MM News

ISLAMABAD: In a move to ensure the provision of due rights to transgender individuals, the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) has directed the Ministry of Human Rights to establish a transgender protection center for underage and elderly eunuchs.

A two-member bench of the court, comprising acting Chief Justice Dr Syed Muhammad Anwer and Justice Khadim Hussain Shaikh issued the directive while hearing a set of petitions challenging the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018.

In the last hearing, the FSC had directed the ministry to constitute a child protection unit for transgender children.

At the onset of the hearing today, the court expressed dissatisfaction at a report furnished by the Ministry of Human Rights, stating that the government was “not doing enough” for the protection of the rights of transgender persons.

The convener of the ministerial committee, Zamurud Khan, who is also the head of the orphanage Pakistan Sweet Homes, has been ordered to meet with representatives of the human rights ministry in order to draft a report on the structure and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the proposed centre as soon as possible.

Secretary human rights ministry informed the court that a committee under the chairmanship of Khan had already been established.

The National Assembly passed a law in May 2018 giving transgender people legal recognition and making it illegal to discriminate against trans people in all spheres of life.

The law also made it possible for trans people to be accepted as they saw themselves and to register as transgender with government agencies.