DECCA, 12 November 2020, (TON): The first transgender Madrasa, 'Dawatul Quran Third Gender Madrasa', has been established in Bangladesh through a private initiative. It is the first third gender Madrasa in the country and a historical initiative for transgender people.

The Madrasa is at the Lohar Bridge area of Kamrangirchar in Dhaka. It was inaugurated on 6th November 2020. It is a three-story building. It is a non-resident. Now almost 150 students are continuing their study here. There is no age limitation for admission and no free for education.

Along with Islamic teachings, the Madrasa authority has also added other subjects such as Bangla, English, math, and some vocational training for the third gender students to make them compatible with their future challenges. The Late Ahmed Ferdaus Bari Chowdhury Foundation has contributed to establishing the Madrasa and providing all expenditures for the third gender students.

Abdur Rahman Azad, secretary-general of the Madrasa, said, "Transgender people face discrimination everywhere. They do not get right in society. They have no access to school, college, university, Madrasa, and mosque at all. Overall, they are victims. We, society and state, are to blame for this. Allah has created human beings. Everyone is essential for society. So the Hijra should enjoy their rights. We have taken a step to end this discrimination". Abida Sultana Mitu, the president of the Bangladesh Hijra Kalyan Foundation, presided over the inauguration program. She also talked about the Hijra community and its potential to empower them by providing education. The Madrasa authority expects that teaching the Hijra community will increase their moral value. It will help to discover themselves positively.

Relevantly, the Bangladesh government recognized hijra as the third gender in 2013. The government also gave their voter rights in 2019. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has declared that they will be included in the national census in 2021.The government's initiatives for the hijra community remained ineffective for them. They are deprived of various facilities. The disengagement of mainstream education of the Hijra community is the main focal point. Now the establishment of the Madrasa for Hijra will encourage others and also the government to think about the Hijra community furthermore in a new way.

According to government statistics, there is 10,000 Hijra in the country. On the other hand, the various private organizations have shown that these estimates will be more than 50,000.