Featured Image Credits: Organiser

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ‘Vijaya Yatra’ gains momentum, it has started to gain support from sections of the civil society, particularly the transgender community.

In a program held at Tripunithura, five members from the transgender community became members of the BJP officially. They were welcomed by the party chief of the BJP’s Kerala unit, K Surendran. Among the new members was Avanthika Vishnu, a former office-bearer of the All India Students’ Federation (AISF), the students’ wing of the Communist Party of India (CPI), reports Organiser.

Avanthika Vishnu gave an interview to Organiser Weekly about her decision to join the BJP, in which she made shocking revelations about the present condition of the members of the transgender community in Kerala. She said, “But once I revealed my identity, my fellow comrades were reluctant to accept who I am and they made fun of me. After that, I stayed away from AISF. But I continued to be a left-oriented person. The biggest thing that I realised from my life is the ‘Communist Parties’ fake their love for the transgender community. They are just trying to score political points by using us.”

“Kerala government has been making tall claims regarding rehabilitation of transgender community members. But in reality, nothing is changing at the ground level. Many are still indulging in prostitution to earn a living,” Avanthika said. “Now the state government is making advertisements regarding their projects for the transgender community. Only a few are getting benefits from the government while the needy members of the community are totally sidelined,” she alleged.

“Sex-change surgeries are only happening in private hospitals where the cost is extremely high. The community members are forced to arrange money for their surgeries either by doing sex work or by begging. There is no other way that a member of the transgender community can find a job in Kerala. I took a loan from a financial institution for my surgery. It took a year for me to get the money promised by the government. By that time the interest that I had to pay for the borrowed amount exceeded the money given by the state government,” she complained.

“The state government is not following any procedures while issuing transgender ID cards. There are many cases of duplication of which I am aware. If any individual approaches the government claiming that he/she is transgender, he gets a government-approved ID card. This can be easily misused for gaining incentives from the government. There should be a proper procedure for identity confirmation,” demanded Avanthika.

“State government would announce various projects for the transgender community members. They even go to the extent of taking the list of beneficiaries. But when we enquire, they will tell us that the project stands cancelled,” she said. “The state government had boasted about giving jobs to the members of the transgender community in Kochi metro. But due to various issues including the inability to find accommodation, many transgenders had to quit their jobs,” she said.

When asked why LGBTQ organisations often take an anti-Hindu or an anti-BJP stand, Avanthika said, “They have their own agendas. They even influenced our thought process.”

“After joining BJP, now I am under cyber-attack. There are only a few BJP followers on my Facebook Friends’ list. Most of them are communists. Now they are targeting my transgender identity. Let them say anything. Many more members from my community will join BJP soon. I will work for BJP in the upcoming assembly election, to make sure that my party wins,” Avanthika said with a lot of enthusiasm.

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