A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LEGAL STATUS, CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE DURING THE BRITISH COLONIAL PERIOD AND POST INDEPENDENCE PERIOD OF INDIA AND BANGLADESH.

Juyel Ali

Transgender people, Legal status, Constitutional rights, British colonial period, India, Bangladesh.

In India, the transgender people existed from the Vedic period. Transgender people were an efficient part of Indian society for centuries. In the Indian subcontinent, transgender people popularly known in diverse terms such as Tritiya prakriti, Napumsaka, Psychological sex, Aravani, Hijra, Eunuchs, Kothis, Jogtas, Shiv - Shakti etc. Transgender person means a person whose gender identity does not conform with the gender assigned by birth includes Trans Men and Trans women. Transgender communities are also an integral part of the Indian society and had the rights to enjoy all the fundamental rights like the other people had enjoyed it. Transgender people had played an important role in Vedic society, Buddhist, Epic, Mughal period or India but the situation of transgender community's right and dignity had been deteriorated from the British colonial period of India. The major objective of this review study is to identify the legal status of transgender people in the British colonial period, to identify the constitutional rights of transgender people in the post-independence period of India and also find out the constitutional rights of transgender people in the post-independence period of Bangladesh. The findings suggest that, in India, during the British colonial rule, the transgender people had to get some benefits for the very first time such as food, land and less amount of money from agricultural households. In the mid-19th century, the British colonial administrators took away all the rights from them and also criminalized the transgender people. In the post-independence period, the government of India, recognised them as 'third gender ' in 2014 and also provided such provisions and legislation to assure their rights. In the post-independence period of Bangladesh, the hijra community deprived of all kinds of rights and reservations and also faced so much discriminatory attitude, bullying, social stigma, abuse in Bangladesh. In 2014, the government of Bangladesh, had recognized Hijras as third gender but did not provide any constitutional rights or legal protection to assure their rights and also saved their life.

Volume 13 Issue 10, October-2025

Pages : g608-g618