Govt vehemently dismisses criticism on transgender bill.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Thursday rejected the criticism on transgender bill and negated the misconception that the law was repugnant to Islamic injunctions.

Addressing a press conference alongside Adviser to PM for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Tarar clarified that the bill was passed by the Senate and National Assembly in the presence of religious and political leaders. He said that after reaching the age of 18 years, transgender persons could declare their genders on their identity cards.

He said that the Transgender Act was passed in 2018 while Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed brought amendments in parliament to prevent misuse of this law and the government supported these amendments.

The entire process of the Transgender Law included the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology, he added. He said that the government would accept the decision of the Shariah court regarding this matter and the guidance of the Shariah court was also needed regarding the medical of the transgender. The rights of the transgender had been protected by this law, he added.

The Minister said that there was always a chance of weakness or misuse of it whenever a law was passed. He said that complaints started coming after two years on a provision that there was a possibility that sections 3 and 4 could be misused. He said that according to the aforementioned sections, after reaching the age of 18 years, transgender persons could declare their genders on their identity cards.

He said that it should be suitably amended and made subject to the decision of the Medical Board. This matter was still under consideration in the Parliament and two petitions were filed in...