Zubair Qureshi
They are role model for not only their own community but also for all those who find it hard to go ahead in studies due to odds in life. What greater odd it would be than to struggle for a normal living and seeking recognition in society? Two young highly educated transgenders, Syed Ali Raza (aka Alisha) and Aisha Mughal are the ones who excelled in life braving odds of all kinds and today they are living a successful life in all respects.
Both of them have earned M.Phil degrees with high grades. Alisha, 30, is working as Coordination Consultant for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-Pakistan) while Aisha, 29, is working with Ministry of Human Rights (MOHR) as consultant.
Talking to Pakistan Observer at an exhibition organized to showcase various decorative products prepared by the skillful transgenders, Alisha said she could never have thought she would be one day a team member of the UNDP Pakistan which is a sheer honour and privilege for her. I was selected on merit and we are doing great at the UNDP.
I have done M.Phil in Education Planning Management (EPM) from Bahauddin Zakaria University Multan and have earlier worked with Engro Foods Company as assistant accountant, she told.
When asked what they were doing at that small exhibition of works by transgenders organized by Mahnush, a not-for-private organization-to-be, Alisha and Aisha said they had come to express solidarity with their community and to tell them everything is possible in the world.
Aisha who is M.Phil in Human Resource Management (HRM) from COMSATS University of Islamabad said unfortunately, the general image of transgenders in Pakistan was that of sex workers, dancers and criminals but now times are changing. We have a transgender TV anchor, a transgender employee in National Database And Regulatory Authority (NADRA), a makeup artist in a TV channel and many other shining examples.
Aisha has the unique honour of being the first-ever transgender in visiting facility at the Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) of Islamabad and taught there for a year.
