Hyderabad: North-Eastern, transgender people become the butt of cynicism

Hyderabad: Discrimination and mocking has never been new to the people of north-eastern states and the transgender community living in the city. The locals and students of the north-east states are being mocked with names such as 'Corona' and 'Virus.'

Speaking to THI, Elsie L'hous, an MNC employee in Madhapur and native of Mizoram, said, "The mongoloid features I have are alarmingly unwelcoming now. It always was unwelcoming and it will be. I go through the plight of bearing suspicious looks while purchasing antibiotics and medicines for my sinusitis as I look Chinese. People need to understand that we just have few features as the people of China and that doesn't mean we are here to spread the virus."

"A few days back, when I went to a super market to get some groceries, a few men were staring at me as if I was a germ or something worse than that. Then later, they started seeing me and made some vulgar expressions and made a comment saying 'Mask lagao Corona failega.' This was very disturbing for me for sure," said a student of Wesley Degree college, Secunderabad, who did not want to be named. He is a native of Tripura.

While the COVID-19 has become a reason for the north-east locals of the city to be mocked, the transgender community has also become a target of ridicule. Some unknown miscreants have put up some transphobic posters at Ameerpet Metro Station on Sunday. The issue was highlighted when Meera Sanghamitra, transgender rights activist from Telangana and National Convenor of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), tweeted about the issue and requested the Hyderabad police to take action against such miscreants.

The poster written in Telugu reads, 'Warning: Do not allow Kojja, Hijras near the shops. If you talk to them or have sex with them, you will be infected with Coronavirus. Beat and drive them away or call 100 immediately. Save people from Corona Virus Hijras."