Hijras in India, recognized as a third gender, have long faced exclusion and marginalization. They often capitalize on public unease by appearing at weddings, childbirths, or marketplaces, loudly offering blessings or hurling curses. Refusal to comply risks public embarrassment or bad fortune, making fear of disruption their bargaining tool for dignity and livelihood. A parallel can be seen with early Jewish communities in Europe, who, facing hostility and exclusion, sometimes invoked narratives of divine retribution or collective unrest if sacred practices or burial grounds were desecrated. Both groups show how fear can be strategically mobilized to claim space and resources.