Call for resuming issuance of CNICs to transgender persons

Despite the existence of a significant number of Khawaja Siras in Sindh, only around 3,000 of them are registered to vote, leading to a lack of consensus among Khawaja Siras, a representative of transgender persons said on Tuesday.

Shehzadi Rai, who is also part of the Gender Interactive Alliance, held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday to highlight the denial of voting rights to Khawaja Siras, whom she claimed the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan have overlooked.

Transgender persons demanded being registered to vote. “Our primary concern is that the election commission, despite providing voter registration numbers, has not reached an agreement with Khawaja Sira leaders,” said Shehzadi.

She insisted on revisiting the electoral registration process for Khawaja Siras, “but this suggestion has been disregarded, resulting in the exclusion of approximately 1,000 individuals from the voting registry”.

She also demanded implementing the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018. She said that following the Federal Shariat Court’s decision against the piece of legislation, the process of issuing identity cards to Khawaja Siras has been halted, thus depriving them of their identity.

She pointed out that the National Database & Registration Authority has ignored the letters issued by the Sindh Human Rights Commission and the National Human Rights Commission urging the resumption of the identity card process, leading to transgender persons being deprived of their rights as Pakistani citizens.

She also mentioned that Khawaja Siras have been allocated reserved seats in local government throughout the province. However, she stressed, Khawaja Siras demand they also be allocated reserved seats in the general elections, enabling them to better represent their community at national and provincial levels.

She specifically demanded resuming the process of issuing identity cards to Khawaja Siras, saying that the government’s decision to halt the process is inhibiting their fundamental right to participate in the democratic process.

She highlighted the impact of voting registration. “With the suspension of CNIC issuance, many Khawaja Siras face the risk of being disenfranchised, unable to register their votes for the upcoming general elections.”

As for the obstacles to candidacy, she said that the restrictive measures also impede transgender persons from running for the 2024 general elections, thereby limiting their representation in the democratic landscape.