Beware of registration as eunuch with Nadra

ISLAMABAD: A bureaucrat rang up a Nadra official saying: “I’m going to the court.”
Asked why, he replied: “It’s unspeakable.”
Upon insistence, the complainant, who had applied for a new CNIC, protested that he had been registered as a eunuch.
As he pressed for correction, the official asked for production of a medical certificate establishing his gender.
While the third option has been created in the gender column for CNIC applicants to accommodate eunuchs in line with the landmark verdict of the Supreme Court, only a small number of eunuchs have been registered so far.
To be precise, 1,432 eunuchs have been registered to-date in contrast to the estimated figure of 80,000 to 300,000 presented by the provincial social welfare departments before the apex court.
The bureaucrat was also partly at fault besides the data entry operator, as according to the procedure the applicant is asked to double check the information once the registrations process finishes.
If the operator inadvertently hit the wrong key, the bureaucrat also didn’t check the information whereas the Nadra’s SOP demands proof for altering the submitted details.
Although, the bureaucrat’s case was resolved, the registration of eunuchs has virtually come to a halt due to the puzzles faced by the authority on the gender issue and the challenges posed by eunuchs.
“As we started registration in compliance with the court orders in 2012, we came across several applicants wishing to be registered as eunuchs though they were already in possession of CNICs as males and females,” a Nadra official privy to the process told this reporter.
The situation was complicated further when their family trees showed them as married.
“A person came to me for registration as Saima in the eunuch category. When the data was entered, we found that he had already been registered as Sardar Ishaq having three children,” a Nadra official said, adding there were numerous cases like this.
“As the objections were raised, the eunuchs threatened protests declaring such scrutiny in violation of the court order that had directed Nadra to register them as they wished to be. We had to block several cards for giving them a new identity,” according to Nadra officials.
Out of 1,432 registered eunuchs, there are many whose previous CNICs were blocked wherein they were shown having children. Their latest status as eunuch still carries children in their family trees. Only the gender has been changed.
Eunuch leader Almas Bobby who had moved the court resulting in this landmark judgment, disputes the Nadra claims.
“Those having children can’t be eunuchs. They are zalkhas (Urdu word for males with female penchant),” said Almas who was appointed as the focal person by the court for coordination between the Nadra and eunuchs.
So far, the registered eunuchs have been divided into three categories: male eunuchs (856), female eunuchs (456) and khunsa-e-mushkil (120).
Almas was earlier registered as male and changed gender as a male eunuch after the court verdict.
“I opted for male eunuch to avoid unnecessary hassles. For example, my current status will not require me to have a male companion if I intend to go for Haj or Umra,” Almas said who otherwise calls himself as a female.
Asked why a negligible number of eunuchs were registered with Nadra, Almas said many of them wanted to name their gurus as guardians instead of their fathers — something the registering authorities are reluctant to do.
“Several of them were abandoned by their parents only to be looked after by their gurus. Whatever they earn goes to their guru’s kitty,” Almas explained. By having a guardian in the CNIC means a legal heir of the guru to claim the right to property after the guru’s death.
One guru in Mirpur, Haji Mukhtar, owned four houses and gold. After Mukhtar’s death, his nephews claimed right over his property that was contested by the protégés of Mukhtar only to win it through a legal battle that lasted for 15 years, Almas explained.
“The laws are made to facilitate citizens, not to create troubles for them,” Almas argued.
Nadra officials, however, dispute this assertion saying that their department had been very liberal to accommodate them whether a eunuch wanted father’s name registered or guru’s. They instead argue that eunuchs are keen to insert their fathers’ names for preserving their inheritance right.
Almas, who had been making a living in the past by performing dances at wedding ceremonies and other parties, now own property in Rawalpindi and is responsible for the lookafter of three eunuchs.
The court had asked for giving stipend to eunuchs from the Benazir Income Support Program, Almas said, and offering them jobs in different departments. Instead, the government is not allowing them even to make a living by dancing, etc.
“Police arrest them when found involved in such activities and confiscate their music system. They are only set free after securing bails from courts,” Almas said, blaming the PML-N government for the most unfriendly attitude towards eunuchs.
“Eunuchs did not face as much harassment during the governments of Gen Ziaul Haq, PPP and Musharraf as in the current government’s tenure,” Almas said.
Instead of facilitating them in making a respectable living and becoming self-reliant, the police are forcing them into sexual slavery, said Almas.
Dr. Aslam Khaki, advocate, who was counsel for eunuchs’ petition, attributed the small number of registration for CNICs to a lack of incentives from the government side.