“We were together and we had our own family in each other”: refusing repatriation and forging gendered belonging as Hijra refugees in Kolkata

Abstract Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Kothi, and Hijra (LGBTQKH*) refugees in South Asia have long reimagined the meaning of refugeehood and belonging. This paper explores the case of Hijra Bengali refugees following the 1971 Bangladeshi independence war, focusing on their crafting of belonging from below. Despite international pressures for repatriation and organized abandonment, some Hijra refugees chose to remain in Kolkata’s red-light areas, seeking safety, livelihoods, and community through precolonial ties. This study examines Hijra refusal to return to Bangladesh and their subsequent involvement in the Kolkata sex worker movement, highlighting their everyday decision-making, cultural practices, and gendered community. By centering the experiences of Hijra Bengali refugees, this paper both disrupts victimizing narratives from the Global North and reframes top-down belonging, demonstrating how Hijras have been producing and maintaining their own belonging outside of the ambit of the refugee regime and the state.