By Salahuddin
Islamabad-Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Wednesday has said that ensuring basic rights to transgender community is our first priority.A three-member bench conducted a hearing of a case during which, the top judge directed to hire two transgenders in Supreme Court (SC). Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Tuesday said two transgenders would be provided jobs in the Supreme Court. The remarks came as he chaired a bench to hear a case regarding transgenders' rights.
"In our society transgenders are subjected to ridicule. It is our top most priority to give them their rights,".
The chief justice said the court would issue a notice to NGOs and government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while it hears the case related to basic rights of transgender."Court wants to bring them into the mainstream. It wants to resolve their issues," said the CJ while presiding over a three-judge bench.
NADRA Chairman who appeared during the hearing, informed the court upon being asked whether identity cards to all transgender applicants have been issued, that his organization is issuing cards and also initiated a facilitation campaign.
Furthermore, the court took notice of websites unverified information regarding the murder of transgender.
The secretary commission apprised the court that an NGO, Blue Veins, was disseminating incorrect information regarding the number of transgenders murdered in the country. "The misleading information on this website is damaging the country's image," the secretary commission noted. The bench then sought suggestions for providing rights to transgenders within two weeks. A notice was issued to the owner of the Blue Veins website. The hearing was then adjourned till September 26.
Meanwhile, For the first time in Pakistan, a policy for the protection and rights of transgender persons has been drafted and published by the Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA) on the directions of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Pakistan on September 8th.
As per the details, the vision of the policy is to create a society where persons of every gender have equal social status, opportunities for socio-economic inclusion and mutual respect for one another. It aims to ensure that all transgender persons have recognition in accordance with their gender identity and expression, their rights are protected by the state and they get a secure and respectable livelihood with equal access to public services as well as the labor market.
In accordance with the residence statistics of rural and urban areas in Pakistan, the policy states that almost 10,418 transgender persons are living in the country. Punjab has the highest number of transgender persons (6,709), out of which 2,124 are living in rural and 4,585 are living in urban areas. In Sindh, 301 are living in rural and 2,226 are living in urban areas, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the number of those in rural areas is 223 while that in urban areas is 690. In Balochistan, there are 40 transgender persons living in rural and 69 in urban, while in Islamabad there are 52 in rural and 81 in urban.
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