Daily Times

Transvestites are usually considered as symbols of hatred and detestation while being oppressed in every possible way, even from their blood relatives.

They are the most vulnerable and marginalised segment of the society.

No one ever utters a single word of sympathy for these neglected people, who have to endure hardships, cruelties and injustices their entire life.

The transvestite are disgusted of the intolerable society, which is not ashamed to get them dancing to enhance the celebrations of their events, but never ready to accept them as normal humans and even their siblings also hesitate in giving due honour and respect.

Transvestites have been confronting agonies and sufferings their whole lives and are compelled to wear musical instruments to earn a living. They then win over the amusers’ heart by dancing, even though their hearts are filled with moans and miseries. They often complain that people shower money on them for their enjoyment, but none of them ever comes forward to reduce their sufferings, particularly financial hardships.

Blue Veins – an NGO working on transvestite – representative Qamar Naseem told, “There are almost three forms of the people, Intersex, Transgender and Eunuch. They have the same style of walking and talking. Teasing, taunting and hissing from society forced them to adopt dancing as profession.”

He lamented that there are about 50,000 transvestites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and these people are also found in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). During the operation against terrorism, 1,700 transvestites became Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs), only from Orakzai Agency. 90 cases of rape, violence and extortion were reported in 2016.

Transvestites, belonging to different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, consider the provincial metropolis Peshawar, a safer abode for them, but even this city is also not a secure from the usual issues.

“We starve for days, as the money we earn is used to pay the rent for our houses,” the sobbing transvestites said.

Almost all of the transvestites not accepted in educational institutes, even in Mosques. This is the reason behind their illiteracy.

“My classmates and other students called me eunuch in school and even in Masjid due to which, I left both the school and the Masjid,” said Gulalai, an impotent transvestite from Swabi. Being transgender by-birth, she was victim to mocking in village and also used to receive blows from her brothers on daily basis. They felt her elegance as nuisance and shame.

“I still moan for prosperity, as there is no money to pay rent for many months. I am suffering from Hepatitis-C and can see no way to get treatment, not only because I’m poor but also due to the unavailability of a special bed in any government hospital,” she wept.

Along with other agonies, health related issues are a permanent headache for the transvestites. Neither male nor female wards are ready to admit them. This prohibition is not from the doctors but it is the mind-set of the society.

When a transgender was shot injured by an unknown person some months back, neither female nor male patients allowed the she-male in the ward of the largest Lady Ready Hospital (LRH) and as a result, she died. Similarly, a transgender suffering from AIDS lost her life due to lack of access to medical facilities.

Dilbar, a transvestite from Charsadda, narrated his tale that he is able to get married but his behaviour is completely like a woman, which had become a nuisance for him in the village. “I have a LTV license and am a skilled tailor but the society does not accept me to be a driver or run a tailoring shop. The only option I could see was dancing to feed myself,” he lamented and added that he curses the profession of dancing, if he is offered for a job.

“To feed and protect ourselves from mischiefs, there are several transvestites who befriended some people, who misuse us, but also they take responsibly for our safety,” one of she-male informed on condition of anonymity. She told that she abandoned her friendship with her guard after giving 150,000 rupees.

Performing at events is the only source of income for them, but there are various areas including district Buner and some outskirts of Peshawar where they are banned to appear in any programme.

When Buner Gulzar Babak Tehsil Nazim was contacted, he clarified that there was no single transvestite in the district and for programmes, the people called them from Mardan and Swabi, which often convert into tussles along with rape and spanking. Therefore, he had requested the Assistant Commission (AC) Syed Nawab to ban their entry.

We are Muslims and offer prayers five times a day. We always beg Allah for suitable jobs to give up the profession. All of them seek supplication in this regard, expressed Farzana, a provincial president of Trans Action Association (TAA).

Explaining the religious point of view regarding the transvestites, Dr Mufti Shaukat from Darul-Uloom Haqaniya said that Islam does not allow anyone to mock or insult any human being and they (transvestites) are also God’s creation. They should be treated equally. The profession they adopt (Dancing) is an un-Islamic act, therefore it is the government’s duty to provide them suitable employment opportunities. Legislations should be introduced for their protection under the Islamic norms, he suggested.

Social Welfare Department Director Naeem said that they needed to have a proactive participation of transgender people in all democratic activities and system, including participation in policies framed for their welfare. The state should take measures to ensure their respect and honour in the society, which they once enjoyed in our cultural and social life.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Rights Director Farukh Saqlain said that to protect the transvestite community’s rights, legal safeguards should be formed. Without protection of human rights, there can be no democracy.

A provincial government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani said that the KP government has a clear view for protection of the transvestite, as it had allocated Rs 200 million for their welfare. The government plans to offer soft loans to the cross-dressers to enter into entrepreneurship.