(Photo courtesy of Saraban Tahura)
The political turmoil in Bangladesh that led to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and subsequent decision to flee the country on Aug. 5 has left the LGBTQ community under unprecedented threat.
The Washington Blade this week heard harrowing accounts of targeted violence and intimidation that has forced many LGBTQ Bangladeshis to go into hiding. Factions seeking to exploit the power vacuum in the wake of Hasina’s resignation have made this situation worse.
Tushar Kanti Baidya, program director of Inclusive Bangladesh, a local NGO and transgender-led LGBTQ youth organization, said a more sinister development has overshadowed the ongoing protests against Hasina’s job quota policies.
He noted the recent rise of right-wing political parties, which have spearheaded anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ movements, poses an even greater threat to the community. Badiya fears the lives of local trans activists are now in grave danger as these groups move to align themselves with the newly formed interim government. This alliance, he says, not only encourages those who wish to silence them but also creates an environment where hate and violence could escalate unchecked.
“The quota that has been reserved for disability and transgender people are only for those who are physically disabled and intersex people,” said Baidya. “In Bangladesh, by the common people, transgender refers to intersex people. Some of the (leaders) of the protesters deny the existence of transformation from male to female or vice versa and continuously opposition to include transgenders into the quota but intersex people.”
Baidya said trans activists had initially raised the issue of their inclusion in the job quota system nearly two years ago, well before the current crisis emerged. The trans and LGBTQ communities, however, chose not to participate in the quota demand. Baidya said fear drove this decision, noting anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans rhetoric from some quota reform movement leaders grew more intense.
While some trans people have supported the broader student movement that demanded Hasina’s resignation, they have been cautious about specifically advocating for the quota reserved for them because they were wary of the potential backlash. Baidya emphasized this reluctance reflects the severe risks and hostility the community faces in this fraught political climate.
Baidya told the Blade that despite Hasina’s government’s problematic human rights record and her autocratic regime, it is noteworthy that LGBTQ and other minority groups felt relatively safe when she was in office and were able to conduct their advocacy work with minimal government interference. The trans community, in particular, saw significant benefits that included increased social support, greater acceptance in mainstream jobs, and even successful bids for local government positions.
Baidya pointed out Inclusive Bangladesh Executive Director Sanjiboni Sudha, and Saraban Tahura, the group’s project coordinator, are among those who anti-trans activists publicly targeted, publishing their photos and sharing their personal information.
This targeted harassment, according to Baidya, underscores the dangerous shift in the current political environment, where the progress made under the previous government is now at risk.
“Currently, we are processing some of our staff’s asylum process and also trying to facilitate to relocate them into a safe place or out of the country and also sending advisories and security suggestions to the community members,” Baidya told the Blade
US State Department spokesperson condemns ‘all recent acts of violence’
Hasina fled Bangladesh after protesters stormed her official residence on Monday.
She has been in India, where she met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The political unrest — and anti-government protests that have taken place across Bangladesh in recent weeks —has left upwards of 300 people dead and many others injured. At least 94 people were killed on Sunday, the deadliest day since the protests began.
Students in Bangladesh began demonstrating against the government, demanding reforms to the civil service quota system. Protests argue loyalists of Hasina’s ruling party, the Awami League, disproportionately benefited from the existing quotas.
“We condemn all recent acts of violence in Bangladesh,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday during his daily press briefing in Washington. “We support the freedom of peaceful assembly.”
“We condemn violence against those who are exercising their peaceful right to assembly. And we condemn violence on behalf of any protester who has turned their peaceful exercises simply into an excuse for violence,” he added. “We condemn violence in all cases.”
Tahura, a trans activist in Bangladesh, spoke exclusively with the Blade.
She said the situation of the LGBTQ community since Hasina’s resignation is out of control.
Saraban told the Blade she is now safe after she sought refuge in a shelter away from her home. Saraban said the escalating violence and targeted harassment made it imperative for her to find a secure location to avoid the growing threats.
“This is very difficult for us,” said Saraban. “We are facing threats from anti-LGBTQ groups in Bangladesh. They are telling the LGBTQ community that your story ends now. They are telling us that there is no place for LGBTQ people in Bangladesh. They only want to only recognize (the) hijra community. We are not hijra, but transgenders, so our situation is really bad.”
Hijra or kinner on the Indian subcontinent are intersex or eunuch people. The hijra community has a distinctive social structure, traditions, and rituals.
Saraban told the Blade the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Jamaat-e-Islami (Jamaat) are related and often align with each other.
She said she went into hiding under the previous government. Jamaat, which is anti-LGBTQ, has resurfaced in the wake of Hasina’s resignation and is now threatening Saraban and other LGBTQ activists.
“It is a dangerous situation for the LGBTQ community, mostly, three activists are targeted in our country,” said Saraban. “Other than me, Ho Chi Minh Islam, and Sanjiboni Shudha, are the three most popular transgender activists in Bangladesh.”
“We are in very grave risk,” added Saraban.
Saraban said she and other activists are looking to escape the country for their own safety. She told the Blade that although she does not want to leave Bangladesh, the situation is not safe for her or the community.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
