Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid
| Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Islam |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | Baraikandi, Ward 33, Mymensingh City Corporation, Mymensingh District, Bangladesh |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Mosque |
| Established | March 2024 |
Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid (formally the Third Gender Community and Dakshin Char Kalibari Asharyan Jame Masjid; also called the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender) is a mosque in Mymensingh District, Bangladesh, built by and for the local hijra community. It is situated in Baraikandi village, on the Brahmaputra River in Ward 33 of Mymensingh City Corporation, and opened in March 2024 to serve as a place of worship free from the exclusion hijra people had faced at other mosques.[1][2]
History
Construction was completed shortly before Ramadan in March 2024.[1][3] The building effort was organised by Setu Bandhan Hijra Kalyan Sangh, a local welfare group, with dozens of hijra people contributing money and labour.[1][2]
The mosque sits on government land. After members of the hijra community asked for a site for prayer and burials, the Divisional Commissioner of Mymensingh, Umme Salma Tanzia, arranged the allocation of 33 cents (about 0.13 hectares).[2] The initiative followed two incidents: the hijra community had been turned away from a nearby mosque, and a local cemetery had refused to accept the body of a hijra person for burial.[1]
Facilities and function
The building is a small tin-walled, tin-roofed room with a paved floor, a front balcony, a water pump, and toilet facilities.[2] It hosts five daily prayers and a Friday congregation, and doubles as a community gathering space. An adjacent burial ground serves hijra people who had previously lacked access to cemetery plots.[1][2]
Non-hijra residents also attend. Abdul Motaleb, the imam and head of the mosque management committee, said that worshippers from the surrounding area pray there regularly.[1][2]
Context
The Bangladeshi government announced recognition of hijra people as a "third gender" in November 2013, formalised by a gazette notification in January 2014.[1][4][5] In 2021, a hijra candidate won election as chair of a union parishad (rural council).[1] Despite these steps, hijra communities in Bangladesh face widespread stigma, restricted access to employment, and lack rights to property and marriage.[1][4]
Mufti Abdur Rahman Azad, who runs a hijra welfare charity, said this was the first mosque of its kind in the country. He noted that an attempt to open a similar mosque in Panchagarh District had been blocked by local opposition.[1][3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Islam, Shafiqul (29 March 2024). "Bangladesh opens mosque for transgender hijra community". France 24. AFP. Retrieved 16 Mar 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f "The first mosque was established at Mymensingh in Bangladesh for the Hijra community". Pob News 24. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 16 Mar 2026.
- ^ a b Majumder, Azad (5 April 2024). "Bangladesh opens first-ever mosque for transgender people". EFE. Retrieved 15 Mar 2026.
- ^ a b Riedel, Samantha (5 April 2024). "A Mosque Specifically for Hijra Muslims Has Opened in Bangladesh". Them. Retrieved 15 Mar 2026.
- ^ "'I Want to Live With My Head Held High': Abuses in Bangladesh's Legal Recognition of Hijras". Human Rights Watch. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 16 Mar 2026.