The Modi government’s move to amend the 2019 Transgender Persons Act is perfectly in tune with the diktats of Manusmriti, the ideological guideline of RSS, that treats women and all oppressed as “subhuman”. In fact, the historic judgement of the Supreme Court, upholding the fundamental rights of transgenders with the stipulation that the “third gender” should be recognised on the basis of “self-identification” without requiring medical procedures, came on March 15, 2014, just two months before the ascent of the Modi regime on May 26, 2014. Later, it was under strong democratic pressure that the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act came into being in 2019, in consonance with the 2014 ruling of the Supreme Court.
However, the fascist stranglehold over all aspects of Indian society has been steadily intensifying ever since the ascendance of the Modi regime. Not only Hindutva fascists, but fascists the world over, are opposed to transgender people because they view gender non-conformity as a threat to their rigid social order, which is based on traditional gender roles, and patriarchal social structures. Transgender identities defy the “biological essentialism” that fascist ideology uses to enforce strict societal control. Since fascism relies on a strict, traditional binary of male/female roles, transgender identities are considered as a threat to its “nationalism” (cultural nationalism in the case of RSS), as it disrupts the idea of a nation, by undermining traditional family structures which are essential for a strong nation. To be precise, all fascists, are opposed to a “gender theory” that encompasses feminism and transgender movements , and always brand them as “liberal”and “left” threats to the traditional social order. In other words, neoliberal fascists (neo-fascists) the world over, who are patriarchal to the core , target all transgender movements and frame LGBTQ+ rights as a threat to the fascist regime. Trumpism, the US version of fascism today, is a typical instance. Trump is notorious for using language that dehumanises transgender people depicting them as a social threat. He has already directed federal law enforcement agencies to investigate “radical gender ideology” stigmatizing it as a threat to US. Now, through the Transgender Amendment Act, the Modi regime, which is clinging on to the apron strings of Trump regarding policy decisions, is now copying the same for India also.
Now coming to the issue,the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 that was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 13, 2026 redefines the transgender Identity so as to deny or exclude such persons from the Constitutional protection by shifting them away from “self-perceived identity” toward a stricter, “medical-board-based” recognition process. This undermines both the spirit of the 2019 Act and the 2014 Supreme Court judgement that fully upheld the self-identification process and rejected the need of a medical board. Without going into the details, as all organisations and movements of the transgender people and oppressed peoples organisations including all well-meaning people have already stated, this fascist move to forcefully interfere in the Identity of transgender people is aimed at excluding and further marginalising them by denying them employment and welfare provisions. While the material objective of this far-right heinous move is denying welfare, dignity and employment, its ideological foundation is “gender essentialism” and patriarchy inherent in “cultural nationalism” and its approach towards denying the right of self-determination to transgender persons.
We appeal to all democratic and progressive forces to rise up against this reactionary move on the part of the fascist regime and stand in solidarity with the transgender persons at this critical juncture. All those who oppose fascism should come Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 which seeks to remove trans persons’ right resolutely demanding the Modi government to summarily withdraw the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill 2026 that deny them the right to self-determination and the fundamental rights to live with dignity.
P J James
General Secretary
CPI ( ML) Red Star
New Delhi
16.03.2026
