IslamicLawBlog

The 18th century British colonists, the self-righteous Anglican males of the self-assessed superior civilization, upon arrival in the Mughul-Muslim India, were repulsed by the sight of Hijras  (transgenders) and baffled over why they were accorded so much respect in royal courts and other spheres of life. After deposing the Mughuls, and in discharging the white man’s burden of civilizing the inferior races, the British colonists enacted the  Criminal Tribes Act, 1871  to declare what they called Eunuchs (transgenders) a criminal tribe (among many other Indian tribes) on the theory that certain tribes were genetically criminal and must be placed under state surveillance. By invoking the power of criminal law and associated prisons and penalties, the British colonists attacked the dignity of transgender community, degrading them in social echelons, and eventually forcing them to adopt begging, prostitution, and other questionable professions. Turning a respected community into a l