PESHAWAR: The headquarter administration of Khyber district, previously known as Khyber Agency, has imposed ban on dancing and singing of transgenders on weddings in Khyber district of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province.
The announcement was made through a handwritten letter distributed in the surrounding areas which said that ‘anyone found involved in such activities will be imprisoned and fined with a heavy penalty of Rs100,000.' In the letter, the administration has also appealed to local elders’, saying that ‘dance of transgenders at weddings spoils our young generation’.
Local media claim that the announcement of banning transgender community’s dance on wedding occasions or at parties held in Khyber district was orchestrated by Tehsildar of Khyber district, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.
Pari Khan, 25, a transgender residing in the outskirts of Peshawar, said that she participates in local wedding parties to make a living.
“I do not know if the ban will be implemented or not but this act is condemnable”, Pari said. She added that dancing at local parties was her only source of earning and it was very hard for her community to earn bread and butter in such a society by any other means. She questioned how she would survive in the society with no other means of earning currently available.
She says dancing is a skill that earns transgenders a decent livelihood. ‘We don’t have other skills or job opportunities that can enable us to earn and live peacefully”, Khan added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR58w00jbO4
In Pakistan, the population of the transgender community according to the 2017 census stands at 10,418 — 0.005 percent of the total population of over 207 million. 74 per cent of the transgender population resides in urban areas as compared to the majority of the overall population that lives in the rural parts of the country.
Taimur Kamal, a trans rights activist in Peshawar, expressed his concern over the ban.
“Such announcements are a clear violation of human rights. Peshawar High Court has already given its decision on this issue and nobody has authority to violate the High Court verdict. Trans people are free to carry out their activities just like other genders in the country”.
Furthermore, Kamal demanded action against the person who issued the announcement which could negatively affect the common people against trans community. If the local administration is involved then we will challenge the announcement under constitution in High Court, Kamal added.
He criticised the government, saying that it had made announcements repeatedly for the uplifting of transgender community but has failed to implement the decisions. “We demand that the government should arrange trainings and technical educational centres for transgender community”, he added. Building boarding schools for transgender people where they could be educated and contribute to the welfare of Pakistan, Kamal concluded.
The statistics of the government of Pakistan reveal that there are 6,709 transgenders living in Punjab; 2,527 in Sindh, 913 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 133 in Islamabad, 109 in Balochistan and 27 in tribal districts of KP. More than 500 transgenders have been killed in Pakistan since 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-QeNaI9AyQ&feature=youtu.be
Alam Khan Shinwari, a resident of Khyber district, terms the orders un-constitutional. “Banning trans people from dancing at parties is actually banning them from earning a livelihood. He said that the orders were unconstitutional after the merging of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with KP and such orders were in clear violation of the constitution.
The announcement was made through a handwritten letter distributed in the surrounding areas which said that ‘anyone found involved in such activities will be imprisoned and fined with a heavy penalty of Rs100,000.' In the letter, the administration has also appealed to local elders’, saying that ‘dance of transgenders at weddings spoils our young generation’.
Local media claim that the announcement of banning transgender community’s dance on wedding occasions or at parties held in Khyber district was orchestrated by Tehsildar of Khyber district, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa.
Pari Khan, 25, a transgender residing in the outskirts of Peshawar, said that she participates in local wedding parties to make a living.
“I do not know if the ban will be implemented or not but this act is condemnable”, Pari said. She added that dancing at local parties was her only source of earning and it was very hard for her community to earn bread and butter in such a society by any other means. She questioned how she would survive in the society with no other means of earning currently available.
She says dancing is a skill that earns transgenders a decent livelihood. ‘We don’t have other skills or job opportunities that can enable us to earn and live peacefully”, Khan added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR58w00jbO4
In Pakistan, the population of the transgender community according to the 2017 census stands at 10,418 — 0.005 percent of the total population of over 207 million. 74 per cent of the transgender population resides in urban areas as compared to the majority of the overall population that lives in the rural parts of the country.
Taimur Kamal, a trans rights activist in Peshawar, expressed his concern over the ban.
“Such announcements are a clear violation of human rights. Peshawar High Court has already given its decision on this issue and nobody has authority to violate the High Court verdict. Trans people are free to carry out their activities just like other genders in the country”.
Furthermore, Kamal demanded action against the person who issued the announcement which could negatively affect the common people against trans community. If the local administration is involved then we will challenge the announcement under constitution in High Court, Kamal added.
He criticised the government, saying that it had made announcements repeatedly for the uplifting of transgender community but has failed to implement the decisions. “We demand that the government should arrange trainings and technical educational centres for transgender community”, he added. Building boarding schools for transgender people where they could be educated and contribute to the welfare of Pakistan, Kamal concluded.
The statistics of the government of Pakistan reveal that there are 6,709 transgenders living in Punjab; 2,527 in Sindh, 913 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 133 in Islamabad, 109 in Balochistan and 27 in tribal districts of KP. More than 500 transgenders have been killed in Pakistan since 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-QeNaI9AyQ&feature=youtu.be
Alam Khan Shinwari, a resident of Khyber district, terms the orders un-constitutional. “Banning trans people from dancing at parties is actually banning them from earning a livelihood. He said that the orders were unconstitutional after the merging of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with KP and such orders were in clear violation of the constitution.