Transgender rights activist resigns from NHRC body, calls NHRC a ‘hypocrite’

Transgender rights activist Harish Iyer on Thursday, March 26, 2026, resigned from his post as Core Group Advisor on LGBTQI+ issues at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in protest against the NHRC’s alleged failure to represent the LGBTQI+ community. He criticized the government and the NHRC for failing to consult the core group on important issues relating to the transgender community and said his relationship with the NHRC was now ‘untenable’. “NHRC cannot claim to be a ‘watchdog of human rights’ or boast of ‘spreading human rights awareness’ while being completely satisfied with this autocracy,” his resignation letter said. The statement was included.

Tendering his resignation in protest of the passage of the Transgender Persons Amendment Bill, 2026, he termed it an attack on the fundamental rights of the trans community.

Criticizing the NHRC for its silence, he said, “It is unscientific and has been introduced with zero consultation. When the state makes legislation in an echo chamber without consulting the people whose lives are at risk, it does not prepare protective laws; it prepares a bill that nullifies our existence. The evil effect of this brazen lack of consultation is a bill completely divorced from ground reality.” Resignation (a copy of Hindu) Posted on Thursday afternoon, March 26, 2026.

He said the NHRC did not stand by its comprehensive advisory issued in 2023 on the welfare of transgender people. “Just three years ago, the Commission laid out sweeping guidelines for the Center and the States, ostensibly to protect the dignity of the community, ensure access to healthcare and prevent discrimination. But today, as a piece of legislation effectively dismantles these protections – reintroducing the very systemic violence that the Commission once claimed to oppose – the NHRC has suddenly lost its voice,” the letter said.

Harish Iyer, along with several experienced LGBTQI+ activists, was appointed to the NHRC Core Group by a government order issued in 2018. The group’s primary responsibilities include reviewing existing government policies, laws, rules, and orders regarding the LGBTQI community from a human rights perspective and making suggestions or recommendations for change. “I accepted this role with the sincere hope that the commission would live up to its mandate and act as a tough, independent watchdog. I was deeply mistaken,” Mr. Harish wrote in his resignation letter.

Text of the letter:

Mr. President, Secretary General, Chairman of the Executive Board and Members of the National Human Rights Commission,

Please accept this letter as my official and immediate resignation from my position as Core Group Advisor on LGBTQI+ issues at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The Commission’s official website clearly states that the Vision and Mission of the NHRC is “the protection and promotion of human rights”, defined as “the rights to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution”. The organization proudly claims that the world looks to the NHRC as “a role model in promoting and monitoring the effective implementation” of these rights. I accepted this assignment with the earnest hope that the Commission would fulfill this mandate and act as a relentless, independent watchdog. I was so wrong. Now that the draconian Transgender Persons Amendment Bill 2026 has been demolished by both Houses of Parliament, the NHRC’s deafening silence seems like a mockery of its own mission statement and has made my continued relationship with this institution untenable.

The hypocrisy is particularly glaring when one recalls the comprehensive advisory issued by the NHRC on the welfare of transgender people on September 15, 2023. Just three years ago, the Commission prepared comprehensive guidelines for the Center and the States, ostensibly to protect the dignity of society, ensure access to healthcare and prevent discrimination. But today, when a bill effectively dismantled those protections—reintroducing the systemic violence that the Commission once claimed to oppose—the NHRC suddenly lost its voice. This glaring silence renders the 2023 recommendation nothing more than performative paperwork, completely devoid of any real intent.

As a core member of this committee, I was not consulted at any stage about this bill. As far as I know, the other members were not like that either. What exactly is the need for this role – or the entire committee – if there is absolutely zero consultation on the most devastating legislation to hit the trans community in years?

This bill is not just an attack on our fundamental rights; It is also unscientific and was introduced with zero consultation.

When the state legislates in an echo chamber without consulting the people whose lives are at risk, it does not prepare protective laws; He is preparing a bill that would nullify our existence. The ill effect of this arrogant lack of consultation is a bill completely disconnected from reality. I have been a part of this committee since 2018. We get together once a year for Salaam-Namaste and nothing beyond that. I don’t want to be part of the checkbox exercise.

I ask for your voice against this bill.

Once this Bill officially becomes Law, there will be a flood of state-sanctioned human rights abuses. It takes away the “liberty, equality and dignity” of the community. It reinstates degrading medical boards, forcing transgender people to undergo humiliating physical examinations just to prove their existence. The bill lacks any understanding of science and social sciences. It assumes that a person can learn their gender through physical examination. He forgets the scientific fact that a person does not need to physically undergo gender confirmation surgery to call themselves transgender.

It effectively excludes trans men from legal existence, leaving them completely invisible and defenseless. Moreover, it completely ignores the serious, state-sponsored mental health crisis that is driving young gay and trans people to commit suicide because they see no way out.

But perhaps the most insidious part is the weaponization of Section 18, which will now criminalize select families and allies who offer asylum to trans youth escaping violent patriarchal and abusive biological homes.

All the above points were emphasized by MPs. However, the bill passed by voice vote.

This brings me to a very serious question for this Commission: under this new Act, anyone who offers safe haven or support to a transgender person may be treated as a criminal. So if the National Human Rights Commission decides to fulfill its mandate tomorrow and helps or shelters a transgender youth fleeing violence, will the state arrest the NHRC as well? Will the commission’s own members be imprisoned for protecting basic human rights?

I understand that this Bill has been prepared and submitted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE). But doesn’t the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under whose administrative umbrella the NHRC functions, have a say in the systematic deprivation of fundamental constitutional rights? Don’t these government departments communicate with each other?

Perhaps, when this administrative connection is examined, the Commission’s silence is extremely significant. How can citizens expect the NHRC, which answers to the ministry that controls the police forces, to protect their rights? It is the MHA’s mechanism that will knock on the doors of the families we have chosen to arrest them under MoSJE’s discriminatory law. This lack of interdepartmental dialogue is either a gross incompetence or a deliberate strategy to evade accountability. The commission acts as an advisory board for the very system that governs our marginalization. As a result, its independence is just an illusion.

The NHRC cannot claim to be a “monitor of human rights” or boast of “spreading human rights awareness” while being completely satisfied with this autocracy. If the Commission cannot challenge a government that puts a marginalized community before the legislature’s firing squad, it has fully failed in its fundamental mandate.

I cannot in good conscience lend my name, time, or credibility to this committee. Rights must be fought for; They are not won by sitting silently in complicit committee rooms. My place right now is to fight in the streets with my people against this zillat aur besharmi.

However, if the NHRC wants to make a meaningful difference in the lives of transgender people, I will be available for all consultations. As a citizen of this country, I will do this. I realize that I don’t have to be part of this group to do this.

Sincerely,

Harish Iyer

“The responsibility for inclusion lies with those who are included, not those who are excluded” – Harish