September 25, 2025
By Asad Mumtaz
KARACHI
The transgender community in Karachi staged a protest in front of the Press Club on Wednesday, against the brutal murder of three transgenders in the Memon Goth area on September 21. Transgenders lit candles, and carried out a sit-in and paid tribute to their comrades who were murdered.
The protest was attended by various transgender leaders Bindiya Rana, Zeresh Khanzadi, Kami Sid and others. They said that the transgender community was facing serious incidents like violence and murder every day but the state had failed to protect them. They demanded that the government immediately arrest the killers and take practical steps to protect the community. The leaders said that transgenders are also part of this society and should be given full constitutional and civil rights.
“We are doing this peaceful candlelight vigil, asking the government to wake up,” said Zeresh Khanzadi. “We are tired of this violence on a daily basis. We don’t have any shelter, any way to exercise our rights. We demand protective mechanisms from the government, and we demand that the investigation of this triple murder must be done on a priority basis. For now we are unhappy with the way it is progressing.”
“The perpetrators must be arrested at once and brought to justice, so that this atmosphere dissipates,” said Bindiya Rana, leading trans activist. “Three transpersons were killed but now this case is being given a different twist, and it is being said that two of them were men. But does it matter if they were men or not. Three murders happened.
“By coincidence, I saw that four years ago we were protesting at the press club on the same date as today,” said Bubbles Khanum, a member of the Sindh Moorat March. “We are not that positive, but we still persist in the hope that we may find some justice. Three transgender women were killed and we demand the perpetrators be arrested. But we should not be subject to victim blaming and told this happened due to their personal issues. A murder is a murder, whatever the reasons may be.”
“Transpersons are not even given the right to live – they are being snatched of that as well,” says Zoha Alvi, from Aurat March. ”
Civil society and citizens also participated in the protest and expressed solidarity with transgenders. Those representing civil society included trade unionist Nasir Mansoor, Zoya Khan, lawyer leader Haseeb Ahmed, Moin Magsi and many others. He said that these incidents were not just a problem for the transgender community, but a sign of the failure of the entire society.