Writing on the Wall

 The word Hijra has, ironically, become a curse in Pakistan which clearly shows the cruelty and obliviousness of a society. Moreover, transgenders are often cast away by their families in Pakistan and many were forced to become either beggars or sex workers owing to lack of acceptance and social status. Part of the transgender or  Hijra  community, social stigma, and discrimination make them outcasts in Pakistan’s highly conservative society. Today hijras, who include transgender and intersex people, are hard to miss. Dressed in glittering outfits, their faces heavily coated in cheap makeup, they sashay through crowded intersections knocking on car windows with the edge of a coin and offering blessings. They crash fancy weddings and birth ceremonies, singing bawdy songs and leaving with fistfuls of rupees. Many Hijras feel a sense of alienation, of being looked at as freaks. They complain about being heckled, harassed, and assaulted. Gurus help the young Hijras navigate some of th

The corona virus has caused ample damage around the world leaving almost every country distraught economically and socially. Ironically, the health sector was on the front line facing brunt of the situation. With all its worrying effects, the virus has steered the governments around the world to commence damage-assessment in various circles. Taking stock of the situation, Unicef has pointed out the alarming number of missed vaccination targets as a result of the lockdowns. In Pakistan, an already suffering vaccination campaign against the polio disease has been further debilitated. Unicef has reported sporadic outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan is a large country with high childhood mortality and low immunization coverage rates as every year, more than one million children miss out a full course of the most basic vaccines here hinting that it is difficult to find children missing out during the anti-

The government has recently decided to ease the lock down following less number of cases being reported in the country. According to the top government officials they were expecting a high number of cases which didn’t turn out to be true. AS the government eased the lock down restrictions, a couple of days ago, masses threw the idea of social distancing aside and flouted the corona virus prevention guidelines. People can be seen standing close to each other without masks and they are constantly touching their faces. It can be witnessed anywhere official conferences to queues outside shops and banks, the situation is no different. It has been told on many forums by the health officials and the world health organization that a person can be infected by breathing in the virus if they are within a few feet of an infected person. Despite that the importance of practicing precautions appears to be lost on many occasions. This attitude towards a virus which has infected around 9000