[IMC Bombay] Hijra Habba 2002 in Bangalore

[PUKAR @ IndyMedia]

From: <sangama@sangamaonline.org>

             HIJRA HABBA 2002

Hijras of Bangalore and SANGAMA invite you to participate in the
'Hijra Habba 2002', a festival for hijras, in Bangalore. The
festival will comprise of sports, cultural events and talks on
hijra issues.  Please attend in large numbers and make it a big
success.

DATE   24th August 2002, Saturday
VENUE  YMCA Grounds, Opposite St. Martha's Hospital, Nrupatunga
Road, Bangalore(Next to Reserve Bank of India, near Hudson
Circle/Corporation Circle)
TIME   1 pm to 8 pm

                     PROGRAMME SCHEDULE

1:00pm    Registration for the participants (sports and cultural
events)
1:30pm    Inauguration
2:00pm    Games/Sports
             * Musical Chairs
             * Walking Race (Fast Walking)
             * Bombing the City
             * Lemon & Spoon
             * Sack Race
             * Tug of War
4:00pm    Tea/Coffee
4:30pm    Cultural events
             * Solo Dancing (Audio Tapes/CDs should be brought by
participants)
             * Beauty Contest

           Talks by Hijra Activists and other Social Activists

7:15pm    Prize Distribution and Concluding Ceremony
7:45pm    Dinner

(Eligibility to participate in the sports and cultural events:
Hijras and Kothis in satla(women's attire))

For more details, contact: Sangama, Flat 13, 3rd Floor, Royal
Park Apartments, 34 Park Road, Tasker Town, Bangalore - 51,
Phone: 2868680/2868121, Email: sangama@sangamaonline.org (Next to
the back gate of 'Hotel Harsha', near Shivaji Nagar Bus Stand)

Organised by: LEO CLUBS OF DISTRICT 324D1 and YMCA - Bangalore
(in association with SANGAMA)

BACKGROUND:Hijra - a transgender identity in the south Asian
context who is born biologically male or intersexed and undergoes
a process of castration as they are woman identified or identify
closely with the female gender. Hijras in India have their own
form of social organization and form a parallel society. Hijras
in Bangalore are a community that is forced to live under
constant harassment from the rest of the society and the Police.
Unlike in North India, the hijras in South India do not have the
cultural role of performing badhai' blessings)and
usually run 'hamams' (bath houses).

The moment a person decides to assert their gender identity as a
hijra, the family casts them out of the house. The family's
rejection is often conditioned by the wider societal intolerance
towards gender non-conformity.  Hijras find it extremely
difficult to get suitable employment of their choice. Due to
social discrimination in employment most of them are forced into
sex work.

Hijras normally live in working class areas where they find
relative acceptance in their chosen profession of running hamams.
Hijras are often harassed and abused on the street by the police
and with the general public as amused bystanders or active
participants.

The hazards faced by hijras in undergoing castration (as sex re-
assignment surgeries are beyond their economic reach) are an
aspect of their poverty, which
puts good medical care out of their reach as well as their social
position as a despised underclass, which makes their lives cheap
and dispensable.

Kothis - in the South Asian context, are homosexual/bisexual men
who identify themselves as being feminine and consider themselves
close to the hijras. They usually do not dress in satla (women's
attire)

In Solidarity,

Famila, Nithin and Revathi
_____

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