नेपाल को मिली पहली महिला ट्रांसजेंडर सांसद, पढ़ें- कैलाश से भूमिका बनने की पूरी कहानी – bhumika shrestha elected nepal first female transgender mp struggle journey ntc drmt
Beneath the multicolored flag is a community whose life still remains black and white. They have to face constant rejection, insult and oppression. One has to live amidst unemployment and poverty. One has to go through many types of legal complications. One’s desires and aspirations have to be suppressed. Even in this open society one has to live by hiding oneself. He is surrounded by many compulsions.
Struggling with these compulsions, Bhumika Shrestha now Nepal She is going to contribute towards law making as an MP in the Parliament. He has been elected from the proportional list by the Rashtriya Swatantra Party. The Election Commission released the list on Monday evening, in which his name is also included. Along with this, Bhumika has got a chance to represent in the Parliament.
Let us tell you that Bhumika is a transgender woman. At the time of birth she was a boy and her name was Kailash. Later she changed her look and name according to her feelings and became Bhoomika. Now she will sit at the policy-making level of the state and become the voice of the gender and sexual minority community.
Bhumika becomes the first female transgender MP
Bhumika has become the first female transgender MP of Nepal. However, earlier in 2008, when Nepal held its first Constituent Assembly elections, Sunil Babu Pant was elected as Asia’s first openly gay MP in the Constituent Assembly. But Bhumika has become the first MP in Parliament as a female transgender.
Also read: Definition of transgender will be decided, government brought bill in Lok Sabha
From identity struggle to citizenship amendment
Bhumika Shrestha was born in 1987 kathmandu Was born in Naikap. Due to discrimination and insult in family, school and society, he had to leave studies after class 9. In 2005, he obtained citizenship from the Kathmandu District Administration Office under the name ‘Kailash Shrestha’, in which his gender was written as ‘Other’.
After legal recognition of the third gender in Nepal, the system of including ‘other’ gender in citizenship was started. Later, demanding to be accepted as a woman, she initiated the Citizenship Amendment Act. She applied with proof of gender change.
After this, as per the decision of the Council of Ministers on 5 April 2021, her citizenship was amended and her name ‘Bhumika Shrestha’ and gender ‘female’ were established. This is considered an important step towards legal recognition of transgender identity in Nepal.
Campaign and international recognition
Bhumika has been associated with the Blue Diamond Society for a long time and has been working for the rights of the gender and sexual minority community. While being active in this organization, he openly accepted his identity. Due to her activism, an international organization also included her in the list of top 100 youth of the world in the field of gender equality.
He has also written a Nepali language book named ‘Bhumika: Third Lingiko Autobiography’ based on his life experiences. In this, the story of identity, struggle and social acceptance is presented.
New participation as MP
Now after reaching the policy-making level, Bhoomika is preparing to raise the issues of gender and sexual minority community institutionally. According to him, the Constitution of Nepal recognizes the rights of these communities through Articles 12, 18 and 42, but they have not been fully implemented.
Their priority is to make policies, rules and laws to implement these constitutional rights in practice. She says, ‘It is not enough to write the rights in the Constitution, a clear policy and system is also necessary to implement them.’
Bhumika emphasizes the participation of these communities in education, health, employment and various bodies of the state. She also talks about the need for inclusive representation in public institutions like the Public Service Commission.
Voices of diverse communities
Bhumika does not want to be limited to just the gender and sexual minority community. She says that she will also raise the issues of Madhesi, Muslim, tribal tribe, disabled and other communities, because within all these communities also gender and sexual minorities are present.
She says, ‘I will try to raise the voice of not just one community, but of all gender and sexual minorities living within different identities.’
new political message
Bhumika was earlier associated with the Nepali Congress, but later, giving priority to the agenda of inclusive representation and change, she pursued her political journey with the Rashtriya Swatantra Party.
Representation of sexual minorities has been seen before in Nepalese politics. For example, Sunil Babu Pant was the first leader to enter Parliament with an openly gay identity. But Bhumika Shrestha is considered to be the first representative to reach the policy-making level as a transgender woman.
His selection gives a new message of inclusivity in Nepali politics. He believes that backward communities should also get a chance and other political parties should learn from this.
Hope for change in society
According to Bhumika, despite getting rights in the Constitution, the thinking towards gender and sexual minorities in the society has not changed completely. She says, ‘Only when we reach the place of decision making will our issues be raised effectively.’
She plans to continue working on legal and policy reform as well as increasing awareness and acceptance in society by reaching the policy-making level. Bhumika Shrestha, who reached Parliament after a long struggle, identity battle and social campaign, has now become a powerful voice for the changing history of Nepal’s gender and sexual minority community.
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