First Indian Transwoman Becomes Sub-Inspector - This Is K Pritika Yashini’s Story
In India, there is no dearth of grounds for discrimination - caste, religion, gender, sexuality - it can be hard to get by if you belong to any marginalised section of society. And this is a thought that’s taken more and more precedent in our minds under the rule of our current government, for whom belonging to the LGBTQ community still requires criminalisation. All this despite seriously progressive laws popping up in this department almost everywhere in the world. The worst part about all of it is, many of these groups are so large in numbers, it’s ridiculous to even consider them a ‘minority’ anymore.
Take, for example, India’s transgender community. There are currently over 4.9 lakh people belonging to it yet widespread prejudice and hatred have forced them to live in communes on the fringes of society. However, the country has certainly been taking small but sure steps towards bettering their plight over the last couple of years. We’ve had a whole host of transgender mayors, though only one has worked out due to legalities, Professor Manabi Bandopadhyay became India’s first appointed transgender principal and even the Supreme Court has recognised them as an official ‘third gender.’
Tamil Nadu, in particular, has been one of the few states that has made numerous efforts to integrate the community into mainstream society through various welfare scheme. It was the first state to introduce a transgender welfare policy, and now it has become the first state to appoint a Thirunambi (male to female transgender) as a sub-inspector of police. For Prithika Yashini, who was born and raised as Pradeep Kumar in Chennai and transitioned after completing an undergraduate degree in computer applications, the realities of her situation have never. Her journey of self discovery was hard enough, but then she decided to apply to the police service and things became even more complicated.
Yashini’s application for the post was initially rejected by the TNUSRB because her name did not ‘tally’ with the original certificates but the first bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana, directed TNUSRB to include transgender as a ‘third category’ by the time the next recruitment process is carried out.
But Yashini was well acquainted with hardship and was not about to give up so easily. She approached the court to grant her permission to take part in the written examination that was held earlier in 2015 on May 23. During the case, she cited a Supreme Court judgement, which ordered state and central governments to take steps to treat transgenders as socially and educationally backward citizens, and extend reservations to them in in the fields of educational admissions and public appointments. The court not only passed the judgment to allow her to sit for the examination but also decided to lower the cut off marks from 28.5 to 25 for her.
After passing the examination, she participated for the field trials on August 5, during which she was disqualified because she was late by 1.1 seconds in the 100-metre race. The first bench decided not to ignore the time factor: “We do not think that in the physical endurance test, a difference of 1.1 seconds should come in the way of Prithika in being considered for recruitment. She will have to meet the benchmark of recruitment process, but the case cannot be knocked out in the middle.”
When she applied for the post of sub-inspector she was foiled again when she discovered that there was no provision for the third gender. She approached the High Court and state uniform services recrtuiment board citing a Supreme Court directive in an attempt to recitify this oversight and subsequently won the case. “There was absence of any column for third gender, though this aspect now stands enunciated by the judgement of the apex court which carves out the category of third gender for the purpose of safeguarding and enforcing properly their rights guaranteed under the constitution,” the Court said.
The profound social impact of this recruitment cannot be denied. It is an appointment that will go down in history not only as a personal victory for Prithika, but a major milestone for the entire transgender community, one capable of acting as a major catalyst for India to take the next step from its ‘official recognition’ of the community as a third gender. Namely, to truly assimilate the community into the day-to-day fabric of society. Something that might ensure their ability to live a life of dignity and honour, afforded with the same opportunities as everybody else.
