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Gul panra shot dead in Peshawar
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#JusticeforGulPanra: Another Transgender Shot Dead in Pakistan, Sparking Anger on Social Media

by Hareem Zafar
written by Hareem Zafar

Another day another tragic incident in Pakistan! A transgender activist was shot dead in broad daylight in Peshawar by unidentified men who open fired on her on Tuesday. The latest anti-trans violence incident occurred in the province’s capital Palosi, police said Wednesday.

The wounded was immediately taken to Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), police said, where the deceased was identified as the transgender activist, Gul Panra.

As soon as the news surfaced, public demanded immediate action to be taken against the culprits.  #JusticeforGulPanra trended in Pakistan on top.

TransAction Pakistan, which is an organization that advocates trans rights in the country, reported to the local media that Gul Panra was shot six times at point-blank range. Another trans woman, Chahat, was also targeted during the same shooting, and is currently in critical condition.

Furthermore, reports on social media claim that Gul Panra and Chahat were coming back from a function when the incident occurred.

Police stated they have started a probe into the case and investigation is underway. 

It is important to observe that some reports on social media confused the deceased Gul Panra, the Pashto singer, who is alive and well.

This is Not the First Time

According to reports by The News international, 68 transgender people have been murdered since 2015 in Pakistan.

In July, some men shot Beenish, a transgender in Islamabad at sector E-11. Moreover, in May 2020, another trans person was killed in the Rohtas Fort area, Jhelum and threw the body into the well which was then shifted to the hospital by Rescue 1122.

People believe injustice is leading to mayhem and anarchy in the city. In a country where a woman, a child and not even a transgender is safe, who would want to live in Pakistan? Who is to be held accountable for this? Why do these heinous crimes go unnoticed? Who will answer these questions? People are demanding justice.

The president of TransAction Alliance Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Farzana Ilyas, demands the killers of transgender individuals be arrested.

While talking to Geo news she said:

“I condemn last night’s incident and I demand justice.”

She bashed the provincial government’s constant failure to provide protection to trans people. Trans violence in the country is on the rise and no one is taking any substantial action.

“In the last four or five years, 1,500 transgender individuals have been raped and 68 murdered since 2015,” the trans activist said.

A Total of 479 attacks in 2018

Human Rights Watch (HRW), cited the local group Trans Action, and reported at least “479 attacks against transgender women in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in 2018″.

Despite the law passed in 2018, that was a milestone achievement for transgender rights, protecting them against harassment at workplace, the anti-trans violence figures have still not gone down. A national 2017 census estimated the number of transgender individuals in Pakistan to 10,500 who were eschewed by many in the community as they failed to represent minority’s real strength.

Read more:

The Gender Guardian: Pakistan’s First School for Transgender Students (Exclusive Interview)

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gender guardian
Social Issues

The Gender Guardian: Pakistan’s First School for Transgender Students (Exclusive Interview)

by Hareem Zafar
written by Hareem Zafar

Despite the 2018 Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act passed by the parliament, transgenders in Pakistan are still victims to sexual abuse, harassment and discrimination at the hands of the local police and public. It’s almost everyday that a trans is being mistreated in some part of the country, because of lack stringent laws that protect their rights.

Even though in a historic 2009 ruling, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled in favour of transgender citizens, Pakistan does not have civil right laws that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on sexual identity.

Since the country does not have any schools, institutes or organizations that hire transgender people, and dejected by their families and society, the trans people in Pakistan resort to begging, singing, dancing and other menial professions, to earn a living.

#JusticeforJulieKhan

In recent events, trans activist and social media sensation Julie was arrested and manhandled in a fabricated case, by the police in Islamabad. Seems like the case has been made up by the transgender community who want Julie gone out of their circle and vicinity.

Julie has received fame and popularity in the recent past, because of her honest and straight forward content.

She has been openly speaking about social injustices against transgender, rooted deep in the Pakistani society. Julie has raised her voice against gang rape, abuse and violence. She herself was raped in 2016 and her video went viral; the culprits were arrested when Julie gained many supporters, thanks to the power of social media.

Her strong stance against transgender begging and caused the ‘gurus’ of the community to take a drastic step against her. They have been begging for generations and want to continue doing so as it is an easy way to make money.

Julie, a transgender activist known for speaking out about the harsh realities of this society, has been arrested and…

Posted by Actcept on Thursday, August 13, 2020

A fake FIR was therefore filed, and Julie was arrested; the situation currently is life threatening and she needs protection and support- #justiceforjuliekhan has been trending on social media for days.

The Gender Guardian School

The life for transgender community in Pakistan is tough. It is hard for them to get an education and land a decent job. This is where the Gender Guardian steps in.

Located in Model Town are Lahore, Gender Guardian is Pakistan’s first school for transgender students that strives to provide them with equal opportunities through free vocational training and formal education. There are over 30,000 transgender people in Lahore, reported Samaa News.

WOW 360’s Exclusive Interview with Co-Founder Amaz Rauf Farooqui

Tell us a bit about your organisation and the motivation behind setting up a separate school for transgenders

We started this school with the purpose of uplifting and educating the transgender community that has otherwise been neglected in the society. People believe that transgender people can either sing and dance or beg, but nobody has ever tried to do anything for them.

My partner Mr Asif Shehzad also wanted to do this to improve the image of Pakistan. Promote it as a country that takes care of its minorities

Zaini, a student at The Gender Guardian, is studying textile design
Source Samaa News

 

We realised that there is a school for orphans, for poor people but these people have nowhere to turn to. There are no schools for transgender people in our society. So on April 15th 2018, we decided to opened the Gender Guardian School, which is the first project of the NGO ‘Exploring Future Foundation’; the foundation was started by a group of students.

We had 40 students and on September 9th 2018, 17 students received skill-based training diplomas.

Gender Guardian also offers 12 years of academic matriculation from primary level to college.

What training program is offered to transgenders at the Gender Guardian ?

We provide them with vocational training such as driving, stitching, cooing, beautician courses. etc. We also pay them. We don’t only hire trans people as teachers, we hire anyone who is willing and interested to teach. Sometimes this is on paid basis, but mostly on voluntary basis.

What changes do you see in the recent culture today as compared to in the past relating to how trans people are treated?

Compared to the past yes, there has been slight improvement, but there is still a long way to go. There are still a lot of trans people who are neglected and rejected by families and societies. So to build confidence in them and help them land decent jobs, we created this organization. We provide them financial support, education and help them land respectable jobs. We help provide financial backing in the form of loans, if they want to start their own business.

How many students do you have currently and which occupations do you for see for your graduates?

Our last batch graduated in March, there were 17 to 18 students who graduated.

How many students do you have currently and which occupations do you forsee for your graduates ?

If they have taken a beautician class from our school, we help them find jobs in salon and parlors. If they have learned driving then we try that they get driving opportunities in Careem and Uber, or Daewoo and some of them have even landed these jobs. Specially in parlors.

If there are trans who aren’t getting jobs easily, or don’t like a certain job that they have gotten offered, we ask them there preference and then try to find jobs for them in that field. For example, there was one student who wanted to sell vegetables, so we set up an entire vegetable stall for them. One said ‘I want to run a canteen in a school’, so we tried set up a canteen for him. 

Any story or incident that you consider to be inspiring from someone in the trans community

We get very inspired and uplifted when we see one of our students earning a decent living. Anytime we our students doing anything meaningful other than begging, we get very happy. We feel we have achieved our goal.  There is a student called Moon;  she took a vocational beautician course with us and now has a respectable job. She even prepared for 9th and 10th exams and while taking the course and finished matriculation. Khushboo and Sarwar now have their own tea stalls.

Our recent graduating batch took a 4 month session with us, and one of them wanted his own tailoring shop set up; after lockdown we will InshaAllah help him with that.

Future plans and vision for the school ?

We plan to spread even more awareness about this issue. We will try to expand in other cities as well such as Islamabad and Karachi

Stay tuned for more interesting articles and updates!

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