Delhi High Court asks Centre, police to frame SOP for arrest, detention of transgender persons
The petitioner submitted that in May, the NHRC issued the ‘Advisory for Ensuring the Welfare of Transgender Persons, 2.0’ for formulation of a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure to govern the arrest, detention, search, interrogation and imprisonment of transgender persons The high court here on Wednesday asked the Centre and Delhi Police to take appropriate steps for the formulation of an SOP on the arrest and detention of transgender persons here. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the central government, police as well as the Delhi government on a public interest litigation (PIL) by a law student, and asked them to consider an advisory by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the issue. The plea by Taaran Chandna said while the Delhi Police has a standing order for the arrest of women and senior citizens, it is “wholly silent” on transgender persons. The petitioner submitted that in May, the NHRC issued the ‘Advisory for Ensuring the Welfare of Transgender Persons, 2.0’ for formulation of a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to govern the arrest, detention, search, interrogation and imprisonment of transgender persons. However, no such SOP or guideline has been formed for Delhi, he said. “We call upon the Union of India, the Delhi Police and the State government to file their reply. In the meantime, we direct that the advisory issued in May 2026 shall be considered and appropriate steps as permissible in law shall be taken,” the bench said. The court also asked authorities to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken by them in compliance with the advisory and listed the matter for hearing on November 18. In the PIL, Chandna said the SOP governing the arrest and personal search of transgender persons by Delhi Police was needed to protect their fundamental rights to bodily integrity, dignity, equality and non- discrimination guaranteed under the Constitution of India. The “concrete and continuing harm” due to the “vacuum” can be seen when the police in May 2025 arrested three transgender persons in an FIR, the plea said. It alleged that despite one of them possessing female genital anatomy and another holding a valid Certificate of Identity, all three were personally searched by a male police officer “without any enquiry into their gender identity, without seeking self-declaration, and without consent”. Courtesy : The Telegraph Note: This news is originally published on https:/thetelegraph.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
From silence to testimony: Dalit women’s words as counter-history
Dalit women’s autobiographical writing in India is emerging as a formidable archive of political resistance, functioning less as personal memoir and more as collective testimony to centuries of caste, gender and class oppression, according to a comprehensive analysis by Professor Garima Srivastava. In an unpublished paper titled “The Great Call of the Voiceless: Dalit Women’s Autobiographies”, Srivastava examines narratives across Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Hindi literatures, arguing that these texts are not merely literary exercises but radical acts of reclaiming identity from the margins of Indian society, where entrenched power structures have historically silenced Dalit voices while mainstream publishing circulated unchallenged and educational curricula deliberately excluded non-Brahminical perspectives. Srivastava, who is with the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, contends that Dalit literature as a whole constitutes a literature of resistance, born from accumulated discontent and an effort to move from untouchability to visibility. She emphasizes that Dalit women have faced multi-layered exploitation, trampled upon in the name of patriarchy, gender and caste by upper-caste men and women alike, and even by Dalit men. The lack of education and basic facilities long denied them the ability to think and decide in their own favour, yet their autobiographies now demand analysis through a feminist lens that seeks to replace male-centered consciousness with an alternative history written from the periphery. Drawing on the Latin American concept of testimonio, Srivastava cites scholar John Beverly to argue that these texts function as first-person narratives where the protagonist bears witness to collective suffering, bringing readers close to the oppressed with an authenticity that statistics alone cannot convey. The paper asserts that Dalit autobiographies cannot be understood as individual life stories alone; rather, they are community narratives that document torture, labour exploitation and sexual violence while attempting to reconstruct the self against fragmentation and destruction. The analysis traces this literary emergence to the women’s movements of the 1980s, when small booklets and translations began reaching audiences outside large publishing houses. Yet Srivastava notes that educational institutions have systematically excluded Dalit literature from syllabi, studying caste only through sociological lenses while avoiding Ambedkarite or Satyashodhak viewpoints. She warns that generalized feminist slogans claiming all women are Dalits often marginalize the specific institutional question of caste, blurring the distinct oppression faced by Dalit women and overlooking the interrelationship between social structure and contemporary change. Among Tamil narratives, the paper highlights Veeramma’s dictated autobiography “Life of an Untouchable,” where she describes how members of her Paraya community prostrated themselves before upper castes and how her childhood marriage to an older man felt like kidnapping by those who made her a woman. Veeramma transforms her personal account into community testimony by addressing an imaginary interlocutor, contrasting past wages of one and a half rupees with government-mandated rates today, declaring that in this Kali Yuga the government itself takes care of people like her. Bama Faustina Mary’s “Karukku,” the first Tamil Dalit autobiography to gain wide readership, moves deliberately from I to we, comparing her sharpened words to a thorny leaf that makes oppressors feel the sting. A Christian Dalit, Bama exposes caste discrimination within the church and the nexus between state power and upper-caste violence, including police atrocities where Dalit women were left behind to face daily sexual assault while men fled to the jungles. In Bengal, Baby Haldar’s “Aalo Andhari” traces her journey from child marriage at twelve and domestic servitude in Delhi to literary recognition, inspired by Prabodh Kumar, grandson of Premchand, who encouraged her to read and write. Srivastava highlights Baby’s transformation from a woman terrified of train conductors questioning her presence in a particular bogie to someone who fearlessly produces her ticket, and her refusal to adopt her husband’s surname, questioning why girls must change their identity after marriage when boys do not. Kalyani Thakur’s “Ami Keno Chandal Likhi” makes the political personal by adding Chandal to her surname in 2003, documenting how she was denied a chair in government offices, made to sit in corners without fans while colleagues were troubled by her very existence, and forced to bring mats from home to sit in school verandahs outside the classroom. The Marathi autobiographies form what the paper calls a golden age of Dalit testimony. Shantabai Dhanaji Dani’s “Raatra Din Amha” recounts childhood hunger so severe that her mother beat her for begging a neighbour for bread, then cried and fed her late at night. In college, Dani was served food thrown from a distance into her plate and barred from the girls’ bathroom, confined behind a bamboo barricade. Mukta Sarvagond’s “Mitaleli Kavade” details how Dalit labourers cleaned wedding grounds with their bare hands and received kheer that had been placed on piles of human excreta as remuneration for four months of work. Baby Kamble’s “Jin Amuchya,” written secretly on scraps of paper hidden from her husband, exposes domestic violence within the Mahar community, where she notes that if Mahars are the other for Brahmins, Mahar women are the other for Mahar men. Kumud Pawade’s “Antahsphot” chronicles her forbidden pursuit of Sanskrit, facing professors who asked what sin caused them to learn the language from a Dalit woman, while Urmila Pawar’s “Aaydan” describes how her illiterate mother, a bamboo weaver, confronted a teacher who beat Urmila for refusing to clean cow dung, threatening him until he retreated and transforming her daughter’s sense of possibility. Pawar later critiques the patriarchy within Dalit movements themselves, noting that women were denied chairs and leadership roles even in meetings organized for them. Mallika Amar Sheikh’s autobiography breaks silence on the private brutality of public revolutionaries, describing her husband Namdev Dhasal, founder of the Dalit Panthers, as a violent drunkard who sidelined her while party workers applauded male dominance. In Hindi, Kaushalya Baisantri’s “Dohra Abhishap” explicitly addresses the double curse of being born both Dalit and female, while Sushila Takbhaure’s “Shikanje Ka Dard” frames caste oppression as a claw that crushes Dalit women into cages. Kaushal Panwar’s “Bavandaron Ke Beech” recalls a teacher who slapped her
Rain in Prayagraj causes houses in Dalit Musahar settlement to collapse: Many families forced to live under tarpaulins.
Incessant rain has caused several mud houses to collapse in the Dalit Musahar settlement of Babhani Hethar village in Prayagraj’s Manda development block. The affected families are forced to live under tarpaulins. The mud houses of several families, including Samaruh Musahar, Dangar Musahar, Bablu Musahar, Arjun Musahar, and Bhim Musahar, collapsed. Buried under the debris, their food grains, clothes, bedding, utensils, and other household items were damaged. It is a matter of relief that all the families had evacuated at the time of the incident, resulting in no damage. Following the house collapse, these families have set up temporary shelters under tarpaulins. Living in the open amid the incessant rain is causing significant difficulties for children and the elderly. These families are facing a significant problem of shelter and food. The affected families have demanded immediate financial assistance, food grains, tarpaulins, and housing from the administration. Villagers say that if relief is not provided soon, the suffering of the affected families may worsen. Aman Sonkar | Manda (Meja), Prayagraj (Allahabad) Courtesy: Hindi News
“Rahul Gandhi has right to raise voice for Dalits”: Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar on FIR against Lok Sabha LoP
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], September 2 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday defended Rahul Gandhi over the FIR registered against him for his remarks on the alleged “purification” ritual after Mallikarjun Kharge’s Haldwani rally, saying that as Leader of the Opposition, he has every right to raise his voice for Dalits. Speaking to the reporters, CM Shivkumar said, “This is a great democratic country…Rahul Gandhi has been pressurising that what has been done wrong has to be rectified through an FIR. Since he is raising his voice for the Dalits of this country, and the BJP is filing an FIR against him…as the Leader of the Opposition, he has every right to speak and every right to raise his voice, stand by all sections of society…” Meanwhile, Congress held a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru against the BJP government over the FIR against Rahul Gandhi. Speaking at the protest, KPCC President B K Hariprasad said, “We are protesting against the dictatorial attitude of PM Modi and Amit Shah. Rahul Gandhi was demanding that an FIR be filed against the people who have insulted one of the seniormost politicians of this country, All India Congress Committee President, Mallikarjun Kharge. Instead of filing an FIR against the people who disrespected the Constitution and disrespected Mallikarjun Kharge, they have filed an FIR against Rahul Gandhi,” he told ANI. The remarks came after the FIR was registered on August 30 on a complaint filed by 26-year-old Amit Kumar, a resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony, Haldwani, and a member of the Valmiki community. Kumar is also an office-bearer of the Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas organisation. Police have invoked provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, including Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(u), along with Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Section 199 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, pertaining to jurisdiction, has also been cited in the FIR. Kumar alleged that Gandhi’s remarks hurt the sentiments of the Scheduled Caste community. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had demanded immediate registration of an FIR under the SC/ST Act against those who allegedly carried out the purification ritual in Uttarakhand following Kharge’s visit. Gandhi had alleged that the purification ritual was “another name for untouchability” and demanded action against those involved under the SC/ST Act. “This act violates the SC/ST Act. Performing a ‘purification’ ritual is a crime. Yet, no action has been taken. Therefore, we demand that an FIR be registered immediately against those who carried out this purification ritual in Uttarakhand,” Gandhi had said. (ANI Courtesy : ANI News Note: This news is originally published on https:/aninews.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Why Dalits, youth matter for Congress in Uttarakhand
To kickstart its campaign, the Congress is planning a mass street campaign in Haldwani against a purification ritual performed by a group of people whom the party has accused of having links with the BJP In upper-caste-dominated Uttarakhand, where they constitute more than 50 per cent of the electorate and have a tilt towards the BJP, the Congress is trying to carve out its own support base that can help its ship sail through the magic number of 35 out of the state’s 70 Assembly seats in the elections next year. “Congress has sensed a lot of resentment among youth about paper leaks and unemployment. These two issues will have to be picked up by the party at the grassroots. I think the party has believed in it more since the Chhatron Ki Goonj event, where many young men and women, as well as students, took part and showed support to the Congress,” a party spokesperson said. Moreover, more than 30 per cent of the state’s population is between 18 and 40 and is widely impacted by unemployment, paper leaks and an unprogressive education system. The Congress wants to focus on this group and make it a new voting bloc for the upcoming Assembly elections in 2027. Besides that, the party is also looking to bring the Dalit population into its fold by taking up social justice issues. This bloc is 18 per cent strong in the state. Despite there being only 13 reserved seats, the state has more than 20 such seats with a sizeable Dalit population of more than 20 per cent, and a strong performance among them can help Congress advance in the electoral space of the state. The safest bet for the party is the Muslim bloc, which is around 14 per cent. Congress is certain that the minority community, as strategic voters, will vote en masse for the party and therefore could tone down its outreach to Muslims so that the BJP does not polarise the elections, which has the potential to make Hindu voters sway away from the Congress, by labelling the grand old party a Muslim-based party. With these combinations, it can get a head start in the two districts of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, which seem to be the most favourable regions for the party. The two districts hold 20 Assembly seats, with nine in Udham Singh Nagar and 11 in Haridwar. Muslims and Dalits in the two districts will hold the key this time. This is also because there are fewer chances of division in Dalit votes after the depletion of the Mayawati-led BSP, which has seen an electoral decline in almost all the states where it has been contesting. With around 13 lakh voters, about 2.5 lakh are Dalits and 4 lakh are Muslims. In Udham Singh Nagar, however, it is the Sikh vote that matters. According to political observers, Sikhs are also showing a greater tilt towards the Congress. Of the 11 lakh voters in the district, between 2 and 2.5 lakh voters are Muslims, about 2 lakh voters are Dalits, and about 1.8 lakh are Sikhs. An equation, if the Congress plays it well, can help the party build its long-time electoral base. To kickstart its campaign, the party is planning a mass street campaign in Haldwani against a purification ritual performed by a group of people whom the Congress has accused of having links with the BJP. “The party has weak grassroots in Uttarakhand, and there hasn’t been much improvement in the past few months either. Now, if there are early ground actions, it might add some fervour among the people, and some people can join the party and consolidate the hands of Congress,” a political analyst said. “Not only is a narrative important, as it doesn’t reach enough corners due to a lack of cadre in many places, but a wave is also important this time to win the elections.” Badar Bashir Courtesy : The Week Note: This news is originally published on https:/theweek.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Opinion: Has Rahul Gandhi given up his fascination with upper castes and Sanatanis? First, he is surrounded by the Manusmriti, and now by the oppression of Dalit students.
Rahul Gandhi’s Politics: Two recent statements by Rahul Gandhi are generating considerable discussion. He made a statement in Pune regarding the Manusmriti, written nearly 2,000 years ago, which has angered the Sanatani community. Similarly, three days ago, he raised the issue of Dalits. He stated that Dalit students are discriminated against in schools. Regarding discrimination against Dalits, he also stated that tea shops have separate bowls for Dalits. People are ridiculing him for this statement. Rahul Gandhi often makes statements that provoke ridicule. His comments are often in the context of criticizing Narendra Modi, the BJP, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Criticism of the BJP and the RSS is part of the Congress party’s core agenda. However, his statements often become a laughingstock. Personal criticism of Prime Minister Modi is his hobby. In 2018, he taunted Modi with the phrase “chowkidar chor” (watchman thief). The result was evident in 2019. Before the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, he called the BJP “vote chor.” The consequences were that Congress was reduced to six seats, while its allies were reduced to a combined 29. Two of his recent statements are widely discussed. Recently, he made a statement in Pune regarding the Manusmriti, written nearly 2,000 years ago, which has angered the Sanatani community. Similarly, three days ago, he raised the issue of Dalits. He said that Dalit students are discriminated against in schools. In a continuation of his discrimination against Dalits, he also said that there are separate containers for Dalits at tea shops. People are ridiculing him for this statement. He was once ridiculed for talking about making gold from potatoes. In 2017, an edited video of Rahul went viral on social media. There was a line from Rahul’s speech: “I will install a machine that will allow potatoes to enter from one side and gold to come out from the other.” This line was widely ridiculed by trolls. However, he had intended this as a taunt against Narendra Modi. Initially, he said, “I will install a machine that will allow potatoes to enter from one side and gold to come out from the other. Put potatoes in from one side and take out gold from the other. You will make so much money that you won’t know what to do with it.” At the end of this statement, he clarified, “These are not my words, these are Narendra Modi’s.” However, BJP’s social media handlers made Rahul a laughingstock by making this line viral. The news spread across the country, and people began mocking Rahul Gandhi. Now, allegations of discrimination against Dalits in schools have been leveled. Just four days ago (August 29, 2026), during a press conference in Pune, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of discrimination against Dalits. After the Congress National President’s program in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, he was scheduled to speak to the media about the alleged purification. He mentioned it, but in the process of elaborating, he deviated from the main issue. He stated that even today, Dalit students are discriminated against in schools. Dalit children are made to do toilet and cleaning work in schools. He also stated that Dalits face discrimination even at tea shops. They are provided with separate cups. They are served tea in disposable glasses, while upper castes are served washable glasses made of porcelain or glass. Rahul’s assessment has led to widespread ridicule. The truth is, such a system is not prevalent at any tea shop. Rahul’s statement on Manusmriti has sparked controversy. Rahul’s statement on Manusmriti is also being called absurd. First, Manusmriti was composed approximately 1800-2000 years ago. Under the then-current social system, Manusmriti had the concept of Ashrama Chatushtaya and Varna Chatushtaya. Women were solely responsible for household chores. Today’s situation is completely different. People of all castes and religions are now engaged in various types of work. Women are even working alongside men. Now, no work is done according to Manusmriti. Anti-BJP leaders still hope for success by talking about the insults to the Sanatan system of Manusmriti. They perhaps believe that speaking against Sanatanism can mobilize minority and Dalit-OBC votes. They forget that this very thinking unites Sanatanists. It is precisely because of Sanatanism that the BJP’s support has grown across all castes and classes, and its ground has steadily strengthened. Unconcerned about the displeasure of upper castes and Sanatanis Manusmriti may be irrelevant today, but it holds strong sentiments for upper castes and Sanatanis. Brahmins within the upper caste community are deeply upset with Rahul Gandhi over this. The Bharatiya Janata Party has also begun raising the issue. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Sudhanshu Trivedi have strongly criticized Rahul Gandhi for his statement. The BJP says that Rahul Gandhi only targets Hinduism and its scriptures. He remains silent on patriarchal practices of other religions, such as the hijab, triple talaq, and Sharia. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleges that Rahul Gandhi is making such statements as part of a foreign and Marxist agenda to divide society and defame Indian cultural heritage. His statement is evidence of the Congress party’s anti-Sanatan and anti-Hindu mentality. Avimukteshwarananda’s Warning to Rahul Gandhi Shankaracharya Avimukteshwarananda’s rift with Prime Minister Modi and UP CM Yogi is well known. He has frequently clashed with both. Sometimes he taunts Modi for promoting yoga, and sometimes he opposes the Vishwanath Corridor in Kashi. He has also criticized Modi and Yogi over the consecration of the unfinished temple in Ayodhya. His opposition to political interference in religious matters has certainly not been good for the BJP. His closeness to Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, a strong opponent of the BJP in UP, is also considered a threat to the BJP. Despite this, he has become a harsh critic of Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the Manusmriti. His criticism has reached the point where he has even warned Rahul Gandhi to publicly apologize for misinterpreting a verse from the Manusmriti. Rahul Gandhi has given up
BY Vijayendra tells CM to work for Dalits, BCs or face polls
Speaking to the media near Maski, he said the Congress, which came to power in the name of Dalits, has been meting injustice to them for the last three and a half years. RAICHUR: The BJP padayatra, led by its state president BY Vijayendra, resumed on Day 2 from Santhekellur village in Maski taluk, Raichur, on Wednesday morning with party leaders offering prayers at the Krishi Rishi Ghanamutt Shivayogi Mutt. Women tied rakhi on Vijayendra’s hand, applied tilak on his forehead and wished him well. BJP workers welcomed the padayatra in the villages of Bedara Karlakunti and Ankushadoddi on the way. Arrangements were made for food and rest near Mudabala Cross for thousands of people who participated in the padayatra. The padayatra proceeded towards Maski town after 4 pm. Accusing the Congress government of corruption and anti-people policies, Vijayendra said, “If this government cannot provide justice to Dalits and backward classes, then Chief Minister D K Shivakumar should dissolve the Assembly and face elections. Then the people will decide.” Speaking to the media near Maski, he said the Congress, which came to power in the name of Dalits, has been meting injustice to them for the last three and a half years. “They committed a Rs.187 crore scam in the Maharshi Valmiki Corporation. Reservation was not implemented properly. They did not provide jobs to the youth on the pretext of reservation. They completely neglected not only Dalits but all communities,” he said. “We have already conducted a drought observation in the state on behalf of the BJP. The CM and DCM have now started drought observation. The BJP’s padayatra is the reason they are doing this,” he said. BASAVARAJ BHOGAVATI Courtesy : TNIE Note: This news is originally published on https:/thenewindianexpress.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
‘Savarkar never hated Muslims’: Grandnephew tells Pune court Rahul Gandhi portrayed him as ‘extreme hater’
PUNE: Satyaki Savarkar, grandnephew of Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, told a special court in Pune on Tuesday that Savarkar “never hated Muslims” and had written about ways for their progress, while alleging that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had portrayed him as an “extreme hater of Muslims”. Satyaki made the remarks while being cross-examined by advocate Milind Pawar in a criminal defamation case linked to statements allegedly made by Gandhi in London in 2023, news agency PTI reported. During the cross-examination, Pawar asked Satyaki to identify the exact words in Gandhi’s alleged speech that he believed had lowered the reputation of Swatantryaveer Savarkar. Satyaki referred to Gandhi’s statement that “Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six friends had assaulted a Muslim youth and derived pleasure from the act”. “By these words, Savarkar was portrayed as an extreme hater of Muslims and as a mob lyncher. Savarkar never hated Muslims. Rather, in his writings, he showed the ways and means for their progress,” he said. During the proceedings, Pawar also submitted a 2004 video interview of Satyaki’s grandfather Gopal Godse along with its transcripts, PTI reported. Gopal Godse, the younger brother of Nathuram Godse, is purportedly heard acknowledging in the interview that Nathuram Godse was an RSS member. Nathuram Godse was one of the conspirators in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. What is the defamation case against Rahul Gandhi? Satyaki had filed the criminal defamation case against Gandhi, alleging that the Congress leader falsely claimed that V D Savarkar had written in a book about assaulting a Muslim youth with five or six friends and deriving pleasure from the act. The complainant has maintained that no such incident appears in Savarkar’s writings. The case concerns Gandhi’s alleged remarks made in London in 2023. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Rahul Gandhi’s Punjab tour likely within 10 days
Chandigarh: Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Punjab within the next 10 days, with his tour schedule almost finalised, AICC national media coordinator Hari Shankar Gupta said on Wednesday. A central Congress media delegation reached Chandigarh to coordinate directly with the Punjab unit and held a strategy meeting with state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Gupta said minor changes to Rahul Gandhi’s Punjab schedule were made due to his presence at student protests in New Delhi and his subsequent sit-in outside Parliament Street police station. He said the campaign blueprint was ready and Rahul Gandhi was expected to tour the state within a week to 10 days. Top Congress functionaries, including Warring, Charanjit Singh Channi, Partap Singh Bajwa and AICC Punjab in charge Bhupesh Baghel, would campaign together, the delegation said. Rejecting speculation about factionalism, the delegation said differences over ticket distribution were normal and that allotments would be decided by the AICC through an institutional process. The central team said all 29 political district committees across Punjab’s 23 administrative districts had been divided among its members across three zones. Wing Commander Anuma Aacharya was assigned Majha, Ishan Tyagi Doaba, while Malwa’s 19 districts were divided into Malwa-1, under Harnam Singh, and Malwa-2, under Vikram Lohia. Warring assured the delegation of organisational, logistical and grassroots support across all assembly constituencies. Courtesy : TOI Note: This news is originally published on https:/timesofindia.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights
Parliament passes Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, 2026 with Rajya Sabha approving it today
Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday by a voice vote amid an Opposition-led walkout. The bill seeks to redefine the category of transgender, removes the provision of self-perceived gender identity and excludes several socio-cultural identities as well as transmasculine individuals from its ambit. It also further defines transgender persons within a biological framework, based on intersex variations and differences in sexual development. Replying to the discussion on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr Virendra Kumar said the government is compassionate towards the well-being of the transgender community. He said the Bill has provisions to empower the transgenders and give them dignity. The Minister said that the NDA government has taken several initiatives to bring transgender people to the mainstream and stop discrimination against them. Starting the discussion in the Upper House, Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury said this bill dilutes the privacy of an individual provided under the Constitution. Opposing the Bill, Ms Chowdhury said self-identification cannot be taken away through bureaucratic certification. Criticizing the government, she said that the proposed bill undermines the fundamental rights and dignity of transgender persons. Calling such a move wrong and illegal, she argued that forcing transgender persons to provide their identity through official certificates is against the spirit of equality and dignity guaranteed by the constitution. She also questioned the government’s approach for not properly consulting with the transgender community before bringing the Bill. She also referred to the Supreme Court’s landmark NALSA judgement of 2014, which recognized the right of transgender persons to self-identify their gender. Ms Chowdhury said the proposed Bill violates the principles laid down in that judgement and fails to respect an already established legal framework. DMK MP Tiruchi Shiva also opposed the Bill, saying that even if the Bill is passed in Parliament with a majority, it will be struck down by the Supreme Court. He further added that the Bill violates Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution and it deprives the community of the right to freedom, dignity and self-determination. Supporting the Bill, BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni said, ” This Bill ensures justice, dignity, protection from criminalisation and legal safeguards for transgender persons. She also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing this bill with certain amendments in order to ensure that the benefits reach the deserving people in a proper manner. She said there is a need for a law that brings justice to real transgender individuals and punishes fake ones. Mrs Kulkarni said the benefits should be extended to those who are transgender by birth. She said that the amendment to extend punishment will bring down the rate of crime and forced identities. TMC’s Saket Gokhale said that 31% of Transgender people in India have attempted suicide because of the discrimination that they are facing. He alleged that now the government is going to start discriminating against them as though social discrimination were not enough. He called it unacceptable. Mr Gokhale expressed concern that gender is going to be decided by the Chief Medical Officer and a District Magistrate, and the bill does not prescribe any qualifications for the Chief Medical Officer. Sanjay Singh of AAP said the Bill is a big let-down for the transgender community. He accused the government of not doing anything for the community. RJD’s Manoj Kr Jha said that prejudices against transgender people should stop, and they should be able to live with dignity. He added that self-determination of gender should not be taken away. CPI(M)’s John Brittas said it is a black-letter day and the Bill is taking India a century back. He pleaded with the government to either withdraw the Bill or refer it to a Select Committee. Jaya Bachchan of the Samajwadi Party also questioned the government over the legislation. She sought to know what the urgency was in bringing the Bill, without examining it with the depth and care that it deserved. Courtesy : NOA Note: This news is originally published on https:/newsonair.com/bha and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially human rights