It is high time the government provide opportunities to transgenders to ensure their right to live with dignity
HYDERABAD: It is very distressing to witness transgenders face humiliation and violence on a regular basis. Members of the community are considered subhuman by many. They are among the most vulnerable segments of our society. They are considered outsiders and we make them feel belittled and humiliated for their looks and existence without realising they are in this body by nature and birth. They heavily depend on livelihoods from singing and dancing at weddings and birth celebrations. They are also sometimes treated as sex objects and often become victims of violent assaults. The recent gunning down of a transgender in Peshawar is tragic. Eight bullets were shot into the body of the innocent soul.
Demonstrations are staged for their rights from time to time but they don’t appear to have picked up any steam because irresponsible government officials are oblivious to their plight. The issues that transgenders face are either trivialised or ignored. Despite some inspiring judgments by the Supreme Court, which ruled that transgender persons have the same rights as other citizens, as enshrined by the Constitution — including the right to inheritance — their plight remains the same. Transgenders also have the right to register as a third gender on their identity cards while the Supreme Court has ordered that they be provided with free education and free healthcare. However, provincial welfare departments have yet to implement some of these decisions. Even though NADRA has included a third box for transgenders on identity cards, the community still faces problems. When transgenders go to NADRA offices to get their identity cards made, personnel ask them to present their school certificates and parents’ identity cards. However, in several cases, they never had the opportunity to complete their education. In addition, many leave their families at a young age and are looked after by their gurus. One wonders then how NADRA personnel expect them to present these documents when they do not have them?
Lately, some educated members from the transgender community have been given opportunities to present their viewpoints at literature festivals, seminars and other academic spaces, and audiences have expressed admiration for their bravery and struggle in the face of social taboos. It is high time the government did the same and ensure their right to live with dignity and peace in the country.
Nasir Soomro
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2016.
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