Mamun Molla alias Tanisha Yasmin Chaity has been seeking legal recognition as a hijra for nearly a decade. Although born male, she does not identify herself as a male.
Standing 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 60kg, she has always been more comfortable identifying as a female.
In her own words, she described herself as a transgender woman. But the law, while it recognises three distinct genders, is ambiguous about the exact status transgender people. The government officially recognised hijra as a third gender on January 26, 2014.
Hijra has traditionally referred to intersex people, referred to by the now obsolete term hermaphrodite, who exhibit physical or genetical variations on the male-female divide. Transgender people on the other hand, are those who are born with one gender and wish to switch to another gender. Some people may be both intersex and transgender.
Gender, which is a social construction, is a question of self-identity. Sex assignment is a question genetics and the physical expression of genitalia.
Chaity has now applied to the National Human Rights Commission chairman seeking permission to be officially recognised as a hijra.
She told the Dhaka Tribune over the telephone that she wanted to live her life as a woman. And she wanted the legal right to use and be addressed by her feminine name. Since the law cannot accommodate a switch from male to female status, Chaity is seeking recognition as a hijra to legitimise her feminine self-identity.
This official recognition would be reflected in all of her official documents and identity papers.
Chaity’s lifestyle, manner of dress, behaviour, and manner of speech are feminine. Two years ago, she underwent surgery to remove her penis. She changed her name in an affidavit from Mamun Molla to Tanisha Yasmin Chaity.
The human rights commission directed the forensic medicine department of Dhaka Medical College (DMC) to carry out the first ever gender identification test in Bangladesh.
The test offered evidence of Chaity’s sex assignment. It was not clear how gender identity would be established from the medical examination.
A four member medical board consisting of two forensic medicine specialists, a gynecologist and an anatomist, headed by Professor Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury, head of the forensic medicine department, conducted the examination and submitted the report.
The other board members were Professor Dr Ferdousi Islam, head of the gynaecology department, Professor Dr Shamim Ara, head of the anatomy department and Dr Momtaz Ara, lecturer in forensic medicine at DMC.
When asked about the medical tests, Chaity yesterday said to the Dhaka Tribune over the telephone from Patuakhali: “I don’t understand the law but I want recognition to live my life fully and with dignity.”
Chaity said: “Although I was born a male child, I later found that I had the characteristics of a female. I have already changed my name to Chaity through an affidavit.”
“Maybe I am genetically male but I am totally female in nature and mind,” she said.
“If the board truly considered my problems they would not recognise me as male. I consider myself a female and I want to live as a female,” she added.
It was learnt that the medical board had conducted both physical and internal tests. The tests included an X-ray of the whole abdomen, karyotyping and an ultrasonogram of the external genital tract.
Professor Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune it was the most unique test he had ever conducted in his 25 year career as a doctor.
He said the medical tests showed Tanisha Yasmin Chaity was genetically male.
Look back of life
Tanisha Yasmin Chaity was a male baby. She was born in Jadovlakkhikol village of Rajbari district on December 1, 1990. Her parents named her Mamun Molla. Her father’s name is Moslem Molla.
Dr Momtaz Ara, a forensic doctor and a member of the medical board charged with determining Chaity’s gender, told the Dhaka Tribune that Chaity said in her personal statement that while in class eight she felt a difference between herself and the boys.
Her face seemed more feminine and she preferred to express behaviours and attitudes more common among girls than boys. When she was young, Chaity’s penis was very small and she lacked testes, the doctor said.
Finishing school and sitting for the higher secondary examinations was a struggle, Chaity says.
Her father didn’t take Chaity’s gender identification easily. Her father threw her out of the house. She took shelter with the hijra society in Rajbari and continued her schooling from there.
After passing the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations in 2007 she passed her Higher Secondary School Certificate examinations in 2009. Her SSC and HSC certificates list her name as Mamun Molla.
But her voter identification card issued on October 7, 2010, lists her name as Tanisha Yasmin Chaity. On July 7, 2012, Dr Golam Rahman Shajahan, assistant professor of the burn and plastic surgery unit of Savar Gono University Medical College, performed a surgical operation to remove Chaity’s penis.
On December 9, 2012, Tanisha applied to the Rajbari court to change her name but the court suggested that she undergo a medical test to ascertain her gender.
Chaity applied to the National Human Rights Commission on April 8, 2014, seeking permission to be recognised as a hijra.
Hosne Ara Akhter, additional district and sessions judge, issued a letter on May 15 to the principal of DMC to carry out the necessary tests to ascertain Chaity’s gender identity.
When asked about the problematic results with the identity tests, Chaity yesterday said to the Dhaka Tribune over the phone: “I don’t want to understand the law, I just to be recognised for who I am.”
