Hijra Habba 2002

[Guest guest]

Dear Friend(s),

Hijras of Bangalore and SANGAMA invite you to

participate in the 'Hijra Habba 2002', a festival for

hijras, in the city of Bangalore. The festival will

comprise of sports, cultural events and talks on

hijra issues. Please attend in large numbers and

make it a big success.

DATE 24th August 2002, Saturday

VENUE YMCA Grounds, Opposite St. Martha's

Hospital,Nrupatunga Road, Bangalore (Next to Reserve

Bank of India, near Hudson Circle/Corporation Circle)

TIME 1 pm to 8 pm

Programme Schedule

1:00pm Registration for the participants (sports

and cultural events)

1:30pm Inaguration

2:00pm Games/Sports

# Musical Chairs

# Walking Race (Fast Walking)

# Bombing the City

# Lemon & Spoon

# Sack Race

# Tug of War

4:00pm Tea/Coffee

4:30pm Cultural events

# Solo Dancing (AudioTapes/CDs should be brought by

participants)

# Beauty Contest

# Talks by Hijra Activists and other Social

Activists

7:15pm Prize Distribution and Concluding

Ceremony

7:45pm Dinner

(Eligibility to participate in the sports and

cultural events is restricted to Hijras and Kothis in

satla (women's attire))

Organised by: LEO CLUBS OF DISTRICT 324D1 and

YMCA-Bangalore (in association with SANGAMA)

Background: Hijra - a transgender identity in the

south asian context who is born biologically male or

intersexed and undergoes a process of castration as

they are woman identified or identify closely with

the female gender. Hijras in India have their own

form of social organization and form a parallel

society. Hijras in Bangalore are a community that is

forced to live under constant harassment from the

rest of the society and the Police. Unlike in North

India, the hijras in South India do not have the

cultural role of performing 'badhai' (blessings)and

usually run ‘hamams’ (bath houses.

The moment a person decides to assert their gender

identity as a hijra, the family casts them out of the

house. The family’s rejection is often conditioned by

the wider societal intolerance towards gender non-

conformity. Hijras find it extremely difficult to

get suitable employment of their choice. Due to

social discrimination in employment most of them are

forced into sex work.

Hijras normally live in working class areas where

they find relative acceptance in their chosen

profession of running hamams.Hijras are often

harassed and abused on the street by the police and

with the general public as amused bystanders or

active participants.

The hazards faced by hijras in undergoing castration

(as sex re-assignment surgeries are beyond their

economic reach) are an aspect of their poverty, which

puts good medical care out of their reach as well as

their social position as a despised underclass, which

makes their lives cheap and dispensable.

Kothis - in the South Asian context, are

homosexual/bisexual men who identify themselves as

being feminine and consider themselves close to the

hijras. They normally do not dress in satla (women's

attire)

In Solidarity,

Famila, Nithin and Revathi

For Sangama

E-mail: sangama@...

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