Pakistan’s Trans Rights Law Under Attack

In Pakistan, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) has filed a petition in the Federal Shariat Court against the Transgender Rights Bill 2018, claiming it’s in contradiction with the Islamic principles of heredity, ARY News reported.

The petition, filed by the JI senator, said that that the bill would cause complications for Islamic heredity rules. The Senate’s human rights committee had debated the bill in its September 5 session.

In the session, the JI leader suggested that if someone files a gender change request to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), they must undergo a medical test first. The bill has given individuals the right to change their gender identity, and 30,000 people have applied to NADRA to change their gender, the JI senator said.

The authority to identify one’s gender should be with the medical board and not with the individual, he said.

Mushtaq Ahmed claimed that the bill is a contradiction to Islamic hereditary principles. Chairman Federal Shariat Court inquired whether the Islamic Ideology Council was consulted when passing the law. The senator said that the council was not consulted.

The human rights committee opposed the amendments presented by the senator, saying the matter is sub-judice and should not be tampered with.

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