Peshawar, Oct 15 (NationPress) Leaders from the transgender community in Pakistan have accused local police of forcibly removing their members from various districts within Peshawar, located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Members of the transgender community have voiced their frustrations regarding the police's inaction against extortionists, kidnappers, and the individuals responsible for the murders of their community members, as reported by local media on Wednesday.

During a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Farzana Riaz, President of the Transgender Community Organisation, condemned the ongoing “persecution” faced by her community. She asserted that the perpetrators of violence, including killers, extortionists, and kidnappers, roam freely, often shielded by police protection, despite numerous pleas for justice, as highlighted by Pakistan's leading daily, Dawn.

“Transgender individuals have been consistently subjected to death threats and extortion demands, with those who refuse to comply often ending up dead,” she declared. “We are not seeking charity or police rations; we are asserting our rightful claim to live.”

Farzana Riaz accused law enforcement officials and influential figures of forcibly displacing transgender individuals from areas such as Swabi, Nowshera, Charsadda, and other regions in Peshawar, saying, “It feels as though we are citizens of an adversarial nation, treated as such.”

She noted that the transgender community had sought assistance from relevant government offices, but their requests were denied. Furthermore, she mentioned that the Peshawar High Court had intervened to halt these forced evictions.

Riaz also claimed that police authorities were inciting local leaders and clerics to expel transgender individuals from their communities, with such incidents reported in Haripur, Buner, Nowshera, Charsadda, and Mingora.

Earlier in August, the transgender community organized a significant protest against the increasing frequency of violent attacks in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The demonstration, led by Farzana Riaz of the Trans Action Alliance and Madam Arzoo Khan, Executive Director of the Manzil Foundation, took place outside the Mardan Press Club, where they highlighted the police's failure to safeguard the community, according to reports from Dawn.

In a statement post-protest, Farzana revealed that 158 transgender individuals have been murdered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2015, with no justice served in any case thus far. She lamented that violence against the transgender community has become a daily reality, attributing the lack of protection to governmental negligence.