Transgender people can’t collect hides on Eidul Azha

District admin refuses to issue NOC to community

ISLAMABAD: The hopes of some members of the capital’s transgender community to raise funds was dealt a blow on Monday when the district administration turned down their application seeking permission to collect hides on Eidul Azha.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration refused to issue the no-objection certificates (NOC) required for collecting hides of sacrificial animals on Eidul Azha. Last week some members of the transgender community had submitted an application with the district magistrate.



“The ignorance of the prime minister [to mention people who are transgender in his maiden address to the nation] followed by this refusal clearly reflects that there is little to no space or hope for the transgender community in ‘Naya Pakistan’,” lamented Muhammad Arsalan alias Nayyab Ali.

Nayyab, who had contested the recently-held general elections from Okara but failed to garner substantial votes, had co-sponsored the application along with Nadeemul Muzaffar alias Kashish.

Ali contended that the ICT administration could have easily allowed them to collect hides but they did not.

”Our only aim behind collecting the hides of sacrificial animals was to generate sufficient funds for the welfare of our community and to train people who are transgender on how to contest in the upcoming local government elections,” she said.



Ali was of the view that the government allows a host of religious groups to collect hides of sacrificial animals during Eidul Azha but imposes stringent restrictions on the marginalised transgender community.

Meanwhile, expressing grave concerns over the maiden address to the nation by the newly elected prime minister, Ali said, “It was disappointing for us since he did not even utter even a single word regarding the welfare of our community. This is mainly because the PTI did not mention anything about our rights in their election manifesto.”

Sharing the general views of the transgender community over Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech, Khawaja Sira Society Lahore Programme Director Moon Ali said it was like the speech of any other premier.



“It is not surprising for us that the PM Imran ignored us in his speech because when the PTI was ruling Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, even then time he did not do much for us, there were over 250 murders of people who are transgender were reported in his province but he never said a word for us or about giving us protection,” Moon cried.

She added that the transgender community is doing all it can to have their voice heard and have the government address issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2018.