New Delhi: According to multiple reports in Pakistani media, a Pakistani TV news anchor Marvia Malik was targeted with a gun in Lahore on Thursday (February 23). She is the country’s first transgender news anchor and survived an alleged assassination attempt on Thursday. Later, on Friday, a case was registered against unidentified assailants for attempting to shoot Malik while she was returning to her residence in Lahore Cantonment area at night.
According to Geo News, he was attacked by two unidentified gunmen. Marvia told the police that people had been sending her death threats ever since she shared her opinion on the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018. To save herself, Malik has left her Lahore home and moved elsewhere.
News anchor Marvia Malik just narrowly escaped a gun attack. This is a direct result of hate speech and inflammatory words that the likes of Maria B, Senator Mushtaq or youth clubs use against the trans community. Your words can kill people. say no to transphobia pic.twitter.com/PKvDfhaiGg— Muneeb Qadir (@muneebqadirmmq) February 24, 2023
In September last year, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) said the Transgender Persons Act was not in line with Islamic principles, as some provisions contradicted Sharia law. According to Geo News, CII cautioned that the law may give rise to new social issues and urged the government to set up a committee comprising CII members, religious scholars, legal experts and medical professionals to review the law relating to the transgender community .
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act granted transgender persons in Pakistan the freedom to choose and change their gender identity as they personally perceived it, and allowed them to display their gender information on official documents issued by the government. Update allowed.
Marvia Malik is a news anchor in Pakistan who studied journalism as part of her higher education. She worked in the fashion industry before joining the media business, reported Geo News. As a transperson herself, she has advocated for transgender people in the country.