Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has written a letter to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, urging it to stop the planned expulsion of transgendered persons from Swat.

Earlier, the Swat district administration had asked members of the transgendered community to leave the area within two days. The decision was taken over complaints filed by locals, who claimed that the transgendered persons were involved in ‘immoral activities’ and were promoting ‘obscenity’ in their area. The local residents complained that transgendered people, who arrived from other districts, were involved in vulgar activities and were ‘distracting’ the youth.

In case of failure, the district administration threatened to use force to throw them out.

In the wake of the decision, the NCHR has written to the KP chief secretary.

According to the letter, a copy of which is available with Daily Times, the commission has asked the chief secretary to immediately retract the unconstitutional decision as it was against fundamental human rights.

Talking to Daily Times, NCHR Chairperson Justice (r) Ali Nawaz Chohan said that if anyone was involved in an illegal activity, action should be taken against them as per prescribed methodology under the law instead. “To brand a whole community for the acts of a few is sheer injustice,” he said.

In the letter, the NCHR has stated that there was no legal or constitutional ground for ordering an “en-masse” expulsion of people from a particular area.

“Article 15 of the Constitution of Pakistan allows free movement of people in and out of different areas of Pakistan without restrictions or use of force,” it added.

It asked the provincial government to withdraw the orders. “Otherwise, the local administration/police will be held accountable under the law,” it stated.

The commission stated in the letter that it was a statutory body that had been established with the mandate to promote and protect the human rights of the people. “So, the commission might go at any extent to protect the rights of transgendered persons because they deserve equal rights,” the letter stated.

The NCHR chief said that in case the KP government did not heed its recommendations, the commission would approach the apex court.

To a question, Chohan said that the commission was established through an act that called NCHR Act, 2012. “As per clause No XVI of the act, it is our duty to promote and protect the human rights of the people,” he said.

“If we cannot do so, then such institutions are useless. The implementation of laws is more important after their formulations. The commission will not allow any individual or institution to exploit any other individuals,” he said.

Chohan said that sometimes the commission faced issues due to stern action it takes against human rights violations. “Such obstacles cannot stop us from performing such activities,” he said.

Earlier, the NCHR had also written a letter to the Punjab government after the murder of an Ahmadi faculty member of the Punjab University.