Hyderabad: Transgender community leaders meet govt officials, discuss issues

The nayaks, leaders of Hyderabad’s Hijra community, requested greater sensitivity on the part of government officials and police to the needs of their community members

Hyderabad: Leaders of the transgender and Hijra communities of Hyderabad met with officials from the State government at an event held at the Montfort Social Institute, Uppal, on Thursday.

The meeting was brought about by the collaborative efforts of Montfort Social Institute (MSI), the Human Rights Law Network and the Trans Equality Society with the aim of creating a platform for dialogue and interaction between the communities and the government.

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Special Secretary of the Women and Child Welfare Department D Divya, chairperson of the Telangana State Commission for Women Sunitha Lakshma Reddy and DCP Anasuya of Cyberabad Commissionerate, along with nayaks and gurus from the Hijra community and several trans activists participated in the meeting.

Bro Varghese Theckanath, Director of MSI, said, “In our years of work amongst vulnerable communities in the city, we have come to the interact with the trans community and understood them to be the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.”

Members of the communities discussed issues faced by them with the officials present and Rachana Mudraboyina, trans activist and one of the organisers of the event, put it, “Only Hijras can truly speak on issues faced by Hijras.”

The nayaks, leaders of Hyderabad’s Hijra community, requested greater sensitivity on the part of government officials and police to the needs of their community members, particularly during interactions in public and government spaces. Raagini Bakashji, a nayak of the Hijra community, said, “This meeting is of great help to us, for we now have a chance to directly voice out our issues with the government.”

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