November 11, 2024
By Shaukat Korai
KARACHI
The city’s streets saw a dash of bright colours as individuals from the transgender community from all across Pakistan gathered to celebrate the ‘Hijra Festival’, for a second year running. The participants of the festival rallied, gave speeches and also displayed an array of dance performances.
People from all spheres came to attend the Hijra Festival. The key point of the festival was to bring attention to the vast and vibrant transgender community that lived in Pakistan, and that authorities and others in society should not neglect to see them as equal citizens with the same needs and issues as any other citizen. They highlighted that the violation of human rights that transgender persons faced must be eliminated and they should be given justice in this regard.
“There was only one reason for this festival,” said Dr Sara Ali Khan, one of the organizers of the festival. “According to the aspirations of the founders of this country you (men) have received your rights, to some extent even your daughters have received their basic rights. But we (transgenders) have not received any rights at all. This festival is for everyone to see, that we do exist – accept us and give us what we deserve.”
She said that their gender did not lie in their hands, rather it was something that was given to them at birth. “You cannot close your eyes, because after you open them we will still be around,” she added. “We are ‘hijras’, and we can do anything under the sun.”
“This is a big message to all those who have a phobia of people like us,” said Bindiya Rana, Executive Director of the Gender Interactive Alliance (GIA) organization. “We are all united and we are also part of Pakistan. God willing, we will soon have seats in the Senate and National Assembly as well.”
Rana said that people should not judge others by their looks rather each individual should be understood according to the person they are. She lauded the huge turnout at the Hijra Festival.
The participants arrived from Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad and other areas. They said it was important that the government and other political leaders must listen to what their demands were and to provide them with safety.
“Only men and women don’t have the right to life,” said Heer Alvi, a transgender activist from Lahore. “We khwajasirahs also have the same rights. Today is the day we celebrate all those names from among our community who have spent their lives struggling to provide their community with their rights. At the same time we also remember those who lost their lives in the battle for survival, thanks to violence.”
She said they wanted to prove how much unity their community has and that at a single call they have all come together to participate in the festival.
“There is no center for safety for transgender community in Peshawar, unlike in Punjab,” said Arzoo Khan, a prominent trans-activist from Peshawar. “I am a member of the committee which is supposed to do this, but there have been no meetings since five years. When the government does not fulfill its own role this kind of violence will obviously increase in the region.”
She said there were over 1500 cases of violence against transgender persons recorded across Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, while there were 140 murder cases. However only one accused has been punished the rest are all roaming around freely, she said. “In every police station there are at least 7 to 8 FIRs lodged against violent gangs who do this to us, but till now there has been no investigation or any arrests in this regard.”
“A change is coming albeit slow,” said Khwaja Kashif, also a transgender. “People do not have the right kind of awareness about us; they still treat us the same way as they used to.”
However activist Heer Alvi says that the change s definitely there otherwise a few years ago transgenders could never have collected in the same way as they are doing so now. “Change is slow but it is coming i think,” she said.
“They have accepted and owned the word which people have flung at them as a curse word,” said Zehra Khan, General Secretary of the Home Based Workers Federation, referring to the word ‘hijra‘. “This is something very courageous.”
Meanwhile the partipants of the festival also set up various stalls in the festival.
“We have set up stalls here with our small businesses to prove to the world that we can also work like the rest of society,” said a trans activist who was minding one of the stalls.
“The constitution of the country says that every citizen of the country is important – it is not specifying the gender,” said Qazi Khizer of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. “This means that the State in a way has accepted that apart from men and women the transgender community also exists. They also have the same rights. But in the past few years dozens of khwajasirahs have fallen victim to extreme violence.