A section of individuals has been disguising themselves as members of the Hijra community to harass people and extort money from them, giving true members of the community a bad name.
After investigating a ransom case filed against a group of alleged third-gender people at Wari in Dhaka, a policeman working in the Detective Branch found that 90% of the group were actually men and not transgender. They were using women's clothing to hide their identities the same way robbers use masks.
“These imposters know that many people in this country are still very uncomfortable with hijra and transgender people, even though they are more accepted than before. The fakes behave rudely and make a scene, and the people end up thinking the Hijra community is bad,” he said.
When contacted, Ashraf Hossain, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Wari Zone) said: “We recently arrested a group of people where most of the members had wives and children at home, but at night they would rob, blackmail, and ransom people while disguised as transgender sex workers.”
He added that other such groups may be working in the capital.
The brother of a 16-year-old victim had filed the case with Jatrabari police station on February 9. Two men disguised as women had lured the victim to a mess in the Jatrabari area on January 23 and extorted Tk2 lakh from him after taking pictures.
Police later arrested six people in connection with the incident. The ringleader of the gang, named Sohag Mia, was using the alias Sajni Hijra. He is married and has two children.
“He was so good at posing as a transgender person that even members of the Hijra community did not have any doubts about him,” Ashraf Hossain added.
The group would use the money that they extorted to give soft loans to various underprivileged people. They regularly collected interest.
When loan takers cannot pay their interest in due time, they are forced to join the gang in its extortion work.
"A Hijra and a transgender are not the same. Hijra is a community. We have our own customs and traditions, and we live under a guru," Joya Sikder, a transgender rights activist and also president of Somporker Noya Setu (SNS), a transgender rights organisation, told the media.
How to stop the imposters?
On November 17 last year, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Welfare Ministry recommended medical tests to identify true transgender and Hijra people.
Committee Chairman Rashed Khan Menon, Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, State Minister for Social Welfare Ministry, among others, were present at the meeting.
According to meeting sources, the issue was discussed after violence between two groups of alleged transgender people at the Uttara area of Dhaka, where one group had members who are genuinely male dressed in women's clothing.
After the meeting, Menon defended the recommendation, saying: "We need an identification. We recommended two types of tests – one is a physical test, and the other is a psychosocial test."
Menon said that the parliamentary body recommended the move so that the social welfare department provides training and allowances to the transgender community.
“Real transgender people should get these opportunities,” he added.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/305511/imposters-giving-hijra-community-a-bad-name?fbclid=IwAR1CVKrIAY1iTzPu2gc7d6w0uUp37EeINODLuIwJpM6pvklbVWkYPraKUuE
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