The top police officer in Chhattisgarh state, Durgesh Awasthi, has nothing but praise for his new recruits. He suspects, he says, some of them will prove to be “the best cops” the force has ever enlisted.
“They are sensitive, have a high emotional quotient and know not just how the other half lives but what it’s like being on the other side of the law,” said Awasthi.
This month Chhattisgarh became the first Indian state to welcome a cohort of transgender people into its police training college after 13 qualified for the course.
Awasthi had been working with Vidya Rajput, 43, a community leader in the state capital Raipur, to help the force with trans awareness when Rajput decided to push for further progress, remembering her own childhood impression of police officers.
“For me they were godlike figures, the people everyone turned to if they were in any trouble. They were reassuring figures, respected by the public. I wondered why we couldn’t join them and prove that we could be useful citizens too,” she said.
Too old to qualify herself, Rajput mobilised the trans community in Raipur, and 27 took up the challenge.
For the written exam, they studied “like fiends” until 2am for months. Preparing for the physical fitness test was even harder. “Very few of us had any interest in sports. We’re just not keen. The applicants had no sports clothes or trainers,” said Rajput.
The state government stepped in to provide clothing, but the first few weeks at the training ground, where – along with more than 100 other applicants – they were put through their physical paces, were not easy.
“Our bodies didn’t know what had hit them. We had never done any physical exercise. Our joints were swollen and bruised and we had injuries from falling. It was very difficult but Rajput ma’am wouldn’t let us give up,” said new recruit Tanushree Sahu, 25.
The trans recruits had to undergo their training while coping with the stresses of their everyday lives: uncertain income, parental beatings, landlord evictions and harassment. “I was proud of them. You have to realise their lives have been nothing but negativity, isolation and loneliness and suddenly they have to summon up the emotional reserves to make a go of this and they did it,” said Rajput.
When the results were announced and 13 of the 27 trans applicants heard they would be going to the police training academy, there was a sense of euphoria. “I was surprised, but delighted they had made it,” said Awasthi.
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Ever since India’s supreme court 2014 ruling, which overturned colonial-era laws used to criminalise LGBTQ+ people and recognised trans people, or “hijras”, as a “third gender enjoying the same constitutional rights and freedoms as other citizens”, many have felt more positive about their place in society.
But progress has been slow, with trans people still facing stigma and harassment, including from police.
Many are still forced to survive on scraps earned from begging, or from dancing at weddings, but some have managed to find mainstream work.
One high-profile recent example is Dr Aqsa Shaikh, a community medicine specialist, who heads the Covid vaccination campaign at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Delhi.
While there is a smattering of success stories across India, some states are more progressive than others in policies relating to trans people, and Chhattisgarh has emerged as a leader.
The city of Raigarh elected India’s first trans mayor, Madhu Bai Kinnar, in 2015. Another trans woman, Veena Sendre, was chosen as Miss Chhattisgarh 2018. A hospital in Raipur has dedicated times for trans patients, so they can visit without any fear of hostility.
Trans people becoming police constables – from social outcasts to pillars of society – is a journey that has delighted new recruit Sahu. As someone who never used to leave the house without covering her head with a scarf, she feels her life has come full circle.
“I can’t believe that I am going to throw away my scarf for a police uniform,” she said. “It’s something I can’t get my head around.”
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