By the use of AFP
March 30, 2024 | 3:35 PM
Members of Bangladesh's transgender hijra neighborhood have been kicked out of different prayer companies and welcomed into a brand new mosque within the Muslim-majority nation with the promise of worship with out discrimination. The straightforward constructing – a one-room shed with partitions and a roof clad in tin – is a brand new neighborhood middle for the minority, who…
Members of Bangladesh's transgender hijra neighborhood have been kicked out of different prayer companies and welcomed into a brand new mosque within the Muslim-majority nation with the promise of worship with out discrimination.
The modest construction – a one-room shed with partitions and roof clad in tin – is a brand new neighborhood middle for the minority, which has loved better authorized and political recognition in recent times however nonetheless suffers from deep-seated prejudice.
“Any longer, nobody may be denied a hijra when praying in our mosque,” neighborhood chief Joyita Tonu stated in a speech to the packed congregation.
“Nobody can mock us,” added the visibly emotional 28-year-old, sporting a white scarf over her hair.
The mosque at Mymensingh, north of the capital Dhaka on the banks of the Brahmaputra River, was constructed on land donated by the federal government after the town's hijra neighborhood was expelled from a longtime municipality.
“I by no means dreamed in my life that I might have the ability to pray in a mosque once more,” stated Sonia, 42, who loved reciting the Quran as a toddler and studied at an Islamic seminary.
However when she got here out as a hijra, as transgender ladies in South Asia are generally identified, she was not allowed to wish in a mosque.
“Individuals stated to us: 'Why are you hijra individuals right here within the mosques? It’s essential to pray at dwelling. Don't come to the mosques,” Sonia, who makes use of just one identify, informed AFP.
On this picture taken on March 22, 2024, members of the transgender neighborhood and native residents pray Friday prayers through the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan on the Dakshin Char Kalibari Mosque for the third gender, in Mymensingh. (Picture by REHMAN ASAD / AFP) /
“It was a disgrace for us, so we didn't go,” she added. “That is our mosque. Now nobody can say no.”
– 'Similar to all different individuals' –
Hijra has benefited from rising authorized recognition in Bangladesh, permitting neighborhood members to formally determine as a 3rd gender since 2013.
A number of have entered Bangladeshi politics, with one transgender girl being elected mayor of a rural city in 2021.
However hijra nonetheless wrestle for fundamental recognition and acceptance, and lack property and marriage rights.
They’re additionally usually discriminated in opposition to within the labor market and are more likely to turn into victims of violent crime and poverty than the common Bangladeshi inhabitants.
Hardline Islamist teams have additionally lashed out on the recognition of transgender Bangladeshis in class textbooks, resulting in demonstrations to demand the federal government abandon its efforts to incorporate them within the curriculum.
Mufti Abdur Rahman Azad, founding father of a hijra charity, informed AFP that the brand new mosque was the primary of its type within the nation.
The same initiative deliberate in one other metropolis was halted final month after a protest from locals, he added.
On this picture taken on March 22, 2024, Joyita Tonu, a frontrunner of the transgender neighborhood, performs ablution earlier than providing prayers on the Dakshin Char Kalibari Third Gender Mosque in Mymensingh. (Picture by REHMAN ASAD/AFP)
Dozens of native hijra ladies donated money and time to construct the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender, which opened this month.
It additionally has a cemetery, after an area Muslim cemetery refused to bury a younger hijra girl on the location final yr.
The mosque's imam, Abdul Motaleb, 65, stated the persecution of the hijra neighborhood was in opposition to the teachings of his religion.
“They’re like all different individuals created by Allah,” the cleric informed AFP.
– 'Nobody may be denied' –
“We’re all human. Possibly some are males, some are ladies, however they’re all human. Allah has revealed the Holy Quran to everybody, so everybody has the suitable to wish, nobody may be denied.”
Motaleb stated different Bangladeshis may study from the religion and energy of the hijra.
“Since I’ve been right here on this mosque, I’ve been impressed by their character and actions,” he stated.
The brand new mosque already tackles prejudices. Native resident Tofazzal Hossain, 53, stated Friday prayers there for the second week in a row.
He stated dwelling and praying with the hijra neighborhood has modified his “misconceptions” about them.
“Once they got here to stay with us, lots of people stated a number of issues,” he informed AFP.
'However now we have realized that what individuals say is just not true. They stay righteously, similar to different Muslims.”
Tonu hopes to develop the easy mosque in order that it’s massive sufficient to accommodate extra individuals.
“God keen, we are going to do it very quickly,” she informed AFP.
“A whole lot of individuals can pray collectively.”
