By Abid Usman
ISLAMABAD: Trans-social activist Rani Khan on Wednesday said economic empowerment of the transgender community, who were the most vulnerable human beings as they are not even socially accepted by their parents, was must to bring the transgender community in the national mainstream.
Neither they were provided equal rights, nor treated humanely by their kith and kin, and the very basic factor enforced them to indulge in unwanted professions that were socially and religiously forbidden such as begging, dancing and sex work, she said.
Rani Khan said she was building a Madrassah ‘Al Fatima tuz Zahra, on a four-marla plot in the Federal Capital’s Mehrabadi area, where 28 transwomen were already enrolled.
Besides getting religious education, she said, the students were earning livelihood by setting up makeshift stalls in the main markets of G-11, F-11 and F-10 sectors.
Some of her colleagues sold vegetables and fruits in the streets of Capital on push carts, she added. Rani Khan said her main objective was to bring the transgender community in the mainstream of the society through economic empowerment.
She urged the people to give Sadqa-e-Fitr and Zakat for smooth running of the Madrassah’s financial affairs.
Kiran, a transwoman who sells toys at G-11 Markaz, told APP that she was trying to become a responsible citizen of the society.
She appreciated the positive response both from the public and district administration, who, she said, were providing all possible assistance for the well-being of the transgender community.
