For the first
time in the history of Pakistan, the country's transgender community
will be included in the national population census.
The
Lahore High Court on Monday instructed the federal government, National
Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the interior ministry to
include the transgender community in the census while hearing a
petition filed by a transgender individual Waqar Ali in November 2016.
Ali
in his petition had called for the enforcement of the community’s
fundamental rights, including enrolment in the upcoming census and
issuance of national identity cards specifying their gender.
A
deputy attorney general from the federal government was present in
court during the hearing and assured the court that the transgender
community will indeed be part of the upcoming census.
Ali's
petition, filed through Advocate Sheraz Zaka, had pleaded that the
transgender community in Pakistan has been marginalised, citing an event
witnessed in Sialkot where a transgender was tortured.
Pakistan's sixth population census will begin on March 15, 2017.
Source: Dawn News
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