Case for a trans-inclusive police force
Pinak Mishra
“Nothing else in the world…not all the armies…is so powerful as an idea whose time has come,” wrote Victor Hugo. The Sub Inspector of Police recruitment in Odisha this year is indeed a special one. For the first time, 26 transgender persons will be taking the exam with the hopes of joining the prestigious Odisha Police. It is also the first time a public advertisement has been issued seeking applications from transgender persons for government jobs in the state.
It is commonplace knowledge that the transgender community has always lived a difficult life bereft of any social identity and respect. Living on the margins, transgenders have long suffered extreme discrimination at the hands of all sections of the society, including the police, merely due to their sexual orientation.