‘Transgender community getting heard now in KP’

PESHAWAR: The funeral of a transvestite was for the first time held publicly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and was attended by a large number of people.

“It was the first time in our province that we were able to hold the funeral of a transvestite publicly. The people showed sympathy with the transgender community and offered Fateha for Alisha,” Farzana, the head of TransAction Alliance in KP and Fata, told The News on Friday. 

Transvestite Alisha, 25, who was shot eight times allegedly by a disgruntled customer, succumbed to her wounds at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Wednesday.

Political and government figures, including Awami National Party (ANP) general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain, National Party provincial president Mukhtar Bacha, Human Rights Directorate Khyber Pakhtunkhwa director Noor Zaman Khattak and others attended the funeral.

The funeral was held at the residence of Qamar Naseem, a representative of an organization, Blue Veins working for the empowerment of the transgender community.

The violence against the transgender community has increased in recent years.

The transgender community has been demanding shelter, inclusion of names to receive Zakat, Ushar and other welfare schemes of the Social Welfare Department on the basis of equality.

The demands also include police protection, special wards in government hospitals, issuance of CNICs, share in inheritance and two percent quota in government jobs in every sector.

It was the fifth reported case of violence against a transvestite in Peshawar. Earlier, Adnan, Sameer, Komal and Ayesha were subjected to violence.

The members of the transgender community have been protesting against the violence and for their rights in recent months.

Qamar Naseem of the Blue Veins told The News that all kinds of crimes had been perpetrated against the transvestites.

He said the members of the transgender community had difficulty raising voice for their rights in our deeply conservative society.

In 2016, he said 17 cases of violence, threat and harassment were reported while many others went unreported.

He said the police often acted as silent spectator as the transvestites complained of suffering more at the hands of the law-enforcers.

On Thursday, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information and Higher
Education Mushtaq Ghani met the representatives of the transgender community.

He pledged that the government would allocate funds for welfare of the transgender community in the upcoming provincial budget.

Farzana, head of the TransAction Alliance, said Mushtaq Ghani assured them that a separate ward would soon be set up at the LRH for their treatment.

Police officers headed by Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Abbas Majeed Marwat also held a meeting with the representatives of the transgender community and assured them that the police would spare no effort to protect them. He said the cops found involved in harassing transvestites would be sacked.