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This is a preliminary report on the status of trans rights in Uttar Pradesh in light of the most recent reports of casteism and transphobia by some powerful members associated with the UP State Trans Welfare Board. As part of this report, I have spoken to members of the community actively working in the State to secure trans rights. Considering the record of violence, bullying and harassment, all interviewees remain anonymous and every attempt has been made to not reveal their identity markers. The names of alleged abusers and bullies, being persons occupying public positions of power, have been retained.
The report is divided into the following sections:
1. Immediate context
2. Functioning of UP welfare board and status of rights
2(a). Struggle to get ID cards
2(b). Lack of facilities
2(c). Lack of protection in case of discrimination
2(d). Difficulty securing political representation
2(e). What happened to the 200 crores?
2(f). Education, employment and reservations
3. Record of bullying and harassment
3(a). What about transmasculine members of UP?
4. What will the future welfare board look like?
5. History of the Kinnar Akhara and the ghost of Bahuchara
6. Independent enquiry into human rights violations by Kinnar Akhara
1. Immediate context:
On January 8, 2025, UP State Executive Advisor to UP Trans Welfare Board, Devika Devendra S Mangalmukhi, a transgender person belonging to an oppressor caste, filed what could be called a retaliatory FIR against four trans rights activists – Yashika, Grace Banu, Jane Kaushik and Ritwik Das, alleging acts of robbery and threats were committed against her on December 22nd. However, instead of filing such a complaint soon after the alleged incident took place, Devika Devendra S Mangalmukhi sought to file this FIR a week after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) issued a notice, on January 3rd, regarding her casteist harassment of Yashika. Grace is a well-known Dalit trans activist. Yashika is a Dalit trans activist who has worked for securing trans rights in higher education and involved in successful PILs about hostels, welfare board functioning and anti-caste activism in Punjab, Delhi and UP. Jane is an OBC trans activist who has been involved in securing employment rights in Rajasthan, Delhi and UP. Ritwik is a savarna non-binary transfeminist and ally to the horizontal reservation demand working with the people’s movements in UP. A brief report about this can be read at theprobe.in[1].
During the pendency of the above investigations and after Yashika submitted her nomination to the UP trans welfare board, it appears that Devika Devendra S Mangalmukhi has now released allegations to the local Hindi-language UP media claiming that Yashika’s caste and TG certificates are ‘fake’. Through these unsubstantiated media reports Yashika’s and her family’s safety, security and privacy have been severely compromised with details of her family, home address, her deadname, photograph and such being released to the public.
Upon speaking to transgender persons living and working in UP it became clear that this is not an isolated incident and that the environment of fear and inability to secure rights is the reality of trans people in the State. As per the testimonies of community members, this situation is being caused by the overwhelming casteist power of trans persons associated with the Kinnar Akhara, State Welfare Department, and the completely inactive welfare board members.
2. Functioning of UP welfare board and status of rights:
The first UP Kinnar Kalyan Board (UP Trans welfare board) was established in 2021, under the Department of Social Welfare, with 23 members. The details of the members, the government order establishing said welfare board, or any other government order/circular pertaining to trans rights, is not available on the Department of Social Welfare website. This welfare board is said to have had a total of eight members from the transgender community and NGOs working for the transgender community. The Vice-Chairman and seven others. The Vice-Chairman, Sonam Chisti, during her term occupied a position of Minister of State rank. Devika Devendra S Mangalmukhi, as State Executive Advisor to Welfare Department, occupies a position equivalent to a civil servant rank. It is unclear whether she has been given any cabinet or ministerial rank or benefits. In a media interview Devika claims that she started an NGO called Samanta ka Samman. However, no public information about such an NGO appears to be available.
In speaking to community members working in UP it became clear that no one knows the complete details of the membership of the board, the way to contact these members, or any other relevant details required to be available in public. Community informants confirmed that there were no transmasculine or non-binary community members in the board. There was no clarity on the caste, religion and disability composition of the board. In my conversations it came up that there may have been someone from the OBC category and at least one Muslim transgender person coming from the Hijra community, but this could not be confirmed. It was confirmed that the board was largely comprised of Kinnar community representatives closely associated with the ruling party and the Kinnar Akhara started by Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.
Under the State Transgender Welfare Board, District Transgender Welfare Boards (DWBs) – each comprising 15 members, including 2 members from the transgender community – are supposed to be created. There is no information available on the website regarding the past or existing DWBs, their membership or contact details.
Community members who have been associated with the DWBs said that they were approached to be part of the board by district authorities because they were publicly doing work in the community or when they approached the district authorities to secure their cards. A community member from district K said, “When my transgender card application was not being processed, I reached out to the district welfare board and found out that one of the people they have nominated no longer even lives in UP! So, after they came to know about my work, they asked me to be a part of the board.”
2(a). Struggle to get ID cards:
As per the Census 2011, there is an estimated 1.37 lakh transgender persons in the State of UP. As on 29 January 2025 – over five years after the Trans Act 2019, the National Portal for Transgender Persons has received only 1,523 applications for the TG card, of which only 999 have been issued. Any government benefits, including reservations, can only be accessed after securing this card.
According to a community member who runs her own NGO closer to the National Capital Territory, a majority of the transgender persons in UP are struggling to get their TG cards. “For the revised TG cards, in multiple cases the DMs are still seeking surgery certificates, even though the rules say that there only needs to be some ‘medical intervention’. That is, they are refusing to issue revised TG cards with only GID or hormone treatment certificate.”
Speaking about the costs of getting a TG card, she said, “Ideally it should just be about the travel costs, the 10-rupee stamp paper for the affidavit, and the cost of notary. But very often affidavits are not being made when people see the word ‘transgender’ in the affidavit, or lawyers and notaries are overcharging at 500-1000 rupees. Many young trans people are also scared to go get these documents made on their own.”
Two people associated with separate DWBs confirmed that the DWBs have no office, no salary, not even a name board with at least one seat telling people where to come or whom to contact, and absolutely no money. NGOs and individuals have been conducting drives in the community to help people apply for the ID card. This is very different from the functioning of District Women and Child Departments all of which have district-wise details uploaded on the website, offices, contact details, salaries and money.
“We have been asking the DWB…give us one lawyer, one laptop, cover our travel and printing costs so that we can conduct drives among the community to complete ID applications. But they say they don’t have any money,” said a DWB transgender member from district K.
Another DWB member from district A said, “Dus paise nahi hamare liye (they don’t have even ten rupees for us!). When we asked for an office they refused. We have been helping people get ID cards on our own money, and so far, I have only been able to reach about 20-25 people.”
Speaking from district N, a community member stated: “The card is not linked to any scheme, whether Ayushman scheme or any other scheme. So right now it is just an extra document. What is the benefit? At the very least, the State welfare board could have assisted to get the cards for everyone. Even that they have not been able to do.”
A community member said that despite being politically and publicly active, being well-known with district authorities for her work towards political representation, her own application for the Ayushman card has still not been processed. “And the reason they have provided”, she said, “is that even though my Aadhar card has my updated gender identity, the Ration card has not been updated. But the State has itself not created any procedure for updating gender identity in ration cards, so what can I do?”
2(b). Lack of facilities:
As of today, there is only one Garima Greh (transgender shelter) in UP’s Gorakhpur, as listed on the Ministry of Social Justice website.
“Whatever facilities are available today in UP are due to individual efforts of the local community activists, achieved without the support of the State welfare board. Most shelters in the State are NGO-operated and they don’t have basic facilities. If an NGO has multiple projects then they might manage to run the shelter properly,” a community member said.
Community members from district A said that they have been writing letters and making representations to authorities asking for a shelter in their district. But no response has been received and no action has been taken for over a year.
“The government said there might be a housing scheme,” said one trans person, “but even that is not being implemented transparently. May be two or three people, who have connections, may have received some housing support. We don’t really know.”
Speaking about healthcare concerns, a community member recalled, “I came out a little before COVID and I was subjected to conversion therapy where the counsellor and doctor forcibly gave me male hormones, which then caused problems. During COVID, community members who were suffering from AIDS and TB were wrongly diagnosed with COVID and they lost their lives without proper healthcare.
For the past five years we have been struggling with just donations and individual efforts to work with government and get some rights.”
Last year, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow is reported to have inaugurated a six-bed ‘transgender clinical care unit’. However, no one could provide details of the actual status of healthcare or the community’s experience within this unit.
A few activists in different districts have tried to establish toilets for transgender persons, but otherwise that is also not a facility available.
2(c). Lack of protection in case of discrimination:
Community members recorded that there is no common helpline for the community and no social awareness at any level of the government or public about transgender people.
A community member, who was removed from her place of work when they came to know that she is trans, recorded that since she wasn’t from UP she was afraid to go to the police station. But since an FIR would need to be registered she went to the police station. She recalled, “They said they wouldn’t register an FIR, and will only make a preliminary report. They took down my report at the women’s help desk and didn’t even give me a receipt. Ultimately, they didn’t file an FIR and I had to file a court case against the employer.”
“This was quite a well-known case,” she said, “but till date the UP State welfare board or executive advisor, no one issued any statement, conducted any enquiry or offered any support to me. The UP government has also failed to provide any concrete information regarding steps they are taking to end discrimination or safeguard rights of transgender persons.”
Another person recounted, “I live on rent with my partner. One of our neighbours found out about my identity, attacked us and threatened to kill me. When we went to the police station I contacted the executive advisor Devika Devendra S Mangalmukhi, but when I spoke to her she just cut my call.”
2(d). Difficulty securing political representation:
For many older community members who no longer have the possibility of accessing education but have extensive community knowledge and desire to bring change, participating in elections is an important step. However, to be able to participate in one’s own identity is a difficult proposition.
Speaking from district A, one community activist shared her experience. “In the 2022 State elections I filed papers to contest as an independent MLA. Even though I lost, I felt victorious for trying and canvassing and going through the process. It was extremely difficult with the kind of documents they were asking for nominations: income tax, electricity bill, water bill, this bill, that bill. Finally, it was only with the help of an advocate I was able to file my nomination.
“Again in 2023, I tried to contest for the local body elections. But the nomination forms didn’t have a transgender column, only male and female; and there was no transgender quota for participating in the local elections.”
In the past five years or so there have been at least two reports of Kinnars from UP getting elected to local bodies. When asked about this she said, “You should ask them which column they ticked.”
2(e). What happened to the 200 crores?
In the year 2022, there were multiple media reports claiming that UP has proposed a budget of 200 crores for transgender welfare and will conduct a census[2],[3]. However, no one from the community working on the ground or functioning in the district level boards could confirm whether such an allocation was actually made. One member associated with a DWB summarized the answer, “sab hawe mein hai (it’s all in the air),”
“Yes, there was some talk about this money in the groups,” one trans person said, “But when there were questions about utilization they said welfare board members challenged those who were questioning. They said ‘you file an RTI if you want to know about it’. But what is the need for us to file RTI? If they are in the welfare board and really working for the community they can seek the information from the welfare department, right?”
Another activist said, “When we had gone for a public meeting the issue of the utilization of this amount was raised. But it wasn’t addressed. The welfare board members wanted the money to be spent on them; things like security guard, car etc. Only the progressive people who work with the community on the ground keep asking for the money to be used for actual welfare of transgender persons.
There were claims of using the money for a lit festival or something like that; even amenities like toilets in Lucknow and Gorakhpur were actually done by grassroot community members.”
In 2024, UP State conducted what it called the ‘first transgender cultural and literary festival’[4]. A DWB member explained, “Last year, instead of giving community organizations funds, the Social Welfare department conducted a literary festival in Lucknow. It was conducted with an NGO called Suramya foundation. This NGO is run by a ciswoman. The news said that Kinnar Akhara members and some transgender welfare board members were present. But no intimation was given to DWBs or community organizations. They just want to show off to international organizations that they are inclusive.
They keep making such big announcements. In 2019, they made a big announcement about setting up Kinnar University in UP. So far nothing has happened.”
And even if such an ‘institution’ is created, one doesn’t know what will be taught there.
2(f). Education, employment and reservations:
All the trans people I spoke to agreed that public education and employment are the two most important things for any kind of advancement of the community. They pointed out that UP is a very conservative state. “We are not living in metro cities; casteism, religious tension and transphobia is everywhere. There are no jobs and no acceptance,” said a young trans woman.
An elder community representative said, “The first focus has to be education and securing constitutional rights. Policy makers only think of Kinnars/Hijras when they think of transgender persons. Therefore, only their representation is there in the welfare board. As long as Hijras, Kinnars and Mangalamukhis, who want to protect their traditional way of life, are included in the welfare boards and other positions of power, the problems the community is facing will continue. They see themselves as a separate cultural group that should be protected and their advocacy will only be to put forward their cultural practices, even if it is harmful to the large majority of the community. The problem with the Kinnar community is that they have gotten into the habit of ‘rehmo karam’ (mercy and generosity) and do not understand the language of rights.”
Another community member echoed this concern when she pointed out the hypocrisy of the State welfare board and advisory members. “We don’t know how much salary they make exactly, because there is no formal notification or information…or whether each person gets something different. But roughly we have heard that they get 35-40K monthly, two guards, one big car (or travel allowance) to travel to districts and conduct meetings, one phone and housing or HRA. These board chairman and advisors are supposed to conduct meetings in districts but they have never done this. Instead, they might just be giving false record of having conducted meetings and getting reimbursements…who knows?
The last Vice-Chairman was the Naik (guru) of Sultanpur. She used to demand that even at meetings we should all call her guru. They are in welfare board, minister rank, and having all these facilities but they continue to force people to go for toli-badhai. Leaders are supposed to be idols. But here if they are only promoting begging how will they promote empowerment of the community? They are actually engaging in double exploitation. They are taking money from the government, and then forcing their chelas to continue the toli-badhai practice. They have done nothing for education and employment.”
Everyone I spoke to also agreed that there has to be reservation in education and employment. The conversation on whether it should be horizontal or vertical led to many positive outcomes and discussions. Only one person said that given the current situation they don’t want to comment on it. Another person said, “See, I am just 22 years old, and I have only completed intermediate (12th). I actually don’t understand what is the difference between vertical and horizontal. And no one has explained how it works. I want what is best for all of us. If you can share material about horizontal reservations I will use it to understand and explain to others.”
The rest were all agreed on horizontal reservations. Explaining her position on horizontal reservations, a DWB member said, “Some members of the community associated with the Kinnar [Akhara] are saying put us all in the OBC category. Why? The [cisgender] OBCs themselves are not getting anything, what will we get if we are all put there? And further, in which OBC will they put us? There are different castes within OBC as well – so will they put us in Devdasi, Yadav, Kurmi or what? Unfortunately, we are all born into certain castes, and we face oppression as per that. And we are also transgender, so we face oppression as per that. So we cannot all be put in OBC category – how can a Brahmin transgender person get an OBC certificate?
See, those who are in the Akhara, being sadhus and fakirs, they should not comment on all of this. They have left the regular life and are supposed to be doing sanyaas. So let them do that. They don’t have any understanding to comment on this, and shouldn’t talk about caste or politics. But they are only behaving in a casteist way.
Education is the future of our community. They are not doing anything for it, at least they should not stop those who are working for it.”
“When some of us organized a peaceful protest asking for our rights and reservations,” a community organizer stated, “it was our mistake that we invited Hemangi Sakhi [a Kinnar Akhara Mahamandaleshwar] because she had filed nomination in Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi against Modi. But she came and simply promoted the government… and asked us to end the protests.”
3. Record of bullying and harassment:
Apart from the casteism, discrimination and neglect alleged above, a consistent record of overt bullying, harassment and transphobia has also come forward.
In April 2023, a social media post on the Instagram page of ‘Yes We Exist India’ reported[5] (with video evidence) how Kiran Baba, the ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ of Gorakhpur Kinnar Akhara and a State Welfare Board member, attacked Nisha, another independent transwoman who had managed to get the Gorakhpur police to launch a transgender protection cell. The reason for the attack was that Kiran Baba had not been consulted. As part of her attack, Kiran Baba alleged that Nisha is not a ‘real’ trans person.
“They don’t want independent voices even from the Kinnar community to come forward,” said a trans woman. “I recall when a transwoman decided to campaign for another independent transwoman candidate in local elections, people like Devika started spreading rumours that she is not a real transwoman…it’s all fake, it’s just a man in a wig. We already have to face so much from society, what to do if so-called community representatives behave like this?”
In 2023 and again in 2024, it is alleged that there were attempts by these same people to stop the Kanpur Queer Pride.
“Some of us organized the Kanpur Queer Pride in 2023 for the first time,” one of the participants said. “Even though we received police permissions, the organizers started getting phone calls and threats from persons claiming to be from RSS and BJP. They said that this is not our culture. But somehow, they negotiated with police, and conducted it with police protection.
“Again in 2024, the same thing happened,” she continued. “Even though we had received police permissions, one day before Pride the police called to say that permissions have been denied. The police said things like ‘we have received orders from above’, ‘you all will walk naked on the streets’ and ‘we can’t allow it’. Later we came to know that someone from the Kinnar community itself…someone in advisor post, they said, she called the DIG to stop the pride march. They didn’t take any names.”
Apart from promoting deep-rooted casteism (Brahmanvaad) and using casteist slurs, people also alleged that these members are promoting religious divide and harassing Muslim queer persons in the State. Said one trans person, “I have been abused for eating non-vegetarian food and having a Muslim partner, saying I am not a real transgender person and abusing my partner with homophobic slurs. I have also heard about these people harassing OBC Muslim queers.”
3(a). What about transmasculine members of UP?
All the respondents I spoke to belonged to the transfeminine communities across castes. When asked about transmasculine persons, they said that they are not part of the welfare boards. The Board is called ‘Kinnar Kalyan’ board after all.
The predominant narrative was that there are some transmen who have become associated with the Kinnar Akhara – though they may not be a part of the Akhara. Some of the powerful members of the Kinnar community appear to be in relationships with transmen. However, in many places they are actually facing sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse within the Kinnar community. “They will not speak about it openly, but a few transmen have privately shared that this is happening,” said one transwoman.
My attempts to verify these allegations directly from transmasculine persons have not been successful. I am yet to receive a contact of any transmasculine person from the state who might be willing to speak to me about these allegations specifically or their rights in the State in general.
4. What will the future welfare board be like?
Since the current welfare board has completed its three-year term, the Welfare Department has issued in January a notification seeking self-nominations to re-constitute the welfare board.
As per this new notification, a community member must be a resident of UP, holding a TG identity card, with minimum graduate level education and three years of work experience in the community. For an NGO representative, however, the conditions do not include being a transgender person or a specified period of work experience.
The application form seeks information about ‘father’s name’, ‘gender identity’ (including cisgender applicants), educational qualifications, work experience, a statement of purpose and information regarding national and international experience in the field of transgender rights. The application form doesn’t seek information regarding one’s caste identity.
Given that there are less than 1000 persons in UP who have received their TG cards, and a majority of those who are working on ground haven’t completed even high school level education, the attempts to harass and discredit one of the few political active, independent, anti-caste, Dalit postgraduate transgender persons can also be seen as a desperate attempt to maintain control over the functioning of the welfare board.
When asked whether there has been any demand for electoral process and internal reservation (SC/ST, OBC) in membership of transgender welfare boards, one of the respondents said, “So far no such demand has been put forward. The current form seeking applications for the welfare board members and representatives does not ask caste identity. But first there has to be a proper process for removing casteist and abusive community members from such posts.”
In the absence of clear rules, bye-laws, code of conduct, democratic or transparent selection procedures, or information on remuneration, it remains to be seen what the new welfare board will look like.
5. History of the Kinnar Akhara and the ghost of Bahuchara:
Those who have been directly affected by the abuse and harassment clearly identify that this is a result of the casteist and transphobic behaviour of individual, mostly Brahmin members of the Kinnar community. They rightly point out that there is little space for Dalit-Bahujan trans voices in UP.
A senior member of the community, however, was of the view that all of this violence within the community is rooted in the insecurity of the older members of the Kinnar community. She said, “A large part of their violence is towards community members who are trying to get out of the oppressive guru-chela structure. This has to do with their own insecurities. They are afraid that if this system is over who will look after them – if the chela enters the mainstream, who will look after them in their old age? The solution for that is they are given proper old age shelters, pensions and insurance and small vocational schemes for financial security. Rehna, khaana aur dawai (shelter, food and medicine). Otherwise, they will continue to be violent towards younger transgender persons who want to come to the mainstream.”
Taking both these positions together, however, it is also important to look at the origin of the Kinnar Akhara and their religious inspiration that decides their thoughts and actions.
The Kinnar Akhara was formed by Laxmi Narayan Tripathi for hijras/kinnars/mangalamukhis in 2018 under the Juna Akhara run by cisgender godmen. An Akhara is a form of monastic order that may include martial arts and other war-like or religious practices, all meant to promote ‘Sanatan Dharma’, i.e. the Hindu religion. By being a part of the Akhara system, they are ‘renunciates’ who are meant to promote the Hindu Sanatan Dharma.
The Kinnar Akhara claims that ‘Bahuchara Mata’[6] is the spiritual patron of Hijras. Understanding the story of Bahuchara Mata will take us closer to understanding the spiritual slavery and internal hatred being propagated by the Kinnar Akhada upon transgender persons.
The legend of Bahuchara Mata is briefly this: Bahuchara and her sisters, all powerful daughters of a jagirdar of the Charan caste in Gujarat were travelling in a caravan when they were attacked by Bapiya, a robber from the Koli caste. The women committed ritual self-mutilation using the swords they carry. This then led to Bapiya being cursed to lose his “manhood” and live as a “eunuch”. Upon pleading that he does not attack Brahmans and Charans, Bahuchara orders him to build a shrine and worship her. From then on it was held that “naturally emasculated men” who wear women’s clothing and worship Bahuchara will receive her blessings.
The fundamental principle of the transgender identity is self-determination. However, the followers of Bahuchara have preferred to see themselves as ‘lesser’, ‘emasculated men’, who have to remain slaves and servants to a caste-Hindu cisgender woman of a feudal and warrior history. As such, they promote a view that all oppressed caste persons are ‘robbers’, that transgender persons seeking self-determination are ‘men in wigs’, and that all transgender persons must live quietly together under the oppressive rule of Bahuchara Mata and her Hijra ‘priests’.
The question for the community here would then be: are followers of Bahuchara Mata real representatives of the transgender community? Can they ever put forward a liberatory political position for the transgender community?
6. Independent enquiry into human rights violations by Kinnar Akhara:
If it is true that the Kinnar Akhara and their associate organizations are backed by Hindu majority religious outfits and ruling political groups, then as welfare boards start being established in different states it is likely that they will look to widen their network to these states.
The violent incidents leading to this report and the list of serious allegations of casteism, islamophobia and transphobia coming from community members in the state of UP must be taken as a collective wake-up call for the transgender community members across states, castes and gender identities. The repeated position of all the affected persons is that individuals of the community are working alone, without any support or protection. It must be seen as a failure of the collective transgender movement that we have been unable to adequately protect our community members from internal harassment and violence.
Based on the preliminary findings in this report, therefore, the following recommendations are put forward for collective action by the community with a sense of urgency:
- Issue a collective statement and act to secure protection for the four activists, especially Yashika, who is being aggressively attacked at present.
- Conduct an independent enquiry into the alleged violations by the Kinnar Akhara and associated persons and organizations. Based on the results take a collective decision regarding any necessary legal action against perpetrator groups.
- Based on the outcome of such enquiry, issue a public statement for the State commissions, domestic and international funders clarifying the outcomes and whether or to what extent members, organizations, NGOs and any other group or persons associated with the Kinnar Akhara and its principles can continue in or be a part of any State, NGO, board or decision-making position.
- Create an action plan for ensuring democratic, transparent and caste-based representation equally for transwomen, transmen, intersex and non-binary persons in all political consultations and welfare boards at the National and State levels.
- Create an action plan for building consciousness among transgender community members for self-respect, self-determination, constitutional morality and securing constitutional rights, including but not limited to horizontal reservations, beyond individual court-centred approaches.
- Establish an independent action group to address concerns and secure the protection of individual activists working on the ground from community and State violence or neglect.
[1] https://theprobe.in/public-interest/transgender-board-member-in-up-accused-of-abusing-trans-persons-8655365
[2] https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/up-likely-to-hold-first-census-transgender-people-welfare-schemes-7884879/
[3] https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/trans-people-can-register-themselves-get-benefits-up-government-plan-68118/
[4] https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/lucknow-news/up-organises-first-transgender-literary-cultural-festival-101709309414629.html#:~:text=The%20’Transgender%20Sahityik%20Evam%20Sanskritik,the%20Bhagidari%20Bhawan%2C%20on%20Friday.
[5] https://www.instagram.com/yesweexistindia/p/CqxByF2OdDN/?img_index=1
[6] For a brief on Hindu religious representations of transgender identities see my paper: Category-wise rights for trans/gender minority communities. Prabuddha: Journal of Social Equality, 4 (1), p. 26-48, feb. 2020.