Daily Times

“I think Imran Khan wanted to leave us in ‘Purana Pakistan’ ”, said by a transgender “President of Gender Interactive Alliance”. These words are expressed by him on the murder of his fellow being “Alisha” who is recently murdered in “Khyber Pakhtun Khuwa”. These words touched my heart. But why am I feeling so emotional by these words. What is wrong with it? It is absolutely right. We all want to be live in “Naya Pakistan” but we did not change our stance towards “Transgender society”. It seems like we want to leave them in “Purana Pakistan”.

Since the birth of Pakistan, the gender between man and woman has been fighting for their plight in Pakistani Society. After their birth, their own family rejects them and their journey of hardships starts. They start living in a separate community setup by a ‘guru’ who acts as their leader or head of the family leading them to follow a myth for their survival that they can only earn from dancing and singing.

They have no basic rights as the other citizens have. Have you ever realized, what happens when a transgender goes to the hospital for health issues, school for education and in any department for job? People tease them by making them guilt about their gender. It is clearly depicted by the recent incident of “Alisha” who has been died in the hospital just because of lack of health facilities. Moreover, they also serve as a sex object. They are routinely harassed, raped and killed in the name of honor. But who cares? We feel guilt only when woman are harassed, raped and killed in the name of honor. But we do not think that the other gender faces such circumstances daily just because they are “transgender”.

We should have a look at this situation that why are they treated as untouchables in our society. Our history does not depict it. Our Islam forbids us to humiliate them and is considered as a crime as said by “Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat body”. Also in Mughal era, they were treated with respect and honor. They were appointed as the caretakers of “Mughal Harems” and significantly participated in music, art and poetry. But as time passed, their status deteriorated in the sub-continent.

The point to be noted here is that our neighbor country India is also facing this menace. But now they have prepared themselves to fight these stereotypes and have proved it. The cabinet under Narendra Modi approved The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016. By this, government has evolved a mechanism for their social, economic and educational empowerment. They also bring them into their mainstream society and make them productive. In Bengal, “Manabai (transgender)” appointed as a principal of the college. In addition, a designer in “Kerala” has launched her Saree Collection by featuring two transgender as models. Furthermore, the leading channel of India “Colors” has aired on a drama “Shakti Astitva ki” in which leading role is representing the life of a transgender.

I am not saying at all that the Pakistan has done nothing for them; we also have taken some steps to tackle this problem. Supreme Court has given the right of vote to the transgender. They made a decision of giving them the right of registering themselves as the “Third Gender” in their Identity Cards. They also get legal rights as the other citizens have included the part in inheritance, access to jobs and other basic facilities. In addition, the decree of legal marriage of Transgender is also welcomed in Pakistan recently. Now, KPK government has also allocated 200 million Rupees for the transgender community in their budget.

These efforts have been paramount, but the question is that, why the orders of the Supreme Court of legal rights are not implemented yet? Why the Fatwa of marriage is not legitimized yet? Is it that the money allocated by KPK is enough to remove the social stigma against the transgender society? These things are not enough. There is need to do more for them and make the things more practical rather than verbal. These steps can be fruitful when the government legitimizes the things. Besides this, the transgender should also be included in the Parliament as a “Quota” like other minorities so that they can speak for themselves there and address their problems loudly.

Moreover, social behavior should also be improved because it is more of a social rather than the political issue. People should realize that they are also the citizens of Pakistan as they are. They should realize that these people are not born transgender by their own choice. Why should they be punished when it isn’t their fault? What happened if they are born as a transgender and treated like this?

Writer is a student of media studies and passionate to highlight social issues through her words.