Pakistani Transgender Woman Embraces Hinduism
Zakriya Hanif is a transgender woman who has made headlines in Pakistan recently for embracing Hinduism and being outspoken on her transgender identity and the atrocities she has faced from the mainstream community. She has faced innumerable threats and attacks simply for embracing her transgender identity from religious extremists in Pakistan. She has received thousands of online tweets and messages condemning her for being outspoken about the challenges she faces in her own community.
Amidst the violence and trauma inflicted on her, she has remained steadfast in her convictions and shares her truth boldly. Zakriya is also a recent revert to Sanatana Hindu Dharma, embracing her ancestral tradition which was erased from her community’s psyche from successive invasions and barbaric genocides inflicted on the Indigenous Hindu community of Pakistan.
Sanatana Hindu Dharma, popularly known as Hinduism, is an extremely inclusive and accommodating spiritual tradition which embraces people of all backgrounds, including that of various gender and sexual orientations. Hinduism is an extremely life-positive and accepting tradition, which attracts lgbtq+ folks from all around the world to get connected to the ancient sciences and wisdom of the Hindu traditions. There are many Hindu temples dedicated to transgender deities, allowing the Hindu transgender community to relate with the divine as a reflection of their own gender expression.
Hinduism has a vibrant transgender community which has been celebrated for thousands of years as Hinduism recognizes that gender is not a simple binary or rigid. Gender is a fluid concept and Hinduism also leaves the door open for anyone to be able to declare themselves to be beyond gender. It is common for Hindu ascetics to renounce the whole notion of gender as they transcend beyond the concept of gender and connect themselves to their higher identity as consciousness, which is an extension and manifestation of the Supreme Consciousness (Divine/Goddess/God, etc.).
Unfortunately, Zakriya Hanif is facing tons of online abuse from her community in Pakistan for embracing Hinduism and being part of the transgender community. Some of the comments she has received seek to shame her and even call for violence against her under the guise of “blasphemy laws” which are often used to target the minority Hindu community in Pakistan.
A Twitter user Eman Khan suggests they won’t have to feel ashamed for Zakriya Hanif to be a trans woman anymore as she reverts to Hinduism.
Another Twitter abuser openly calls for violence against Zakriya Hanif and twitter has not taken action against the account.
Hindus do not feel safe to openly express their vibrant identities in fear of facing persecution and shame by anti-Hindu elements. The violence and trauma faced by Hindus are not just physical but it has expanded to psychological and social media abuse where social media apps are not taking steps to curtail the open violence spewed by anti-Hindu elements. It is time Hindus hold social media apps to account by enabling policies and infrastructure to track and ban any accounts which openly spread hatred and violence against Hindus.
