LAHORE: With the celebration of Aamir’s birthday tragically ending with his burial, members of the hijra community stood united in front of the Lahore Press Club in protest claiming the case was one of police harassment and abuse.
Members of Saathi Foundation, and All Pakistan Eunuch Association, thronged outside the press club demanding that they be heard and addressing government authorities and the Chief Justice to provide them security and protection.
Aarzoo’s throat is sore and can hardly speak but she has still come to the protest.Her face show lines of stress and slow aging, mixed with the distress that she has had to face as an outcast of society. “Hijras in Pakistan are not safe!” she declares angrily.
“We are part of this society, and everyone acknowledges us in daily lives, but when it comes to the grind, no one wants to side with us, or help us support ourselves.” Aarzoo’s words are concurred upon by all others in the Hijra community, not just in Lahore, but even nationally. However, at the protest on Friday, it was not just about protection in the future. The eunuchs protested strongly about the ‘police abuse and harassment’ that they had to face a night before.
Can’t even have fun: “We had booked a studio, at the Multan Road area, because halls are more open and we did not want to cause problems by attracting unnecessary attention to our celebrations,” says Aarzoo. “Is celebrating a birthday such a sin that we have to face the police for it? And the police, she says,
showed their ugly side one more time. She complains that while they are often detained by the police, sometimes even sexually assaulted or abused, and very often their money is taking from them but they still tolerate it. But the death of Aamir has shaken the community.
Pressured into burying: “I did not see the body so I don’t know whether he was fired upon or whether he actually hit the ground while jumping from the police van,” says Aarzoo. “But all I know is the family was pressured into burying the body too soon, without a post mortem which is an official procedure.
And I also know that the reason she jumped was because the police had scared her to death.” “We never get married, or have babies,” says Laila Naz, another eunuch. “So if we celebrate a birthday, we’re not dancing around naked, and all allegations of alcohol and drugs abuse that night are wrong. The police have no proof.”
Bullied by the police: She says the police are the biggest problem when it comes to harassment. “They have nothing else to do except bullying the weaker sections of society,” says Laila. “Otherwise they know everything about where any bomb blast might occur, but they are never this aggressive in tackling that issue.
Hijras are openly known to be a marginalised segment of society, not being able to get employed in mainstream companies because of their physical and sexual orientation, abused by police officials and not even included as a third sex by NADRA for their CNICs. “Will it always remain this way?” she asks.
