Deidre67J44 at 06:24, 18 February 2026

2026-02-18T06:24:45Z

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{{Short description|Indian politician (c. 1954–2019)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=July 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}

'''Kamla Jaan''' ({{Circa|1954}} – 14 November 2019)<ref name=":2">{{cite web|access-date=9 October 2024 |title=Kamla Bua, First Eunuch Mayor Of Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, Dies |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/kamla-bua-first-eunuch-mayor-of-madhya-pradeshs-sagar-dies-2132683 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref> was an Indian [[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]] politician. Jaan was elected mayor of [[Katni]] in 2000, becoming the first [[eunuch]] mayor in the [[history of India]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Haviland |first=Charles |date=29 August 2002 |title=India's first eunuch mayor unseated |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2224164.stm |access-date=14 March 2025 |work=[[BBC]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 2002, a judge ruled that Jaan was ineligible to serve as mayor, as the position was reserved for a woman and Jaan was registered as a man. After an appeal, Jaan was removed from office in 2003.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Telegraph" />

== Identity ==
Jaan was a [[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]], a person of a [[third gender]], and referred to herself with feminine [[pronoun]]s.<ref name=":0" /> She has also been described as [[Transgender|trans]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Kumar |first=Pushpesh |last2=Datta |first2=Sayantan |date=June 2024 |title=Caste Concerns in Transgender Communities in India: Contesting Cohesiveness, Broadening Horizon(s) |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00490857241248989 |journal=Social Change |language=en |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=257–272 |doi=10.1177/00490857241248989 |issn=0049-0857|url-access=subscription |quote =…Kamla Jaan became the first trans Mayor of Katni,…}}</ref> Most hijras identify as feminine, though because they are generally [[Assigned male at birth|born male]] and later [[Castration|castrated]], they are often described as [[eunuch]]s.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Bearak |first=Barry |date=19 January 2001 |title=Katni Journal; A Pox on Politicians. A Eunuch You Can Trust. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/19/world/katni-journal-a-pox-on-politicians-a-eunuch-you-can-trust.html |access-date=14 March 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Hijras were traditionally regarded as auspicious and respected for their role in guarding [[harem]]s. However, in recent times hijras have often been treated with contempt.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Hijras mostly earn a living through ritualistic begging, such as by performing at and blessing weddings and childbirths, or through sex work.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> Hijras of marginalized [[Caste system in India|castes]], though, are prevented from performing in auspicious ceremonies. Described by scholars as a "highly stigmatised gender minority group", hijras have limited government recognition or support, despite being the most visible queer community in India.<ref name=":3" />

Early hijra political engagement in the 1980s aimed to win government guarantees of their civil rights; this resulted in the government giving hijras the right to vote in 1994. Hijras were not initially active in protests against [[Section 377]], which criminalized homosexuality, despite this affecting one of their primary occupations.<ref name=":3" />

At the time of Jaan's entry into politics, hijras were gaining prominence as political candidates due to voter frustration with the two major political parties, the [[Indian National Congress|Congress Party]] and the [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]]. As hijras live in communes and have no family or heirs, they were perceived as independent of special interests and better able to represent the people.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Tenure as mayor ==
Before running for mayor, Jaan was not a politician. She was [[Draft (politics)|drafted]] as an [[Independent politician|independent candidate]] by prominent citizens of Katni as "a way to snub the major parties"; her low social status as a hijra was used to "express contempt for the political establishment".<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mukherjee |first=Indranil |url=http://tuleoffice.com/images/editor/File/pdf/book/IMPOTENCY/5%20(3).pdf |title=Gender Issues and Sexuality: Essential Primary Sources |date=23 June 2004 |pages=195 |chapter=Hijras Are Women: Third Gender Rights in India |access-date=21 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313131518/http://tuleoffice.com/images/editor/File/pdf/book/IMPOTENCY/5%20(3).pdf |archive-date=13 March 2022 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Katni typically saw strong support for the [[Indian National Congress]], but at the time there was great dissatisfaction with the mainstream political parties, which were perceived as nepotistic, corrupt, and incompetent. A group of merchants, lawyers, and others sought to draft another candidate to compete with that of the Congress Party in the 2000 mayoral race. Under a quota system, the position of mayor of Katni was reserved for a woman that year. The group discovered that Jaan was listed as female on the voter rolls,{{efn|It was later reported that she was registered as male.<ref name=Telegraph>{{Cite web |last=Kidwai |first=Rasheed |date=3 February 2003 |title=Women seat topples genderless Kamla- Jabalpur High Court asks eunuch mayor to step down immediately |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/women-seat-topples-genderless-kamla-jabalpur-high-court-asks-eunuch-mayor-to-step-down-immediately/cid/837805 |access-date=8 June 2025 |website=[[The Telegraph (India)|The Telegraph]]}}</ref>}} whereupon a reporter in the group named Gopal Singhania asked Jaan to run for mayor. Singhania described her as "nothing special"; the group simply sought a hijra candidate due to the reputation of hijras. Jaan assented, provided the group seeking to draft her paid for her campaign expenses.<ref name=":1" />

As a candidate, Jaan drew large crowds. Though at first her candidacy seemed like a "mere prank", it became apparent that she had a chance at victory, which prompted the group of patrons supporting her to draft a manifesto and promise that she would be guided by advisors were she to take office.<ref name=":1" />

Jaan won the election by 1,897 votes and took office as mayor of Katni in January 2000.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> She berated and dismissed the advisors her patrons had arranged for her. Her manner of speech was described by ''[[The New York Times]]'' as "foul-mouthed", "gruff", and "vulgar". Both led to her being criticized as "unpredictable" and "abusive" by her former patrons, though her supporters saw this as evidence of her independence and strength. Among Jaan's achievements were sinking new [[Tube well|tube wells]], fixing drains, and renovating the main bus station. As she was illiterate, others had to interpret documents for her.<ref name=":1" />

At the time, state law in [[Madhya Pradesh]] was unclear, defining some hijra as male and others as female. A judge ruled in August 2002 that Jaan was male, which made her ineligible to be mayor of Katni, a position reserved for women in the 2000 election under a quota system.<ref name=":0" /> On appeal, the [[Madhya Pradesh High Court]] granted a temporary [[Stay of execution|stay]] on the decision, before ruling on 3 February 2003 to uphold the lower court ruling, removing Jaan from office.<ref name="Telegraph" />

[[Shabnam Mausi]], another prominent hijra politician, pointed out that the court did not rule that hijras are male or decide the broader issue of the legal sex of hijras.<ref>{{Cite magazine |author=Ambreesh Mishra |date=23 July 2007 |title=First Eunuch Mayor of India – Kamala Jaan |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/20070723-government-to-plan-gender-test-for-the-eunuchs-to-identify-the-genuine-ones-748129-2007-07-23 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102052911/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/20070723-government-to-plan-gender-test-for-the-eunuchs-to-identify-the-genuine-ones-748129-2007-07-23 |archive-date=2 November 2019 |access-date=2 November 2019 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref> Jaan was ruled ineligible for mayor because she was registered as a male on the electoral rolls, not because she was a hijra. As such, Mausi encouraged hijra candidates seeking to run for seats reserved for women to register as women, to prevent them from being similarly deemed ineligible.<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="West 2010">Barbara A. West, ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania'' (2010, {{ISBN|1438119135}}), pp. 277-278</ref>

== Legacy ==
After Jaan's victory in 2000, five other hijras were elected in Madhya Pradesh within a year, mostly to local posts, such as a city councillor in [[Jabalpur]], but with one, [[Shabnam Mausi]], serving as a state legislator. In December 2000, three hijras were elected in the neighbouring state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], including a mayor of [[Gorakhpur]].<ref name=":1" />

Jaan's election came near the beginning of a period of dissatisfaction with both the ruling [[Indian National Congress]] and the main opposition [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. Over more than a decade, this spurred the success of outsiders, including the [[Aam Aadmi Party]] and hijra candidates. What began as "a creative way of expressing disdain" for the two main parties resulted in several hijras winning elections, especially in seats reserved by quotas for women and [[Reserved political positions in India|reserved castes]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barry |first=Ellen |date=4 December 2013 |title=A Eunuch in India Campaigns as a Political 'None of the Above' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/world/asia/a-eunuch-in-india-campaigns-as-a-political-none-of-the-above.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207232130/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/world/asia/a-eunuch-in-india-campaigns-as-a-political-none-of-the-above.html |archive-date=7 December 2013 |access-date=8 June 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Notes ==
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== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaan, Kamla}}
[[Category:Hijra (South Asia) people]]
[[Category:Mayors of places in Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Independent politicians in India]]
[[Category:1950s births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:People from Katni]]
[[Category:Transgender history]]
[[Category:LGBTQ history in India]]
[[Category:Indian transgender politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:2000 in LGBTQ history]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Indian transgender women]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:Women mayors of places in India]]
[[Category:LGBTQ mayors of places in India]]

Kamla Jaan - Revision history

Deidre67J44 at 06:24, 18 February 2026