Transgender activist Barfi was brutally shot in the leg in Ghanta Ghar, Peshawar, and is now fighting for her life, a heartbreaking symbol of the growing fear faced by transgender people across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Attacks against activist Chahat, the murder of Maria and the shooting death of Alisha in Mardan have also occurred in recent months, highlighting a worrying increase in targeted attacks.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Transgender Community Organization president Farzana Riaz and vice president Mahigul accused the police of carrying out illegal evictions without acting against extortionists, kidnappers and murderers.
“Hamein har district se nikala ja raha hai (We are being expelled from all districts),” Farzana said. “Hamari to apni koi shanakht bhi nahi hai (We don’t even have our own identity).”
Read: Bullet-riddled bodies of three transgender people found in Karachi’s Memon Goth
He explained that local communities and police often accuse transgender people of engaging in sexual or “antisocial” activities as a pretext for forced removals.
“We need means to live, we need a place in society. If we are given respect and recognition, we too can live with dignity. If we have means of life and are accepted by society, why would we be forced to do that work?” Farzana urged.
Extortion remains rampant. “Ham se laakhon rupay ka bhatta liya ja raha hai (We are being extorted millions of rupees),” he said, adding that 17 transgender people collectively paid more than Rs 10 million. Those who refuse to pay face beatings, harassment and eviction.
Over the past year, nearly 195 transgender people were killed and more than 1,000 injured, but “not a single defendant has been convicted.”
Activists criticized politicians’ broken promises, including former Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s promise of separate hospital beds. The PTI government’s 2018 promise to set up separate hospital wards remains unfulfilled, forcing transgender people to endure humiliation in male wards.
Endowment funds and identity recognition promised to the community have also never materialized.
“Since Imran Khan was jailed, our situation has become even more difficult,” said one activist, citing increased police repression.
Read more: Protest against the murder of trans people
The police, along with local elders and councillors, have allegedly carried out crackdowns in Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda, Swat, Haripur, Batkhela and Buner. In Swabi, activist Naseema and others were given 15-day eviction notices, assaulted and forcibly removed.
The Peshawar High Court intervened and directed the IG KP police and CCPO Peshawar to submit reports by November 4, but no response has been filed yet.
“We continue to face humiliation wherever we go,” Mahigul said, also condemning clerics who incite violence against transgender people through mosque loudspeakers.
Arzoo Khan, executive director of the Manzil Foundation, condemned the attacks. “We are facing an endless wave of violence in KP, but the government is nowhere to be found when it comes to protecting the transgender community.”
The community now looks to the new provincial leadership. “We hope that the new Chief Minister Shoaib Afridi will finally take concrete steps for our protection and rights,” Farzana said.
He concluded: “We are part of this society, not outsiders. We deserve security and respect, and the right to live with dignity, like any other normal citizen in Pakistan.”
