The Lahore High Court has issued an order to include the transgender community in the upcoming national population census.
A petition had been filed with Lahore High Court in November 2016 pertaining to granting the transgender community their fundamental rights. These included the issuance of National Identity Cards for the transgender community as well as their enrollment in the population census.
The petition had been filed by a member of the transgender community named Waqar Ali. The petition stated that the transgender community was a victim of persecution and that they were entitled to their fundamental rights such as issuance of NICs. This can only be possible after due registration occurs for the census.
A couple of weeks earlier, a video had been doing the rounds on social media in which a transgender was being thrashed by a man. The video incited fury with human rights activist calling for an end to violence and hate crimes against transgenders across Pakistan.
