Amarjeet Singh
Birthplace:
Bhurkunda, Bihar (now in Jharkhand)
Residence:
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand
Qualification:
High school
Inspiration:
Abhina Aher, Rachna, Reshma Prasad, Gauri Sawant, Ranjita Sinha
BUILDING ROADS INTO PEOPLE’S HEARTS
Through her CBO, Uthhaan’s contributory approach towards acceptance, he is changing how the transgender community assimilate into the mainstream.
On 9 September 1995, a Sikh family in Jharkhand celebrated the birth of their second son. Their joy knew no bounds. The boy grew up like other children, however, blissfully unaware that he wasn’t really being seen as a boy by people around him. Maybe that is why childhood is the most cherished time. Childhood sees everything through innocence-covered glasses: everything seems conquerable, achievable and life generally feels like a breeze. When the so-called upholders of social sanctity rudely pulled the cloak away, the boy’s innocence was lost – forever.
Schooling ends early
Amarjeet knew she was different from others but her early years in school weren’t difficult at all. The harassment started when she was in higher classes. Boys teased her, followed her to the washroom – it felt like harassment. The environment at home was already so harsh and unfriendly that she suppressed all the abuse she was facing. Even the soul-scarring incident in the school toilet. “There were 14 of them. I was young and did not understand what I was being subjected to. The incident made me feel filthy; my existence had been blemished and I was left with no courage to return to school.”
Could she not complain to school authorities, or to her family? “Looking back, I think maybe I could and should have raised my voice. But back then, there was no support. Would my parents have heard me out? No. I was blamed when my brother’s friend misbehaved with me so how could I expect them to empathise with me on what happened in school?”
Amarjeet did not tell her family the reason for discontinuing school. The courage needed to return and face her perpetrators was way beyond what her body and heart could muster. She finished schooling through private education.
It was a lonely and painful time. Friends deserted her and relationships did not last long. She now looks back at those years from a position of strength and forgiveness. “Episodes happen. What more can we do than move on to do something good with our lives?”
Amid all this, her mother, Daljit Kaur, stood with her. “Parents are the first ones to know that their child is different; a mother’s love is unconditional. It’s the siblings, neighbours, classmates and society who create problems. Neighbours would dole out advice on how to set me right and get me to behave like a boy.”
Credit goes to naysayers
The conflict with herself, helplessness on being unable to change the situation and the growing pressure to fall into gender binary norms had broken Amarjeet completely. “One day, I tried to hang myself, but the rope snapped. I laugh at this memory now, but back then suicide seemed the only way to end my misery.” Destiny led her to join the transgender community.
In 2012, she came on board SAATHI’s Pehchaan project in Jharkhand. This association helped her understand herself better while exposing her to the plight of the community. “We worked on awareness, HIV testing, gender awareness and sensitisation. Laxmi Narayan Tripathi ji was an inspiring presence in the movement. She was a role model who had stepped forward to become the voice of transgender people. How could we not support her in this fight?”
Amarjeet and other members of the community involved with Pehchaan were left without work after the project ended in 2015 but wanted to continue efforts towards increasing transgender community’s visibility in mainstream society. One way of doing this was to start her own CBO, Utthaan, and break social barriers through voluntary services. “We had no external source of funding for our activities, so we held collection drives and used the money to buy raw material and repair roads in and around Jamshedpur. People began noticing our contribution. Our place in society was truly cemented when we repaired a damaged accident-prone stretch that authorities had left neglected.”
Under its Dawa Daan, Jeevan Daan initiative, Utthaan distributed unused medicines collected from people at rural health camps and also donated medicines worth Rs. 90,000 to hospitals.
As the scope of her CBO grew and it covered more territories, Amarjeet came to be associated with INFOSEM and NNTP. “These are channels for the exchange of views, issues and solutions. INFOSEM helped the community immensely during the peak of COVID-19. These national-level organisations step in where CBOs can’t.”
She credits her successes as an activist and a professional to all those who called her names and abused her. “Thanks to their contempt, I understood what I didn’t wish to become – an apathetic human being. I thank them for the discrimination. It led me on the correct path.”
Victories for the community like the NALSA verdict and the repealing of IPC Section 377, she says, were not given on a platter. “We had to fight for basic civil rights that others take for granted. With no legal recognition, we were at the mercy of society and policemen. Yes, there definitely has been government support but community leaders and visionaries are the real contributors.”
Moving mountains
The advocacy initiated by her and others in 2015 has come to fruition. On 1 December 2021 – in a first for India’s mining sector – Amarjeet and 14 other transgender people joined TATA Steel in Jamshedpur and are undergoing training to operate heavy earth moving machines (HEMMs).
“It was not a one-sided token inclusivity corporate gesture. During the several consultation sessions that we had with the company, it put forth queries to better understand our needs. We were asked for advice at every step. Special restrooms were ready and other staff had been sensitised much before we joined. Our first day at work was marked by an event attended by top officials.”
Amarjeet is happy that the company set secondary school certificates as a minimum eligibility criterion for the post. Such moves, she is confident, will motivate many among the transgender community to continue their education and will encourage parents to educate their transgender kids for a better future.
Utthaan is positively impacting the lives of close to 800 transgender individuals in Jharkhand’s five districts. It is currently associated with Wajood, an Alliance India programme, aimed at strengthening transgender community systems through capacity development and access to quality sexual health services responsive to their needs, raising awareness and reporting gender-based and sexual violence leading to mitigation and prevention and supporting community-led efforts for policy change.
VISION FOR THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY
Amarjeet envisions more visibility to transgender people defined on the basis of their capabilities and not gender. She strongly believes that they can be pilots, air hostesses, restaurant managers, in MNCs and whatnot!
“The community too is to be partially blamed for its condition. It needs to strongly mobilise itself without just depending on the few who are fighting their cause. They need to join in. Only then will the discrimination and stigma be replaced by respect, and government measures will truly show results. Begin by educating yourself,” she tells community members. “Only then will you know your rights and fight to uphold them. We cannot afford complacency.”
MESSAGE FOR THE MAINSTREAM SOCIETY
Love and understanding are the first steps towards acceptance. “Show us affection as parents, as friends, as partners, as just our human counterpart.” Despite laws and rules, the community lives in fear, she says. “The environment at home and school remains unsafe. No one steps forward to seek justice if a transgender child is killed. Has there been any candle march against a transgender’s sexual assault?” Mainstream society needs to seek these answers, she says.
“People who have no one by their side have the Almighty – the reason that a kinner’s blessings are truly potent. Having gone through so much pain and discrimination, we bless others with all the happiness and love we are deprived of.”
FIVE FACTS ABOUT AMARJEET
50% self-belief, 50% faith in Almighty is what gives Amarjeet her strength.
She is deeply compassionate towards humans and animals alike and calls this her only weakness.
Her favourite song is Aashayein khile dil ki from Iqbal.
She has coined a punchline around her pet name, Maya, “Maya hoon toh kaaya palat doongi”.
She is an excellent cook but just can’t get her rotis right.
