RAWALPINDI, Dec 24 (APP)::Gender advisor and head of governance at Peace and Justice Network (PJN) Ms Nayyab Ali on Friday sought support from faculty and students of National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) in removing the stigma attached with over 21,000 transgender Pakistanis to “normalize” their predicament.
Nayyab was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar on “Understanding Transgender Rights Movement: Opportunities and Challenges” organized by NUMS Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities as part of its “SAMAAJ KHYAAL” lecture series at NUMS PWD Campus.She dwelt at length over her painful experience of expulsion from home by her parents to a torturous struggle for survival at a den, along with others, which was run by a transgender leader.
She quoted many instances of transgender being burnt to death, raped, humiliated and thrown out of their homes as their very gender was considered a taboo and something embarrassing for the family. Nayyab Aliwas subjected to an acid attack, resulting in life –threatening burns as she had to fight for life for three months at a hospital bed.
Giving the background of the incident Nayyab said she went to Police Station to help a girl register an FIR which infuriated the “guru” and led to Nayyab’s expulsion from her shelter.
PJN is a movement working to help empower the poor and vulnerable communities and assist them to have access to justice.
“The acid throwing incident helped me convert myself from a mere transgender to an activist and drove me to start a campaign for transgender rights like employment and addition of a separate columns in the National Census of 2017.”
It was in 2018 when a transgender law was passed. Nayyab Ali establish the first ever Transgender school at Okara district and later set up All Pakistan Transgender Election Network. Her struggle was acknowledged at the international level which won her European Union and Franco-German awards.
The court interventions have finally helped transgender Pakistanis get their Computerized National Identity Cards(CNIC) in 2009 which stamped their citizenship, Nayyab said , adding it was a turning point in their rights movement.
During a question-answer session she called for social inclusion of transgender community and urged the Government for taking steps to take care of the specific needs of transgender at hospitals.Nayyab Ali was presented a NUMS’s shield on the occasion.
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