CNICs for the transgendered

We know them as eunuchs, as hijras, as khwaja siras, as people who come to our windows at traffic lights — clapping their hands boisterously and asking for money as they shower us with compliments and make cheeky remarks, and who most of us ignore — and as those who are asked to bless our newly born children and dance at our weddings. They have been around as part of our culture for years yet, until recently, we never tried to accept them into mainstream society. So when the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, ordered NADRA to create a third box for ‘mukhanas’ under gender options in the CNIC form, one thought this could be the first step in changing mindsets. This is necessary because we are speaking of a marginalised community, deprived of basic rights and mocked by society, forced to live in slums and beg on the streets. And if they were issued CNICs, they might be able to get jobs, open bank accounts and do all those things people with CNICs take for granted.

The policy, by NADRA’s own admission, was enacted on January 1. However, this proved to be the case only on paper, like almost every law or policy measure passed in Pakistan. As expected, and given NADRA’s involvement, bureaucratic hurdles arose. In March, a report said that NADRA had been trying to implement the court’s order but it was finding it difficult to identify the parents of such applicants. In April, members of the transgender community expressed concerns over NADRA’s complicated verification process — a NADRA official had said that those applying under the mukhanas category needed to satisfy some “essential” requirements as there were two sub-categories: Khwaja Sira (he) and zankha (she-males). One can only hope that an otherwise well-intentioned measure is implemented in letter and spirit so that those living on the margins can also get a shot at being productive members of society and the economy.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2011.