Political ascent of India's eunuchs

By Luke Harding

BHOPAL, India: It all began last December when voters in the Indian town of Katni -- fed up with the corrupt, cynical politicians who ran the place -- elected a eunuch as mayor. Their candidate, Kamla Mausi, may have been illiterate, reasoned the local community, but at least she did not take bribes. The mainstream opposition parties were stunned. They had regarded Kamla's candidature as little more than a joke. Three other eunuchs were also swept in as local councillors by the same unexpected tide.

The modest revolution in Indian politics begun at Katni reached a new apogee on Monday when another politician, Shabnam Mausi, was formally sworn into her post as India's first eunuch MP. Looking rather nervous, Shabnam emerged from her Jeep with five eunuch companions, adjusted her sari, and marched inside the state parliament building in Bhopal.

Some minutes later, having sworn a vow of office, she re- emerged. Then she swept off uncertainly with her entourage towards Sohagpur, the sleepy district which last week defied electoral precedent and returned her with a thumping majority.

Her victory has been interpreted by pundits as the revenge of the people against indifferent, ineffective and callous politicians, of whom India has many. Like the mayor of Katni, Shabnam campaigned on a unique platform, arguing that because she had no family she had no reason to be corrupt, and nothing much to spend money on anyway. The argument worked.

She romped home with 40,000 votes, polling more than the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress candidates combined. "I have been involved in social work in my district for the past 16 years," she said. "I have won with such a huge margin because people understood that I was doing good work. Good has won over evil. Since the political leaders are corrupt and keep cheating the poor, the public is angry with them.

"I used to help people. For example, if somebody died and there was nobody to cremate the body, I would do it. Or if a poor man had to marry off his daughter, I would help him in some way." And what about central government? "They have never bothered with us. We did not have voting rights until very recently."

Shabnam's election, to the regional assembly in the state of Madhya Pradesh, also hints at a softening in public attitudes towards India's 1.2 million eunuchs. Until now, they have been a despised, albeit ancient, bunch.

Eunuchs were introduced by the Mughal King Babar into his court in the 1520s, to protect his queen (and ensure her chastity) while he was away. But their origins go back much further, and they play an intriguing role in the Hindu epic, the Ramayana. (Lord Rama, the hero, disappears off to the forest for 14 years, commanding the men and women who see him off to go away. When he comes back, he discovers a group of mud-covered people waiting for him. "Who are they?" he asks. Eunuchs is the reply. Lord Rama predicts, accurately it now seems, that their time will come.)

These days, eunuchs live in a series of hostels across India, with the largest concentration in Bombay. Theirs is a miserable lot, with most forcibly castrated either as children or adults, when kidnapped and drugged, and forced into bonded labor.

They traditionally earn money by singing and dancing at weddings and giving blessings to newborn babies. In practice, though, this often amounts to a form of extortion. "I went to one Delhi wedding recently and five eunuchs barged their way to the front and threatened to take all their clothes off unless they were paid off," one traumatized guest explained. "The parents of the bride were appalled and ended up giving them 6,000 rupees (US$135) to go away."

All the more remarkable then that a eunuch should be elected to anything. "Eunuch have always been viewed as sinister figures," Pran Chopra, of the Center for Policy Research, in Delhi, said. "They appear at any kind of festival or ceremony, in groups of five to six or 10, and are shooed away as quickly as possible." He describes Shabnam's victory as a sign of "societal relaxation" -- that India is maturing as a civil society. The political process is moving on, too: away from single-party rule and the once-invincible Congress, towards large fissiparous alliances; and to newly-powerful regional parties and newly- powerful eunuchs.

Shabnam's own story begins somewhat hazily. She was born into a middle class brahmin family near Bombay -- her father was a senior police inspector -- and left home at the age of 11. Whether she was handed over to eunuchs or, as she insists, simply "ran away" is unclear. "I felt that I did not want my family to live with the stigma of having a eunuch child," she explained. "My brothers and sisters were very fond of me. I was their guide."

At this point, she cries. She has not seen them since fleeing to Delhi by train at the age of 18. She learned dancing and had a role in two Bollywood films, including a successful one (most flop). She sang and danced at weddings, before taking up social work. Others suggest she is now 40, though she is unsure. "Nehru was prime minister when I was a child. I was with the eunuchs ever since I can remember. I did go back to my home a couple of times, but they never took me back. We are disabled, our world is different, you can't understand."

Whether Shabnam stays true to her campaign promises remains to be seen. The early signs are not promising. A few hours after her election, she deftly vacated her home in a Dalit (untouchable) colony and moved into a government resthouse, bewildering her own supporters. Her new four-wheel drive was donated by a businessman. The BJP and Congress are plotting to remove her as soon as possible -- this time, though, by fielding eunuch candidates of their own.

-- Guardian News Service