The report, titled: “State of Human Rights in 2022”, notes that Pakistan took a “U-turn on the rights of transgender people” in 2022 which is contrary to the country’s earlier stance when it introduced the progressive federal 2018 Act that provides for the protection of the rights of transgender people.

However, the bill faced intense backlash in 2022 after Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, launched a bid to have the Act repealed for promoting ‘the legalisation of homosexual marriages’. Consequently, over 12 transgender people were murdered and hundreds faced violence.

The HRCP also said that Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan’s constituency has seen hundreds of murders and gruesome cases of violence against transgender people in the past few years. There were six attacks in March 2022 alone, leading to five fatalities. However, the authorities took no action against the culprits.

“Khan’s counter-claim that a law that protects the rights of transgender people has singlehandedly undermined the very foundations of an Islamic republic, managed to
induce nationwide moral panic. Protests erupted to stop a bill that had already been passed four years ago. Resolutions were submitted in provincial assemblies to condemn the law. Even the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were prompted to issue a decree to ‘rid the holy land of blasphemers’ for passing such a law,” the report said.

The report also holds Pakistani authorities responsible for their inaction toward curtailing violence against the marginalised community.

News Desk

dissenttoday.net

The post 12 Trans Persons Murdered In 2022: HRCP Decries Growing Hostility Towards Transgender Community  appeared first on Dissent Today.