After cows, Dalits and Kashmiris came the turn of transgender people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his party MPs on Tuesday to reach out to the transgender community in their respective constituencies, setting them a target of meeting 500,000 people from one of India’s most marginalised sections.
This is possibly the first time that the BJP leader has reached out to the transgender community, often ostracised by society and shut out from jobs and education opportunities.
“Humanity is not confined to male or female. Go and meet them. Have meetings and rallies,” Modi told his party members, hailing a bill conferring rights to transgender people as a “great step for social reforms”.
Modi’s comments aren’t surprising though he leads a party that has been in the news for its deeply conservative views. It is in line with the views of new progressive Modi – a 2.0 of the Hindu Hriday Samrat if you will – who lashes out at once-patronised cow protection vigilantes, asks people to attack him instead of Dalits and loves Kashmir.
For the past four days, the prime minister has sprung a surprise–indicating to the world that he is alert to mounting international criticism of his administration as a tech-savvy but culturally intolerant regime that is hostile to minorities and dissent.
His paean to Dalits came shortly after the United States expressed concern over rising atrocities against the vulnerable community. He spoke on the spiraling violence in Kashmir more than a month after the first clashes and it came after his image as a pan-India leader was questioned in national and international media because of his silence.
Every single of these messages appeared carefully tailored for an international audience and aimed at giving out the message that India is ruled by a global leader with progressive views.
This is a sea change from the prime minister’s earlier responses, when he chose to be silent and bulldoze through a torrent of criticism following Hindu hardline ghar wapsi conversion programmes, vitriol against alleged cases of “love jihad” and especially the mob lynching of Mohammad Ikhlaq over rumours that he slaughtered a cow.
Even this January when India was rocked by protests over the death of PhD student Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad after alleged casteist hounding by university authorities, Modi chose to keep silent – making a short statement that further infuriated anti-caste activists and opposition parties.
Most commentators attribute this change-of-heart to upcoming polls in a clutch of states where the desertion of the Dalit vote can sink the BJP. But apart from poll compulsions – after all transgender people aren’t a significant vote bank — the statements hide a leader who has begun to realise that vitriol by constituents might give election dividends but doesn’t play well in high diplomacy.
Of course, this comes at a cost – the undying love of hardline Hindu elements, who are already grumbling that the new “secular” Modi isn’t the leader they voted for. The BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have had a troubled relationship with oppressed communities of all hues – be it religious minorities, backward castes or the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community.
Hindu hardliners have attacked couples out on Valentine’s Day, have been accused of peddling violence and patriarchal norms that shackle women, and have called homosexuality an abomination – India’s home minister Rajnath Singh called it a mental illness last year. Modi’s overtures might further rupture his relationship with his core constituency.
But a more pressing concern is whether the statements will inspire any real change. Dalit activists have already said they’d prefer stricter implementation of anti-atrocity laws to impassioned appeals. Kashmiris have unequivocally rejected the prime minister’s professed love for the Valley and his offer of development, saying they’d rather see some real political change on the ground.
The same questions abound over the issue of transgender empowerment. Some members from the community have welcomed the new transgender rights bill.