Ahmed Ali Butt, Nadia Afgan urge the state to put an end to violence against trans persons in KPK

“As many as 70 transgender persons were killed in KP in the last few years,” said Arzu, a trans activist

Actors Ahmed Ali Butt and Nadia Afgan raised their voices against the growing number of barbaric acts of violence against transpersons, specifically with reference to the recent slew of attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). In a conversation with The Express Tribune, Arzu, a social activist part of KPK’s transgender community, shared that “as many as 70 transgender persons were killed in K-P in the last few years.” Ahmed condemned the act on social media, asserting that the transgender community “deserves every bit of protection” like any other citizen of Pakistan, while Nadia called urged the state to “stand up and take action” against it.

The Jawaani Phir Nahi Ani actor took to his Instagram story and shared a screenshot of a news article, the headline of which read, “Four transgender women have been murdered in KPK in the past ten days alone, when will this end?” Ahmed exclaimed that rising violence and consequent lack of justice is “beyond shocking”. He wrote, “The transgender community deserves every bit of protection as every other citizen of Pakistan but sadly no action is ever taken when such tragic incidents take place. A life is a life regardless of gender.”

He further added, “We need to bring the criminals to justice and set an example for the sake of humanity.”

Earlier this week, Nadia also took to her Instagram stories to condemn the targeted violence and called on the state to take action. “[This is] the third anti-trans attack in the past ten days in KPK. This needs to stop. The state needs to step up and take action,” read her caption. She concluded the story with hashtags #governerkpk, #pti #ptiimrankhan, and #primeministerportal.

On Tuesday, March 22nd, transgender persons staged a protest rally outside the Rawalpindi Press Club against the rising incidents of violence and killing of the community members in different parts of the country. They demanded protection and immediate arrest of people involved in the killings of their fellow community members