Transgender rights activist Harish Iyer on Thursday (March 26, 2026) resigned from the position of Advisor on the Core Group on LGBTQI+ issues at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in protest of the alleged failure of NHRC to stand for the LGBTQI+ community. He slammed the government and NHRC for not consulting the core group on any of the key issues about the transgender community, calling his association with NHRC ‘untenable’ anymore. “The NHRC cannot claim to be a “watchdog of human rights” or boast about “spreading human rights awareness” while remaining perfectly content with this autocracy,” the resignation letter has stated.
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.
“It is unscientific and has been brought in with zero consultations. When the state legislates in an echo chamber without consulting the very people whose lives are on the line, it does not draft protective laws; it drafts a bill that invalidates our very existence. The ill effect of this arrogant non-consultation is a bill completely divorced from ground reality,” he said, critiquing the NHRC for its silence. The resignation (a copy of which is with The Hindu) was sent on Thursday (March 26, 2026) afternoon.
He said that the NHRC had failed to stand by the comprehensive advisory it had itself issued in 2023, regarding the welfare of transgender persons. “Just three years ago, the Commission laid out expansive guidelines to the Centre and States, ostensibly to protect the community’s dignity, ensure healthcare access, and prevent discrimination. Yet today, when a piece of legislation actively dismantles those very protections—reinstating the exact systemic violence the Commission once claimed to oppose—the NHRC has suddenly lost its voice,” the letter stated.
Harish Iyer, along with a few veteran LGBTQI+ activists, was appointed on NHRC’s Core Group by a government order issued in 2018. Among the core responsibilities of the group is to review the existing government policies, laws, rules and orders related to LGBTQI community from the perspective of human rights, and make suggestions or recommendations for changes. “I accepted this role with the earnest hope that the Commission intended to live up to that mandate and act as a fierce, independent watchdog. I was deeply mistaken,” Mr Harish wrote in his resignation letter.
Text of the letter:
Dear Chairperson, Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer, and Members of National Human Rights Commission,
Please accept this letter as my formal and immediate resignation from my position as an Advisor on the Core Group on LGBTQI+ issues at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Commission’s official website explicitly states that the NHRC’s Vision and Mission is the “protection and promotion of human rights,” defined as the “rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution.” The institution proudly claims that the world looks at the NHRC as a “role model in promoting and monitoring effective implementation” of these rights. I accepted this role with the earnest hope that the Commission intended to live up to that mandate and act as a fierce, independent watchdog. I was deeply mistaken. Now that the draconian Transgender Persons Amendment Bill 2026 has been bulldozed through both Houses of Parliament, the NHRC’s deafening silence seems like a mockery of its own mission statement and rendered my continued association with this body untenable.
The hypocrisy is particularly glaring when one recalls the comprehensive advisory issued by the NHRC on September 15, 2023, regarding the welfare of transgender persons. Just three years ago, the Commission laid out expansive guidelines to the Centre and States, ostensibly to protect the community’s dignity, ensure healthcare access, and prevent discrimination. Yet today, when a piece of legislation actively dismantles those very protections—reinstating the exact systemic violence the Commission once claimed to oppose—the NHRC has suddenly lost its voice. This glaring silence renders the 2023 advisory as nothing more than performative paperwork completely devoid of any real intent.
As a core member of this committee, I was never consulted on this amendment bill at any stage. To the best of my knowledge, neither were any of the other members. What exactly is the requirement of this role—or this entire committee—if there is absolutely zero consultation on the single most devastating piece of legislation to hit the trans community in years?
This bill is not just an attack on our fundamental rights; it is also unscientefic and has been brought in with zero consultations.
When the state legislates in an echo chamber without consulting the very people whose lives are on the line, it does not draft protective laws; it drafts a bill that invalidates our very existence. The ill effect of this arrogant non-consultation is a bill completely divorced from ground reality. I have been a part of this committee since 2018. We have convened once a year for a Salaam-Namaste and nothing beyond the same. I do not want to be a part of a tick box exercise.
I request your voice against this Bill.
When this Bill officially becomes an Act, it will unleash a torrent of state-sanctioned human rights violations. It strips away the community’s “liberty, equality, and dignity.” It reinstates humiliating medical boards, forcing trans individuals to undergo degrading physical scrutiny merely to prove their existence. The Bill lacks any understanding of science and social sciences. It presumes that one can find out gender through bodily scrutiny. It forgets the scientific fact that one doesn’t need to physically have a gender affirmation surgery to call themselves transgender.
It effectively writes trans men out of legal existence, leaving them entirely invisible and vulnerable. Furthermore, it completely ignores the severe, state-sponsored mental health crisis that is pushing young queer and trans people toward suicide because they see absolutely no way out.
But perhaps the most insidious part is the weaponisation of Section 18, which will now criminalise the chosen families and allies who offer refuge to trans youth escaping violently patriarchal and abusive biological homes.
All the above points were highlighted by members of Parliament. However, the Bill passed through a voice vote.
This brings me to a very serious question for this Commission: Under this new Act, anyone offering safe haven or support to a trans person can be treated as a criminal. Therefore, if the National Human Rights Commission decides to fulfil its mandate tomorrow and helps or shelters a trans youth fleeing violence, will the state arrest the NHRC as well? Will the Commission’s own members be thrown in jail for protecting fundamental human rights?
I am aware that this Bill was drafted and moved by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE). However, does the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)—under whose administrative umbrella the NHRC functions—not have a say when fundamental constitutional rights are being systematically stripped away? Do these government departments simply not communicate with one another?
Perhaps the Commission’s silence makes absolute sense when one examines this administrative link. How can citizens possibly expect the NHRC to protect their rights when it answers to the very ministry that controls the police forces? It is the MHA’s machinery that will be knocking on the doors of our chosen families to arrest them under the MoSJE’s discriminatory law. This lack of inter-departmental dialogue is either gross incompetence or a deliberate strategy to evade accountability. The Commission acts as an advisory board to the very system that is orchestrating our marginalisation. Consequently, its independence is a mere illusion.
The NHRC cannot claim to be a “watchdog of human rights” or boast about “spreading human rights awareness” while remaining perfectly content with this autocracy. If the Commission cannot stand up to the government when it places a marginalized community in front of a legislative firing squad, then it has failed its fundamental mandate entirely.
I cannot, in good conscience, lend my name, my time, or my credibility to this committee. Rights have to be fought for; they are not won by sitting quietly in complicit committee rooms. My place right now is on the streets with my people, fighting this zillat aur besharmi.
I will be however available for all consultations if NHRC meaningfully wishes to make any difference to transgender lives. I will do that as a citizen of this country. I realize that I do not need to be a part of this group to do so.
Sincerely,
Harish Iyer
“The onus of inclusion, lies on those who are included, not on those who are excluded” – Harish
