Assam CM has Insulted the Transgenders of Assam: Swati Bidhan Baruah
- Jun 22, 2019,
- Updated Jun 22, 2019, 1:43 AM IST
Guwahati, June 22, 2019:
Founder of All Assam Transgender Association (AATA), Swati Bidhan Baruah expressed grief over the welcoming of a transgender “Bhawani Maa” from a different state during the “Ambubachi Mela” and claimed that it is an extreme insult to the transgender community in Assam as Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal never looked into the issues of the community of his own state.
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Swati Bidhan Baruah in a telephonic interview with Inside Northeast said, “Transgender community who are fighting for so long in Assam for their existence and now the Government is ready to come up with a separate Assam specific transgender policy. However, the Chief Minister of the state till date has not sat down with the community to know about their issues and problems pertaining to their rights. In that case, welcoming some other transgender from outside with such warmth is very insulting for the community. The transgender living here and fighting for their rights from a long period of time felt insulted because ‘never, neither’ the state government have ever called them or welcomed them in a proper manner.”
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“So welcoming a transgender from other state has created a chaos among the community and kind of insulted the domicile transgender of Assam,” she added.
The Transgender activist also mentioned that the community is not against any transgender working but our point is that the Assam’s transgender should have the first preference in any event. “If the State Government takes initiative for the domicile transgender of the state, it will be a good and efficient step. But sidelining the domicile community and welcoming others will be taken as an insult to transgender children of Assam,” added Swati.
Expressing grief over the neglect felt by the community, the activist further said, “I’m also a member of the Trans Committee on Transgender, Government of Assam. Apart from me, the government has also taken noble initiatives. But the CM of Assam has never travelled back and thoroughly discuss the issue of the community.”