By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS,
Itanagar : A regiment of eunuchs could be used to guard India’s borders as they are known for their integrity and have played a similar role down the ages, Arunachal Pradesh Home Minister Tako Dabi has suggested to the central government.
“In my humble opinion, if eunuchs are engaged in policing or paramilitary forces they would do a better service to the nation,” Dabi told IANS.
He has already sent a formal letter to central Home Minister P. Chidambaram. The home ministry has acknowledged receiving the note.
“Why can’t there be a separate regiment of the eunuch community in our country? Hopefully, this community would discharge their duties effectively in the international borders if enough scope is created for them,” Dabi wrote to Chidambaram.
The mountainous state of Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with China.
“There were instances even during the Mughal empire of eunuchs being employed to take care of harems and some of them became aides of queens or for palace security for their integrity,” Dabi said.
There are an estimated one million transgenders in India who consider themselves neither men nor women – a distinctive community of the so-called ‘third sex’ who generally adopt feminine names and dress.
Faced with isolation, poverty and public ridicule, eunuchs, popularly referred to in India as ‘hijras’, often resort to prostitution for economic survival.
The hijra community in India, which has a recorded history of more than 4,000 years, was considered to have special powers because of its third gender status and traces its origins to legends in the two epics of the “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata”.
“Even in the two epics you find mention of the great sense of trust and loyalty from eunuchs,” the minister said.
The home minister is known for his controversial stands – last month he defended policemen consuming alcohol on duty saying drinking under limits could provide them with some extra energy to execute their duties more effectively.