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Discrimination on gender*Column "The World Today" published on March 22, 2000 An interesting news story run by AFP from New Delhi said that an Indian eunuch by becoming the first ever state elected legislature has created history. Shabnam Maasi, an independent candidate from Maduya Paradesh has defeated congress party by securing 178,363 more votes. Commenting on the very victory Khairate Lal Bhola, founder of all India Hijra Kalayan Sabha (Eunuchs Welfare Society) has said that the victory was a landmark achievement for 1.2 million eunuchs scattered around the country. He said "it is a great day, a great victory. I salute the people who voted Shabnam to power." During the first year of twenty first century this news is but a glimpse on the crusade for emancipation from the clutches of discrimination. Here Shabnam prevailed upon discrimination on gender, which is a sin according to Human Rights. Of course in the countries like India where all sorts of discriminations form part of natural dwelling such a success is the direct out come of democracy. Still practicing democracy for the last half a century one can't say that discrimination has ended in India once for all. In fact discrimination happens to be having unlimited phases and shapes. Discrimination on religion, race, sex, colour, creed...all with their unlimited phases are a routine fact of life in the third world countries. The UN charter has generalized all such discriminations terming its practices as illegal and contrary to the dictates of rule of Law. Despite all such safeguards and warnings India being a Museum of religions, civilizations, languages, cultures and ideologies fact of prevalence of discrimination is a sad reality. The discrimination on religion was in fact responsible for the partition of India in 1947 that led t the foundation of Pakistan, a country for the Indian Muslims. Still within the Hindu social structure there is a many-folded practices of discrimination on the basis of classes and creed of individuals. Being a male dominated society here the theory and practice of discrimination of gender is not surprising. The life of women folk in Indian social structure has never been an encouraging sign. And at the end of all this hierarchy occurs those called eunuchs. Hence one can imagine how miserable span of life they might have. Their destinies have thus landed them either to stay as a house hold servant with some wealthy home or earn daily food by working day and night on music and dancing for the pleasure of the masses. In any case eunuchs are to live at the edge of the society. And since they are not males nor females, but people of a third gender that nature has bestowed upon them so the normal folks have condemned them to a cruel inhuman discrimination. It is but sad. This makes one wonder as when in the countries like India all such practices could be brought on the anvil of Human Rights? I think the victory of Shabnam is a tilt in the very direction.
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