In May 2015, Manabi Bandhopadhay made history by becoming India’s first transgender college Principal. In no time Bandhopadhay became the darling of the media that landed in Krishnagar Women’s College in West Bengal’s Nadia District to get her exclusive interview.
She was invited to speak at various forums on gender identity. However, on December 27, 2017, almost one and a half year after we believed that India was becoming a more progressive society, Bandhopadhay had to abruptly end her tenure as the Principal of the college.
She submitted her resignation to Nadia District Magistrate Sumit Gupta on Thursday. The reasons she gave was non-cooperation from staff and students.
PTI quoted her as saying:
“All of my colleagues went against me. Some of the students went against me. I tried to bring back discipline and an atmosphere of education in the college. Most probably, that is why they went against me. I always got co-operation from the local administration, but never got it from my colleagues and students.”
She further adds:
“I feel tired due to the agitation and gherao by the students and teachers. I faced a lot of legal notices from their end. I had come to this college with new hopes and dreams but I was defeated.”
The fact that she feels defeated, is a reason for all of us to feel defeated as a society. Gender identity when it doesn’t fall within the straight lines of gender divide always makes us uncomfortable. Many struggling with their blurred gender identities would have looked up to Bandhopadhay for inspiration. That it is possible to fight all odds and gain acceptance if one was diligent enough and good at their job. But as Bandyopadhyay’s resignation shows even reaching the top positions doesn’t protect a person coming from a marginalised group from discrimination. Even more appalling is that this is happening in Bengal, a state that prides itself for being progressive.
Bandhopadhay is a trail-blazer in many ways.
Very early on, Bandhopadhay chose education to empower and liberate herself. She is not only the first transgender college Principal of the country but also the first transgender PhD holder in West Bengal. She also became the first transgender professor in West Bengal when she joined Vivekananda Centenary College in Jhargram as a lecturer in the late 1990s. Another first to her name — she published the first transgender magazine, Ob Manob (Sub-human beings). She felt the treatment meted out to ‘hijras’ should be reflected in the name of her magazine. But most importantly, she is a gem of a person. She adopted one of her students from Jhargram college as a son, who was a poor in studies. She helped him improve his grades. Slowly the teacher-student relationship transformed into mother-son relationship.
Her accomplishments, however, were never good enough to overcome gender barriers.
She was born Somnath Banerjee to a male-child obsessed father. With two sisters in a row, Banerjee’s father desperately hoped for a son. “My father never loved my sisters. I feel God avenged his male obsession by making me a woman trapped in a man’s body,” she said at an India Today event. Her early encounter with a male obsessive society didn’t stop her from exposing her real self to the world. However, this rebellion didn’t augur well for her career. During her stint as a lecturer, she was put through inhumane treatment by her colleagues. She wasn’t allowed to use the women’s toilet while the men’s toilet wasn’t fit for her. “As a result, I would have to contain my urge to urinate throughout the day. Now, when I look back I don’t even know how I overcame those difficult days,” she said recalling the difficult days.
She eventually went through a series of sex change operations in 2003-2004 to put an end to this confusion. However, life wasn’t any easy after that. Her educational certificates were in the name of Somnath Bandhopadhay while she got all her identity cards made in the name of Manabi Bandhopadhay. This resulted in her salary being stopped.
On personal front too, turmoil of her childhood continued to haunt her. After her sex change, she got married. But again stability and acceptance eluded her. The marriage ended on a sour note. “The society would tell my husband, look who you have married, who are you walking with. All this vitiated his mind… When someone eats beef no one admits they have eaten beef willingly. They always cut their tongue and say it was by mistake. It is same with people too, ” she said talking about her husband in one of her television interviews.
Despite simultaneous professional and personal setbacks, she continued her winning streak. A terrific singer and ardent Rabindra Nath Tagore fan, she believes in the philosophy of “ekla cholo re“. She did her PhD, her first degree taken in the name of Manabi and eventually landed the job with Krishnagar Women’s College. She finally thought that her struggle was over. “There is nothing more I want. This is success. I have come from darkness to light,” she said in the interview.
The bane of identity and the tyranny of society
Perhaps, she was too naive, too optimistic about the ways of this world, where a person’s identity decides the ladders of success one can climb.What is it that prevents us from accepting people from marginalised groups in a decision-making position? Does the collective ego of the society get hurt every time we see the oppressed making it big? Are we scared that these success stories will throw up new role models, who are not bound by conventions? Do we feel threatened that they will eat the pie of merit that the privileged ones have reserved for themselves?
Bandhopadhay’s terrific fight and rise to the top could have been a textbook case to inspire many from the transgender community. The fact that a fighter like her has chosen to give up is a shameful verdict on what we as a society can do to break the spirits of the most strong willed person fighting for their rights on the basis of merit.
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