NADRA scraps Rule 13-1 for gender reassignment
The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) on Tuesday decided to cancel Rule 13-1 for gender reassignment.
The lawyer NADRA informed this at the outset of the hearing of the Transgender Act 2018 case in Federal Sharia Court.
NADRA’s lawyer further said that the matter will get approval in the next board meeting and will try to get approval from the board in a month.
In the hearing, the lawyer of the Ministry of Human Rights informed the court that the order of the Sharia Court was sent to the ministries, to which the response of 5 to 5 ministries was received.
According to ministry answers, no transgender employed in the Ministry of Human Rights and the ministry has asked other institutions to submit their answers.
Jamaat-e-Islami Lawyer Kamran Murtaza suggested the court to issue notice to the provinces so that the provinces also appear before the court.
Acting Chief Justice Sharia Court rejected the proposal and said that the Transgender Act belongs to the federal government and there is no need to add provinces.
Counsel following Senator Mushtaq Ahmed argued that gender and sex are one and the same thing as many applications have been filed in the case.
He said that the scope of men and women has been clarified separately, whether sex and gender are determined by signs or there is something else, adding that, it has to be seen legally and with Shariah whether someone can determine his own sex.
They further argued that under the Transgender act, any transgender person will have the right to decide their own gender, while the Qur’an and Sunnah do not permit anyone to decide their own gender, he added that, even international law does not permit to decide the gender.
Senator Mushtaq Ahmed told the court that the first amendment to the Transgender Act was submitted by him, after which other senators also submitted amendments.
“I have presented a new bill in the Senate, which has been sent to the committee for review,” he added.
Nadeem Gagar and Shabana Abbas from the transgender community requested the court to add word Khansa in the bill.
Shahana Abbas claimed that they were unable to go for Hajj as X mentioned on the gender column of identity card which does not allow them to ebter any Arab country.
Later, the Federal Sharia Court adjourned further hearing of the case till November 2.
