The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued a strong condemnation on Sunday after reports emerged that an 11-member committee of elders had declared they would expel all transgender persons from the Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a statement on its X account, the HRCP said, “The HRCP strongly condemns the reported decision by community elders in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to form a committee aimed at expelling transgender persons from the district. Such actions are unconstitutional, discriminatory, and amount to incitement to violence against an already marginalized community.”
The statement added that “no citizen can be deprived of the right to reside, work, or earn a livelihood anywhere in Pakistan on the basis of gender identity.” The human rights body called on provincial and district authorities to “immediately ensure the safety and dignity of transgender persons in Swabi and uphold their fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018.”
The committee of elders in question includes Maulana Abdul Samad Haqqani, the tehsil president of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, among others. Maulana Samad stated that they want transgender persons to leave the district peacefully and earn their livelihoods elsewhere “because as long as they live here, music shows will continue to be arranged, negatively impacting the youth.”
Similarly, another committee member, Yasir Khan, said that in the first phase, transgender persons would be asked to leave the district peacefully, and if that doesn’t happen, they would approach the district police. Committee members also said they would meet in the next few days and separately hold a meeting with the district police to discuss a strategy for “expelling” transgender persons from the district.
This development follows a police raid in Swabi where over 200 individuals, including two transgender persons, were arrested for allegedly resisting the raid and participating in a music program. Participants were also accused of using “abusive language” against the police who tried to stop the event.
In response to the committee’s demand, some members of the transgender community released a video asserting that the expulsion would never happen. They said they respected and followed local norms and values while earning a living and stressed that the committee members should not take the law into their own hands. The transgender persons added that they were “aware of the law and the Constitution, and if they were given government jobs, they were ready to stop dancing at functions.” They emphasized that they should be seen with humanity in mind.
