India, March 27 -- Just days after undergoing gender-affirming surgery in Thailand, cricketer-turned-content creator Anaya Bangar finds herself navigating a mix of personal triumph and public concern. While the 25-year-old is embracing a long-awaited milestone, developments back home have left her unsettled. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, cleared by Rajya Sabha on March 25, has triggered debate over curbing the right to self-identify one's gender and introducing a more medicalised process. "I feel saddened by the removal of self-identification. For many of us, this isn't just a policy change... It touches our dignity and our right to exist as who we truly are," says Anaya. She adds, "When that is questioned, it can feel like the community is being misunderstood or unfairly represented." She also points to the 2014 National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (NALSA) judgement, as a turning point for the community, saying it recognised transgender persons as a third gender and affirmed the right to self-identification."What concerns me the most is the possibility of moving backwards. The NALSA judgment was a recognition of our fundamental right to exist with dignity...If identity becomes something that needs to be verified. it shifts from being a personal truth to something conditional and that can take away the very dignity the law once aimed to protect," she says. Even as the national debate unfolds, Anaya is navigating an intensely personal phase. "I'm still recovering. But having my parents by my side and embracing me as their daughter has been one of the most meaningful moments of my life," says the daughter of former cricketer Sanjay Bangar....