Islamabad, Sep 14 (IANS) The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Sunday strongly condemned reports that an 11-member committee of “elders” in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Swabi district had declared all transgender persons would be expelled from the area.
“The HRCP strongly condemns the reported decision by community elders in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to form a committee aimed at expelling transgender persons from the district. Such actions are unconstitutional, discriminatory and amount to incitement to violence against an already marginalised community,” the body said in a statement on X.
The commission stressed that “no citizen can be deprived of the right to reside, work or earn a livelihood anywhere in Pakistan on the basis of gender identity”.
It called on provincial and district authorities to “immediately ensure the safety and dignity of transgender persons in Swabi and uphold their fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018”.
The committee of elders reportedly includes Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s tehsil president, Maulana Abdul Samad Haqqani, along with other members. Maulana Samad stated that transgender persons should leave the district peacefully and find livelihoods elsewhere, claiming their presence encouraged music shows that “negatively impact the youth”, according to the leading Pakistani daily, Dawn.
Another committee member, Yasir Khan, said the first step would be to ask transgender persons to leave voluntarily, but if they refused, the district police would be approached.
The group is expected to meet again in the coming days and also hold discussions with the police to finalise a strategy for “expelling” transgender persons from the district.
The development comes after police arrested over 200 individuals, including two transgender persons, in Swabi during a raid on a music programme, alleging resistance and use of “abusive language” against the police, local media reported.
Responding to the committee’s announcement, members of the transgender community released a video rejecting the demand for their expulsion.
They asserted that they respected local norms and values while earning a living and insisted that the elders had no right to take the law into their own hands.
They further said they were “aware of the law and the Constitution” and expressed readiness to give up performing at functions if provided with government jobs.
Urging society to see them through the lens of humanity, they stressed that forcing them out of Swabi was not acceptable, local media reports suggested.
–IANS
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