Aren’t we the Vishwaguru of Compassion?

In 2014 the Supreme Courtrsquos NALSA National Legal Services Authority judgment gave the world a masterclass in compassion It declared that gender identity is an innate part of a personrsquos soul recognising selfdetermination as the cornerstone of freedom From Argentina to Denmark the world looked to India as a beacon they saw a nation that understood that to lead one must first lead in empathyThe proposed Transgender Persons Amendment Bill 2026 threatens to dismantle this legacy By omitting ldquoselfperceived gender identityrdquo and restricting definitions to ldquocongenital variationsrdquo the state claims to know my body better than I do My identity is a river you can measure its depth but you cannot dictate its direction with a medical certificateThis regression is a betrayal of our international standing In 2019 India endorsed the ICD11 where the WHO explicitly removed ldquogender incongruencerdquo from the chapter on mental disorders to eliminate stigma Now seven years later this Bill risks reinstating that very stigma into law To replace my word with a doctorrsquos stamp is to replace my dignity with suspicion ignoring the global framework we ourselves helped ratifyOur strength has always been our pluralism it is the ability to embrace the ldquomanyrdquo within the ldquoonerdquo Yet these amendments create a dangerous legal paradox especially for those at the intersections of marginalisation Consider what happens when a trans person is also a Person with Disability PwD Under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities RPWD Act 2016 the state must provide ldquoreasonable accommodationrdquo However if the new Bill criminalises the act of assisting a trans person without statemandated verification we enter a dark contradictory space If I assist a trans person who is also a person with disability PwD do I get arrested because I assisted a trans person or do I get relieved because I am assisting a PwDWe must acknowledge the weight of violence we endure just to exist For many of us the closet was a shield to fight all odds to assert who we are only to be met with a wall of clinical verification is an institutional betrayal Look at the lives built on NALSArsquos promise from activistentrepreneur Zainab Patel who moved from the streets to the boardroom to the grace of the drag queen Rani Kohenur and the legendary Bharatnatyam performer Narthaki Nataraj Our traditions from them to ancient mythology have always known that my identity is an internal truthThe government justifies these changes by citing ldquomisuserdquo But in constitutional law the exception cannot swallow the rule You donrsquot burn down a forest to catch one stray spark Violations should be handled through penal provisions not by stripping my community of our right to exist If India truly aspires to be the Vishwaguru it must realise that a true leader does not build a nation on clinical surveillance or the policing of bodies like mineIf we reduce the human spirit to a medical checklist what is left of the soul of our nation If we penalise the very act of care what becomes of our humanity Can a nation truly be ldquodevelopedrdquo if its citizens are afraid to be themselves Are we a democracy that celebrates its pluralism or a bureaucracy that fears its own diversity If we ignore our own endorsements of international standards like the ICD11 what is the value of our word on the global stage How can we lead the world if we cannot trust our own people to define their own livesHarish Iyer is a renowned equal rights activist and a Supreme Court petitioner in landmark cases pertaining LGBTQIA rights in India