by the Rawat followers with his head tonsured, saying that he has been playing the victim card and indulging in melodrama to malign her and others.
Addressing the media conference, another leading transgender laxmi Narayan Tripathi said that they supported the actions taken by Rawat and her followers. “We ask donations from the people on some happy occasions. We mostly live on them as it is our only source of income as most members of the community are illiterate. The image of the community is taking a beating in Dehradun as many members are threatening people into giving money and abusing them when they refuse. We would not tolerate this,” the transgender leader said.