Law minister dismisses ‘baseless propaganda’ against transgender law

“Parliament cannot legislate against Sharia,” says Prime Minister Nazir Tarar.
He says that at the time of legislation, all political parties approved this law.
Senator Mushtaq of Jamaat-e-Islami says that proposed amendments to the law to prevent its misuse.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Prime Minister for Law Nazir Tarar on Thursday rejected the “baseless propaganda” being spread about Islamabad. Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill And asserted that “Parliament cannot legislate against Sharia.”

Tarar was addressing a press conference in the federal capital along with Prime Minister’s Advisor on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira. The minister said that the said law is not new as it was enacted in 2018.

“At the time of its enactment, all political parties – including the Muslim League-N, PPP, PTI, and others – approved the law, while the opinion of the Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) The law was called for even before it was passed,” he said.

The Law Minister emphasized this. Transgender Individuals are equal and that the 2018 legislation was intended to “protect their rights, including inheritance, education, employment, health, and purchase of property.”

He also reminded that in 2013, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued a detailed decision, which said that transgenders are equal citizens and it is the responsibility of the state to give them rights.

The law minister added that recently Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan proposed an amendment to the law to “prevent its misuse.”

“Senator Mushtaq has suggested that those who declare themselves as transgender should submit a medical report to prove it,” he said, adding that according to Pakistan’s constitution, any person can be discriminated against on the basis of their gender. There will be no discrimination.

Speaking on the occasion, Kaira said the government supports the proposed amendments in Senator Mushtaq’s bill but added that social media has “become a hotbed of fake news.”

Kaira said that the amendment proposed by Senator Mushtaq will further improve the transgender law.

“This amendment should be supported as it will remove all loopholes from the existing law,” Kaira maintained, adding that “it is not against the law at all.”