A legal notice has been sent to different ministries demanding monthly stipends, separate educational institutions and civic facilities to the marginalized hijra community.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Mahmudul Hasan sent this notice on Wednesday to the secretaries of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Law.
The notice requested the authorities to ensure the constitutional rights of hijras within 30 days of receiving the legal notice and take appropriate steps for the welfare of the community.
Otherwise, a writ petition will be filed with the High Court as per Article 102 of the constitution in accordance with the instructions of Article 44 of the constitution to implement the constitutional rights of the hijra community.
According to the notice, the hijra community is the most neglected community in Bangladesh. They are isolated from families, neglected by society, deprived of educational facilities and discriminated against by the state.
According to Article 28(4) of the Bangladesh Constitution, the government can make special provisions for any backward community in the state. But the sad thing is that the government has failed to take effective steps for this highly neglected community. The Ministry of Social Welfare made a policy for the development of hijras in 2013 but it is limited on paper and has failed to play a proper role in the welfare of hijras, reads the notice.
As a result, hijras are living miserable lives and are forced to seek help from other people for their survival.
The notice also said that since they are identified as hijra since birth, they faced deprivation from their families. Once they are separated from family and society. Apart from this, they cannot study normally in educational institutions due to physical differences. Also they cannot enter normal working life due to state deprivation. As a result, these people live a very hard life, being discriminated against by the state.
The government has been providing monthly facilities to different communities of the country, such as old age allowance for the elderly citizens of the country, monthly allowance for brave freedom fighters, various food assistance for the large population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, etc. But the hijra community is deprived of these and is the most neglected.
Therefore, a monthly allowance should be given to every hijra in the country; separate schools, colleges and universities should be established for them. Apart from this, hijras should be provided employment by the state, the notice demanded.
According to the constitution, all kinds of civil benefits must be ensured for hijras, added the notice.
