She is in her mid-fifties. Sombrely dressed in a white-green sari, hair parted in the middle and tied in a bun, Aleya Hijra has a betel leaf-stained smile. She lives at Diabari, Uttara in a rented house with her disciples; she is their “Guruma” or leader.
“I take from the public and give back to society. The general people are like my father-mother; they’re my guardian, my sole source of living. I salute the fact that they give us charity and in turn, we try to make contributions when the need arises. Kindness is the cycle of life,” said Aleya.
Recently, she came into the limelight after donating her hajj savings to stand beside the calamity-stricken traders of Dhaka’s Bangabazar. Her gesture made the headlines because she thought about the traders who were empowered only a few days ago and are now on the streets with the stroke of bad luck.
“If Allah wishes, I’ll go to hajj someday, but for now, this is my hajj. Deep down, I feel happy and proud that I could do something for them. If I had more, I would’ve happily shared my savings with them. This is my Eid,” she says.
Aleya is active in charity work. She donates to mosques and madrasas, and gives air conditioners to local mosques. During Eid, she pays her zakat and fitra. Aleya recently bought lungis and saris to be distributed among the needy.
Following the death of her parents, Aleya came to Dhaka at the tender age of nine from her village in Mymensingh. It was during the 1988 flood that she started working as a household help in an MP’s house. Her friends and family used to always tease Aleya for her feminine mannerisms, calling her a hijra. So, she decided to leave a particular way of life and join a hijra group.
About 25 years ago, she joined Rahela hijra’s group in Uttara, and since then, she has been dancing on occasions like childbirth and weddings and collecting donations from shops.
“Everyone knows me in the Uttara sectors. I’m even invited to a cup of tea at police stations,” she says, smiling.
Straightforward and law-abiding Aleya feels obligated to stand against evil; she cannot be part of any misgivings.
If Allah wishes, I’ll go to hajj someday, but for now, this is my hajj. Deep down, I feel happy and proud that I could do something for them. If I had more, I would’ve happily shared my savings with them. This is my Eid.
“People are scared of us. It’s natural. They don’t know us and some hijras are undisciplined and disruptive; they take money from people on the streets but do not belong to any of our groups. There is good and bad in every community. We are also afraid of reporters because some engage in yellow journalism,” she said, clarifying her stance.
People from the hijra community are a close-knit, simple clan of ill-treated citizens. They left their own homes because of rejection and embraced their Guruma as a guardian. Aleya Hijra has shown that in times of crisis, they too are willing to come forward and help people in distress.
Every nook and cranny of Dhaka has stories waiting to be told. “My Dhaka” gives interested writers the platform to share experiences of city life. Only selected stories will make it to our print edition and digital platform. Send your Dhaka story (within 450 words) to raffat@thedailystar.net
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