Far too long, most people in India have looked up to Kashmir either as the place of natural beauty, or a place of conflict – a state over which both India and Pakistan have laid claim. This has had its own effect on the peace and people of the valley. But amidst the conflict, the war and the beauty, what has been ignored are voices of the sexual minorities. As in other parts of the country, the third gender in Kashmir exists, but their existence is hardly recognised by the society and they are pushed to the boundaries. Though the J&K government has set up a committeeto monitor and examine the formulation of various welfare policies on transgenders,a lot needs to be done.
In this video (a first of its kind), a transgender person speaks up about her life and the difficulties the trans community faces in the valley.