In India, the transgender population has a number of challenges, including difficulty with marriage, property, electoral rights, and adoption, to name a few. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha in 2016 following the judgment in the case of National Legal Service Authority v. Union of India. This measure addresses the community’s right of residence but not its inheritance rights. They are not awarded the status of coparcener in the Joint Hindu Family or as a legal heir to their parents’ separate property because of their gender identification.
Individuals of any age or sex who depart from expectations about how men and women are “supposed” to be in terms of appearance, personal attributes, or behaviour are referred to as transgender. Since the beginning of recorded history, transgender people have existed in every country, race, and social level. Transgender is a broad term that refers to someone whose identity or behaviour deviates from standard gender norms.
The Supreme Court established the “third gender” status for hijras or transgenders in the landmark case of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) v. Union of India. Previously, individuals were required to write male or female in order to avoid being labeled as such. The Supreme Court ordered that transsexual people be treated as socially and economically backward.
The state must now ensure that all people are granted legal capacity in civil matters without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as the ability to exercise that capacity, including equal rights to administer, own, acquire (including through inheritance), manage, enjoy, and dispose of the property.
PROBLEMS FACED BY TRANSGENDERS: Discrimination, a lack of educational opportunities, unemployment, a lack of shelter, a lack of medical services such as HIV care and hygiene, depression, hormone pill abuse, tobacco, and alcohol abuse, and issues relating to marriage, property, electoral rights, and adoption are among the issues that transgender people face.
The Ministry of Law and Ministry of Social Justice, as well as state governments, must recognize transgender people’s plight and work toward much-needed reform. There are many socio-cultural groups of transgender individuals in India, including hijras/kinnars, as well as other transgender identities such as Shiv-Shaktis, jogtas, jogappas, Aradhis, Sakhi, and others.
These socio-cultural groupings, however, do not represent all transgender people; there may be individuals who do not belong to any of the categories but are transgender. Despite the lack of a precise and trustworthy estimate of transgender persons, it cannot be argued that their number is insignificant when compared to the country’s total population.
From time to time, reports of harassment, assault, denial of services, and unjust treatment of transgender people in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations have been discussed in the local media.
PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR THE TRANSGENDERS: All of the rules of the land should be applied to them as they would to anyone else. They should be treated fairly, with respect, and without prejudice. They should not be discriminated against whether applying for jobs, going to public places, owning property, or seeking justice. Civil rights, such as the ability to obtain a passport or ration card, write a will, inherit property, and adopt children, must be open to all regardless of gender/sexual identities.
India’s policy of only recognizing two sexes and refusing to accept transgender people as third sex has stripped them of many rights that Indian citizens take for granted. These rights include the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to marry, the right to claim a formal identity via a passport and ration card, a driver’s license, and the right to education, employment, and health care, among others. Hijras are cut off from the fabric of Indian civil society as a result of such discrimination.
A ‘hijra’ woman was allowed to obtain property from her Guru, according to the MP High Court, because the court acknowledged that the community cannot transfer property to anybody outside of the community. The court expressly recognizes the existence of a unique ‘eunuch’ class with its own customs and rituals that must be observed in this decision.
CONCLUSION: When it comes to the third gender, the Hindu Succession Act is silent. It describes exactly what a Hindu is and who falls under that description. The Act establishes a standard and comprehensive inheritance system that applies to both Mitakshara and Dayabhaga school students. This law also specifies a person.
This Act applies to anyone who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments, including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat, or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana, or Arya Samaj, as well as anyone who is Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh by religion, or anyone else who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Jew by religion, unless it can be proven that the concerned person would not have been Males and females are both granted property ownership by the same person, with no mention of the third gender. After 2005, there have not been any substantial changes.
Aishwarya Says:
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