Living a Trans Life in Kashmir's conservative society





Manne, a transgender who lives in Srinagar's Downtown, says she suffers various challenges in the Kashmiri society, including physical assault recently that resulted in her leg being broken.

It is the month of June. The long stretch of Pride. Large organizations all throughout the planet are adding pride banners to their Social Media Profiles. Activists are fighting for LGBTQ Rights. NGO's are helping the LGTBQ people group every which way. People are taking out pride rallies around the globe in solidarity with the LGBT community. Pride banners are seen everywhere.

In any case, in Kashmir, things appear to be the exceptionally inverse. 

She goes by the nickname Manne, however Manzoor Ahmad is the name given to him when she was born. She is 38 as of today.

For as far back as 19 years, she has been matchmaking, dancing and singing at Weddings. 

Manzoor wears a Lehanga as a camouflage, however says these don't help in numerous cases since she has masculine lookup, facial hair and a way of walking that draws consideration. In a recent incident, her left leg was broken when she was attacked by a bunch of youth, not long after she left a marriage. 

"They, by one way or the other, got my WhatsApp number. They made fun of me by calling me 'laanc’, ( A Kashmiri word for transgenders.) They sent me filthy pictures, and asked me to sext." said Manzoor. 

She says she is frequently abused by individuals when she is out. "I face discriminatory treatment while I travel in Public Transport or stroll outside." Manzoor said. 

Manzoor says she has a "solid interest" in make-up, yet she keeps it covered up. 

"Individuals don't get us, We are seen as sub-par. We live a troublesome life and we keep ourselves hidden. I used to earn around thirty thousand rupees each month, yet right now, I scarcely acquire a thousand." said Manzoor, complaining how hard things have been after the revocation of Article 35A or the Coronavirus.

"Individuals take a gander at us with eyes that are giggling at us," said Manzoor whose life has been a misfortune of abuse, harassment and misuse. 

"Nobody sits close to us and some even say we are a plague. Yet, we're not. We are people. We are individuals. What is wrong with us? This is what our identity is, This is who we are." she said, with a radiant yellow scarf over her shoulders. 

She goes to weddings and gatherings - wearing cosmetics - yet says she needs to watch out. 

Manzoor said she learnt how to dance in Delhi in 2010 after she went to sing for a Kashmiri Pandit family in the City.

Following 38 years, Manzoor says she is at last addressing the media about her circumstance. Despite the fact that she conceded that she has dealt with numerous issues subsequent to addressing the media. 

As a child too, she had a traumatic life. She never interacted or played with children.

"My cohorts used to troll me and pull down my jeans while I was in School. I left School in light of those reasons." says Manzoor. 

She says she is one of the thousands in the transgender community in Kashmir, a community of separated, beset individuals. 

As she described how her parents abandoned him when she was only 16, and her siblings beat him and offended him, tears streamed down her cheeks and her voice cracked. Finally, she fled to live with her aunt, in a tin-shed in derelict conditions. 
She went to a marriage with her aunt one fine day, where she encountered a group of transgenders and discovered acceptance inside the transgender community.

She has quit going out after nightfall on account of provocation and misuse. 

"The only thing I wish to say is nobody should suffer like transgenders do." said Manzoor, while in tears. "Individuals treat us more awful than canines. They attack us, troll us and attempt to molest us," she said, even in marriages that she just attended.

The LGBTQ community has had it's own share of tribulations in Kashmir, be it political problems or social exclusions. A profound and ongoing effort would be needed for the community to become mainstream. Although securing the rights of the community, for now at least, seems a distant dream in a conflict-stricken state such as Kashmir.

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