Achi news desk-
Kicked out of other prayer services, members of Bangladesh’s transgender hijra community have been welcomed into a new mosque in the Muslim-majority nation with the promise of worship without discrimination.
The modest structure — a one-room shed with walls and a tin-roofed roof — is a new community center for the minority, which has enjoyed greater legal and political recognition in recent years but still suffers of prejudice that is long entrenched.
“From now on, no one can deny a hijra from praying in our mosque,” said community leader Joyita Tonu in a speech to the packed audience.
“No one can mock us,” added the visibly emotional 28-year-old, a white scarf covering her hair.
The mosque was built near Mymensingh, north of the capital Dhaka on the banks of the Brahmaputra river, on land donated by the government after the city’s hijra community was expelled from an established congregation.
“I never dreamed that I could pray in a mosque again in my life,” said Sonia, 42, who as a child loved reciting the Koran and studying at an Islamic seminary.
But when she came out as a hijra, as transgender women in South Asia are commonly known, she was prevented from praying in a mosque.
“People would say to us: ‘Why are you hijra people here in the mosques? You should pray at home. Don’t come to the mosques,’” Sonia, who uses only one name, told AFP.
“It was embarrassing for us, so we didn’t go,” he added. “Now, this is our mosque. Now, no one can say no. “
‘Like any other people’
Hijra have been the beneficiaries of increasing legal recognition in Bangladesh, which since 2013 has officially allowed members of the community to identify as a third gender.
Several have entered Bangladeshi politics, with one transgender woman elected mayor of a rural town in 2021.
But hijra still struggle for basic recognition and acceptance, lacking property and marriage rights.
They are also often discriminated against in employment and are much more likely to suffer violent crime and poverty than the average Bangladeshi.
Hardline Islamist groups have also ruled out recognizing transgender Bangladeshis in school textbooks, leading rallies to demand that the government abandon its campaign to include them in the curriculum.
Mufti Abdur Rahman Azad, the founder of the hijra charity, told AFP that the new mosque was the first of its kind in the country.
A similar effort planned in another city was stopped last month after a protest by locals, he added.
Dozens of local hijra women donated time and money to build the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender, which opened this month.
It also has a cemetery, after a local Muslim cemetery last year refused to bury a young hijra woman within its grounds.
The mosque’s imam, Abdul Motaleb, 65, said the persecution of the hijra community was against the teachings of his faith.
“They are like any other people created by Allah”, the cleric told AFP.
‘No one can be denied’
“We are all human beings. Some may be men, some women, but all are human. Allah revealed the Holy Koran to everyone, so everyone has the right to pray, no one can be denied.”
Motaleb said other Bangladeshis could learn from the faith and strength of the hijra.
“Since I have been here in this mosque, I have been impressed by their character and actions,” he said.
The new mosque is already tackling bigotry. Local resident Tofazzal Hossain, 53, has offered Friday prayers there for the second consecutive week.
He said living and praying with the hijra community changed his “misconceptions” about them.
“When they started living with us, many people said many things,” he told AFP.
“But we’ve realized what people are saying is not right. They live righteously like other Muslims”.
Tonu hopes to expand the simple mosque to be large enough to accommodate more people.
“God willing, we will do it very soon,” he told AFP.
“Hundreds of people can offer prayers together.”
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP)
