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Only 1,800 out of 7,500 transvestites in Sindh registered

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: Out of an estimated 7,500 population of transvestites in Sindh, only 1,800 have so far been registered with the Sindh government’s social welfare department. In July, the apex court had directed the provincial social welfare departments to complete registration of transvestites so they could be ensured equal benefits as any other citizen.

However, the registration process has been slow, as the announcement panicked the many transvestites, who assumed that the government would launch a crackdown against them following the registration. Since a month, not a single transvestite has turned up at the social welfare department for registration. The department gave an advertisement in newspapers on October 2 asking transvestites to get registered, but till November 2, the response has been nil. The department has again given a similar advertisement on November 3. “We are registering eunuchs throughout Sindh including Karachi, Sukkur and Hyderabad and till now we have registered 1,800 of them,” said Sindh social welfare department coordinator Muhammad Akhtar Ghauri. “Members of the transvestite community assume that after registering them, the government would launch a crackdown and arrest them,” Ghauri said. “But after assurances and involving the community members, we have been able to register 1,800 eunuchs so far.”

The transvestite community in Pakistan lives in terrible conditions and have generally been treated as outcastes. They have never been allowed to be equal members of the society or considered for government jobs. Therefore, the Supreme Court’s announcement brings a ray of hope for this underprivileged and neglected community.

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