Tashnuva Anan Shishir Debut As First Transgender News Reader In Bangladesh
Aged 29, Has Read the News Bulletin for a Private TV Station on Monday Which Was Aired Across Bangladesh
Tashnuva Anan Shishir is a woman who has been able to survive through assault, suicide attempts, and intense bullying and has made her debut as the first transgender news reader in Bangladesh. She delivered a news bulletin comprising of three whole minutes for a private television news channel on International Women’s Day on Monday.
Hardships and abuses
After the bulletin, Tashnuva Anan Shishir said that she had spent most part of her life with the determination to study and made advancements in her career, after which she would be able to speak anything on her mind without getting fearful, and has been able to achieve the title of becoming the first transgender news reader in the country of Bangladesh. Today, after various struggles in her life, she has achieved the required platform.
There are more than 1.5 million individuals who are transgender and are currently residing in Bangladesh while facing violence and discrimination on a regular basis from the general population. Some are even forced to beg for their survival, while others have begun working in the sex trade to be able to get food for themselves.
The first transgender news reader Ms. Shishir stated that during her early teenage years, when she initially realized that she was transgender but was subjected to immense mental torture from a close relative and even became a victim of sexual harassment. She was embarrassed to say that even her own family members also had to suffer from harassment while her father completely stopped addressing her.
After being able to run away from her hometown, she lived completely alone in the capital city of Dhaka and in Narayanganj, located in central Bangladesh. She was determined to study hard and was able to gain a master’s degree in public health in the city of Dhaka, after which she was able to achieve the position of becoming the first transgender news reader.
Ms.Shishir also said that despite the intense amount of mental pressure, she kept on studying in school and didn’t drop out as her sixth sense always told her to continue the process of studying and getting a proper education, because if she endures the hardships and carries on with education, one day she will be able to go someplace where she would be appreciated. And the result of her withstanding the unappreciative society and listening to hundreds of abusive words and insults on a daily basis has prepared her to become a strong woman and has made her the first transgender news reader across the South Asian country of Bangladesh.
Historical milestone for the transgender community
Tashnuva Anan Shishir placed various requests on multiple television channels to give her work in this industry, all but one declined as only a private television station of Bangladesh Boishakhi gave her the opportunity as they were the only brave people to take her in and helped her become the first transgender news reader across Bangladesh, which is a very great achievement for all transgenders living in the region.
One of the spokesmen for the private station Boishakhi TV said that the bulletin given by the first transgender news reader is a historic moment for all of us, and the channel showed determination even with the increasing risk of getting massive backlash from the viewers regarding casting a transgender for reading news bulletin.
Regarding her experience as the first transgender news reader, Ms.Shishir said that she was very nervous and shaking inside before reading aloud the news bulletin on air. To help calm her nerves, she used the techniques she was taught during her time when she used to perform live stage dramas and followed them step by step. Soon after being live on TV, she broke down in tears of emotion as she was able to surpass a massive milestone for all transgender communities in the region.
She stated that she used to get angry in her children for not being an ordinary girl or boy, but now she is very proud of herself for becoming the first transgender news reader and a forerunner in the entire LGBT community. Maybe the creator of all creations made her this way so that she would be able to develop this community as part of her destiny.