ISLAMABAD: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz on Sunday said there was a united stance on the ‘guru culture’ as it was a lethal form of exploitation and neo-slavery.
It was against human rights and it should not be part of any act or rules to be framed for transgender persons, he said this in an exclusive talk with APP.
Besides urging the parents of non-binary gender children to take their ownership, Dr Qibla Ayaz proposed the government to establish rehabilitation centers to bring them in the mainstream of social spectrum.
He said according to the health experts, transgender persons could be operated on at every stage of life including childhood, or after attaining the age of adult or youth in the light of modern medical sciences and could be transformed as normal and productive citizens of the society except in a few cases.
Shedding light on the ‘Self-perceived identity’ in the perspective of Islam, he said it was contrary to the teachings of Shariah and it could be a source of many unexpected issues in the future. However, the provision of self-perceived identity must be abrogated from any act or rules, he added.
He further pointed out that the word transgender was wrongly defined in the Transgender Persons (Rights of Protection) Rules, as it included those persons who did not fall in their category and recommended that the word intersex must be use instead of transgender because it was the umbrella term for the following segment of the society.
By birth non-binary gender persons could analyze their physical status or it could be ascertained by their parents or medical board but it could not be assumed on the basis of self-perceived identity, he added.
To a query, he made it clear that the CII was not consulted while enacting the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018.
He said the council had been referred three amendment bills presented by Senator Mohsin Aziz, Senator Mushtaq Ahmed and Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidari and it had recommended amendments in them accordingly.
He said after taking the sense of all stakeholders, the council had reached the conclusion that certain rules were framed in continuation of the Transgender Act and contained several provisions and clauses which were not compatible with Shariah.
He also expressed concerns over the social and legal problems faced by intersex and transgender persons and said the protection and provision of basic human rights of intersex and transgender persons should be ensured through all possible means at every nook and cranny of the country.
