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Old Monday, November 15, 2010
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The plight of the Khwaja Siras


November 15th, 2010


Though the November 11 report in this newspaper on Khwaja Siras — a catchall term for the population of transsexuals and transgender people in the country — being denied medical checkups may not shock the average reader, who is used to much more violent news regarding their harassment, it is a telling illustration of how difficult life is for this community. The court has summoned the chiefs of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Hospital, Civil Hospital and Nadra on a complaint filed by Khwaja Siras from the Gender Interactive Alliance saying that they are being denied medical care. It is distressing that public hospitals, which exist to serve citizens, should reject patients merely on the grounds of their gender. Difficult as it is for ordinary citizens to get a response from state institutions, it is infinitely more gruelling for a community which faces rejection, ridicule and physical abuse on a daily basis.

Despite the media spotlight on them following Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s interest in their welfare, not much has changed. Action on the court’s 2009 injunction that they be issued national identity cards specifying their gender as ‘other’ has been sluggish, mainly because of the insistence that they be medically examined to determine their gender. This has been opposed by many in the community since it can potentially stigmatise them further. Without ID cards, employment options for these eunuchs are few and they carry on working in degrading conditions.

The persecution of Khwaja Siras will persist as long as society endorses their treatment as second-class citizens. Recent developments such as the employment of Khwaja Siras as tax collectors points to a welcome shift in attitudes but more needs to be done. The only thing more worthy of condemnation than a state which does not care for its citizens is a society which does not care for all its members.


Deeper divide


The PML-N’s altered line of a more aggressive policy against the government continues. In an unusual move, parliamentarians have been stopped from holding ‘direct’ meetings with the prime minister or members of the Cabinet. We wonder what the PML-N is scared of and why it has such little faith in its own members. Rather like school boys who require to be kept in strict line, they will now be required to inform top party leaders if ‘unavoidable’ contact was made. It is unclear if these orders will apply to encounters at wedding receptions or other social occasions when PPP and PML-N leaders are likely to meet. The inter-linkages between political families whose members hold seats in parliament are well-established and in a number of cases relatives are aligned with parties who now stand on opposite sides of the fence.

The PML-N chief, Mian Nawaz Sharif, has said he does not wish members of his party to seek ‘favours’. We would imagine that this is possible anyway, over telephone lines or through messages, and is a matter of party discipline or ethics. A simple instruction to members to avoid doing so should have been sufficient. The new hostility from the PML-N is, however, disturbing. While the opposition is free to criticise government policies, it should not be necessary to openly display animosity in the manner adopted by the PML-N. Cooperation between opponents is a hallmark of mature democracy. The agreement on this between Democrats and Republicans after the recent setback suffered by President Obama’s party at polls is an example of this.

In 2008, the PML-N had promised to play a constructive role. It can do so whether as a government ally or in opposition. However, petty measures of the kind adopted now only bring back bitter memories of the 1990s and the role played by political parties to bring down the government, in order to propel themselves to power. In the process, both the PML-N and the PPP suffered damage. The biggest loser, though, was democracy. As things stand now, everything possible must be done to avert a repetition of such a scenario.
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