ISLAMABAD - A lawmaker of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has moved a bill in the Senate Secretariat that seeks to repeal the transgender law enacted in 2018 amid concerns of the transgender community that they were under attack by far-right members of the society.
Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz has moved the private member the Intersex Persons (Protection of Rights) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Upper House of the Parliament for making amendments in the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018. The law was passed under the PTI regime. Senate Chairman M Sadiq Sanjrani has referred the bill to the standing committee concerned for consideration. There are some provisions in the previous law, which are totally contrary to our traditions, religions and even against the Constitution, said a statement issued by the office of senator Aziz.
It added: “The Intersex Persons (Amendment) Bill has been designed to cater the requirements for the welfare of transgender persons by deleting all those sections of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018 which are against the injunctions of Islam and Constitution.”
The transgender community is up in arms against those elements of the society who are raising objections over the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act for the past couple of weeks. Earlier this week, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) allowed a number of individuals to become party in the petitions that have challenged the law on grounds that it was repugnant to Islamic injunctions.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill says that the previous law has grossly intruded on the rights of women who are already deprived of many rights and face enormous issues and discrimination. It says that Act of 2018 has not been able to effectively address the problems of transgender community amicably and effectively.
It says that under the Act, a man as per his self perceived gender identity can legally change his identity to woman only to become a member of the parliament on reserved seats for women, get admission in a female educational institution, utilize female facilities, and also claim inheritance rights. In a similar way, a woman can also convert herself to a man and get married to a woman which could result in legalization of homosexual marriages, which are against the injunctions of Islam. It says that the Act opens a way to homosexuality and many other moral, social, and psychological problems.
