TRANSGENDER RIGHTS AT AN IMPASSE - CONVERGENCE OF PAKISTANI JURISPRUDENCE, RELIGIOUS DOGMA, AND THE EXECUTION OF TRANSGENDER PERSONS ACT, 2018
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Abstract
This research article discusses the issues that trans people in Pakistan go through. It argues with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, and discusses its mechanisms focusing on Sharia law, the Pakistani constitution, and social perception. They are the extremely sensitive topics of the discussion: the contradictory possibility of the issuing of “X” gender identity cards, the ignoring of the right to marriage, and the problematic issue of inheritance rights of Transgender.
Therefore, according to this study, the “X” gender classification goes against the Islamic teachings of Shariah law, fuels marginalization, and leads to a lot of confusion within legal issues including in marriage and inheritance. It focuses on the cultural and religious interferences that have hampered the enforcement of the Act, the legal reforms concerning Islamic Shari’ah, and the respect of basic human rights.
This research which is based on socio-legal analysis alongside a doctrinal approach has compared the practices across the globe with the suggested mode of implementing the contemporary human rights norms which are innovative from the Islamic law and provision of recommendations as to how to move closer to it. Some of them include; the removal of the “X” gender identity card, clear provisions for marriage under Islamic law, improved punitive measures on families that disown their transgender children, and most importantly public awareness campaigns to promote change.
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