Govt announces support to JI’s amendment in Transgender Bill

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Snubbing the propaganda on the issue of the Transgender Bill, the federal government on Thursday announced its full support for Jamaat Islami (JI) Senator Mushtaq’s amendment to the bill.

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar and Advisor to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Biltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira held a joint press conference in Islamabad.

They addressed the issue of the transgender bill and termed the propaganda on it baseless. The federal law minister while talking to media persons said that baseless propaganda is being done on Transgender Bill.

He said transgender people are also human beings and they have fundamental rights like others and giving the rights to them is the responsibility of the state.
Azam Nazir Tarar said the matter of the rights of transgender people came to light in Parliament through a private member’s bill in 2018.

Federal Minister Tarar said the opinion of the Islamic Ideological Council chairman was also included in this process while the complaints against the bill surfaced after 2 years of presenting it in the parliament.

He added that there were complaints that this bill can be misused. The minister acknowledged that every law that is passed may have some flaw in it.

While talking to the media, Advisor to PM Kaira said the law about transgender people is not any new law and it was passed in 2018.

He added that JI Senator Mushtaq did not call the transgender law wrong and only proposed an amendment to prevent its misuse in future.

Kaira said his coalition government in the centre fully supports the amendment moved by Senator Mushtaq to prevent the transgender law’s misuse.

Advisor to PM Kaira also said that the organizations related to the transgender communities have also supported medical tests for the sex determination of the transgenders. (NNI)