The apex court may have given them recognition as the third gender, political parties may have announced sops and support for them but the transgender population appears to be so disenchanted with the social stigma attached with it and the helplessness to wander from door to door to earn their daily bread makes them skip their right to vote.
Hazi Anwar (popularly known as dadi), who leads the association of transgender community members in Ranchi, tells why the third sex remain disenchanted with the electoral process. According to Anwar, presently as many as 35 transgenders reside in the Capital City and more than 3,000 across the State.
Majority of them have got their names enrolled in the voters list but due to their professional hazards only some could exercise their franchise on April 17. “All of us have our names in the voters list but only ten of us could avail the right as many of us were not in town on the poll day. They had gone outside to earn their livelyhood,” added Anwar.
Interestingly, while the community claims of ten voters’ turnout at the polling centers, the figure of other voters’ turnout in second phase poll by Election Commission is quite shocking. According to data, as many as 14 transgender only have exercised their franchise from all the six parliamentary constituencies which went to poll on April 17.
Giridih have five transgender, while Ranchi- one, Jamshedpur- three,Singhbhum -two, Khunti- two and Hazaribagh have one voter of the third gender respectively. District Election Officer (DEO) Vinay Kumar Choubey was enquired over the matter and he said, “let me go through the matter in detail and then only will can say about the issue.”
Meanwhile, the members of the transgender group in Ranchi feel that they do not need facilities and recognition from the Government. “Hum toh ashirwad deney ke liye aaye hai ussi se kush hai, hum toh chahtey hai unpadh log ke liye naukri, behtar zindagi, hamarey yajmaan taraki karey, gey tabhi toh hum bhi kush rahenge. (We are born to give blessings and are happy with it; we want employment for the unemployed citizens of our nation as our happiness lies in our clients’ development),” Anwar says.
like Anwar, Nargis showing her inked finger said, “Each vote counts when it comes to development. From our end we have no demands from the Government but we hope that our selection help in development of the needy citizens.” Despite talks of rights, transgender seems reluctant to transcend the self elected barrier and join the mainstream of the society. Although the members of the community believes in governance and came out to vote, want to live in their own world.