Sep 23, 2022
1902
No matter what a person’s pronouns are, it doesn’t make them any less human than the rest of us. The sad reality of our society is that the people claim to be kind-hearted and humble but when it comes to mocking or making fun of someone, our nation is the first one to step forward to do so. Our country not only lacks a basic sense of empathy but it dramatically has a deficiency in valuing someone’s emotions. The most targeted audience of the shameless name-calling and bullying after the women is the transgender community.
A lot of the time on signals or bazaars you would find transgender begging and people would make fun of them or bully them without having any emotional respect for them. They would degrade them with derogatory comments or pass insensitive calls which leave their self-respect more tarnished than ever. No one understands the concept of their existence nor bothers checking the transgender in the oxford law dictionary. Luckily with the Pakistan Transgender act 2022 passed, the transgender community will have a better chance of living the respectful life they deserve after getting disowned by their own family. It will allow them to be treated equally and acquire education due to the much-needed transgender school policy.
The Pakistan Transgender Empowerment Association plays a major role in the new act passed in 2022 to give them a dignified place in society. Without wasting a minute, let’s go through what are the new policies and how they will manage to empower the transsexuals of our community.
The transgender policy also known as the ACT 2018 is a bill that was passed to raise recognition of transgender rights and discourage all sorts of discrimination and harassment. It also holds an obligation towards the government to maintain the well-being of the community. The bill focuses on allowing the outcast community to exercise their rights in the following departments,
The bill also strong emphasis penalties and imprisonment if an individual is caught using a transsexual for begging. The punishable offense includes imprisonment of up to 6 months or a fine of PKR 50,000. The government plans to fulfill its set of obligations by making protection centers and safe houses to secure protection and recuperation for them. The plans also include building separate prisons for the transgenders who are involved in any sort of criminal offense. Providing proper medical care for issues such as psychological, counseling, and adult education is a top priority. The regime also plans to encourage entrepreneurship for the disowned community by providing loans and grants.
In attempts made by Pakistan Transgender Empowerment Association to provide respect and basic rights to the trans genders, there have been calls for amendments to the transgender protection act from the religious leaders of the country, which has stirred quiet discussions in the media and all over the news channels. The religious leaders claim the ACT 2018 to be a major mistake as it goes against the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The religious leader of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman is furious with the Pakistan transgender act 2022 approved by the government as he believes it will encourage homosexuality in the country on a larger margin than ever before.
The transgender community claims this is to be propaganda to tarnish the benefits that the protection act can provide especially to those who are fighting for basic human rights in the country. The community further explained that if people manage to read the ACT 2018, they will come to know that the bill suggests and raises concern for the basic citizen, education, and health rights such as transgender school policy and not for any other purposes. While being furious at the claims of the Islamic leaders the members of the community explained that nowhere in the ACT conditions such as same-gender marriages were mentioned. They further told the leaders to read and understand what is the transgender policy and that they should open and understand the concept of transgender in the oxford law dictionary. In the end, they also called the calls for amendments to the transgender protection act irrelevant and baseless.
With the country receiving awareness about women empowerment, mental illness, and environmental issues, it is high time the country understands and respects the existence of transgender and their contribution to our society. The Entertainment industry and social media have been kind to give such personalities a chance to earn a living for themselves. Many social media platforms, especially Tiktok have made it easier for the struggling community to make a name for themselves in a shorter period. From Mehak Malik to Rimal Ali and many more have gained quite a large following.
Talking about the entertainment industry, Rimal Ali has made a debut as one of the leads in the 2018 rom-com “7 din Mohabbat in”. While picking the role for the said film, Ali made sure that the role doesn’t make fun of the community, as it is quite common in Bollywood and Lollywood films. The movie was released the same year as the Pakistan transgender act 2022 was passed. As a talented dancer, Rimal Ali has also featured in a music video back in 2017.
One of the famous transgender actors in Pakistan Alina Khan gained instant fame when Alina was featured in the movie “Joyland”. The movie won a Jury prize at the Cannes Film Fest 2022, where the whole team of the film was present to collect the award, including Alina Khan. The hard-working individual expressed joy and thanked for the support received from Khan’s loved ones. Alina khan also expressed happiness about the family accepting the true personality of the lollywood star with open arms and love, who once didn't even want to communicate and keep any kind of relationship with the individual.
He or She is just some words that cannot define a person’s basic rights or the quality of life they deserve. Before you label someone with a pronoun, it is more important to acknowledge them with humanity and humbleness rather than making them a subject of mockery for entertainment purposes. Any law in which a man or a woman can change their sex/gender is highly discouraging in Pakistan due to religious values.
The ACT 2018 strongly represents the rights of a transgender who deserves to acquire education, health facilities, and employment. The bill also strongly approves for such individuals to enter Public office and any kind of public place. Moreover, the community is allowed to vote just like any other citizen of Pakistan.
To make Pakistan a better society, we need to accept the estranged part of the society with love, care, and an open mind. A country can only flourish when the nation has unity and understanding among each other. Pulling someone down or snatching away basic human rights is not an ideal example of a healthy nation.