Nisha Rao life story is an illustrious example of struggle, perseverance, endurance, patience, hard work and honesty in Pakistan. Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer has defied all the odds and serving her own community and other people at large in a unique style and quite proud of this fact.
Nisha Rao begged for ten years on the streets of Karachi. Muddassar Iqbal Chaudhry, the teacher of Nisha Rao suggested her to study law. She begged on the streets from 8 to 12 in morning and then from 2 to 5 she studied law. She works in city court of Karachi. She praises the other lawyers and judges who always support her. She intends to help the poor and already has successfully won 50 cases. Her resolve is commendable.
Financial security is one of the several problems that the transgender community faces. With no means of livelihood, several transgenders from lower economic strata have no option other than adult work but Nisha Rao chose the hard way. She begged her work to become a lawyer which is not a simple feat especially in a conservative and poor country like Pakistan where even other genders struggle to become something.
It is high time that government ensures that colleges and universities allocate some quote for transgender people and welcome the third gender students to take admissions within the university. Transgender people in this society are handicapped because of a social taboo attached to them and that is what keeps them away from all the educational activities and then they have to resort to not so dignified occupations.
One needs to adopt a systematic approach in order to bring change within the mindset of the people regarding transgenders in Pakistan. Education is everyone’s right and government should also start some employment and rozgar schemes for transgender people. Like any other human they have great talent and skills and all they need is a chance and equal opportunity to become a useful member of society.
Nisha Rao is only one such person. There are hundreds of thousands of such humans in our country who want to become something and we must help them.
Nisha Rao is a Pakistani transgender lawyer, advocate and activist. In 2020, she became the first transgender law graduate in Pakistan. Nisha Rao recently became the first transgender person to gain admission in an MPhil (LLM – Master of Laws) programme at University of Karachi. According to the public relations office at the university, Rao is the first transgender student to have gained admission in any programme since the university’s inception.
Nisha, a lawyer by profession, aims to fight for the equity and justice of transgenders in light of the rampant violence against their community. In her attempt to do so, Nisha has pledged to take up all transgender cases on a pro-bono/free of cost basis.