KOHAT: The elders of Kohat city have demanded eviction of transgender persons from the residential areas for ‘destroying peace of the area and spoiling the youth’.

The demand was made at an open kutchery organised by district police officer Mansoor Aman.

President of Muttahida Tajir Ittehad Mohammad Abid Khan, chairman jewellers’ association Azmat Jameel Bangash and others complained about immoral activities, firing in the air and hooliganism because of the presence of transgender individuals in the area.

They said such activities were also against the teachings of Islam and social and cultural values. They said the transgender persons wearing indecent clothes roamed the city streets.

The DPO ordered the social welfare department to look into the matter. He also said suitable places should be allotted to the transgender persons outside the residential areas. He, however, expressed concern that the people themselves had rented out places to the transgender community members at high rents.

LOW GAS PRESSURE PROTESTED: A protest rally was held in the main bazaar of Lachi tehsil against the low gas pressure.

The protesters led by MPA Shahdad Khan accused the SNGPL officials of not resolving their problem despite requests. They regretted that the problem rose every year in winter.

The protesters vowed to continue agitation till the SNGPL officials committed to improving the gas pressure.

Assistant commissioner Mohammad Ali Shah and SHO Afzal Awan reached the spot and initiated dialogue with the protesters. However, the protesters declined to accept the verbal promises and demanded written agreement.

ANTI-POLIO DRIVE: Commissioner, Kohat division, Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah inaugurated a five-day anti-polio campaign in the district by administering drops to a child at his office on Tuesday.

The function was attended by deputy commissioner Abdur Rehman, additional deputy commissioner Shah Nawaz, district health officer Dr Musharraf, and other relevant officials.

On the occasion, Jabbar Shah said no new polio case had been reported since 2014 in the district, but still it was a high-risk area because the environmental samples were still coming positive.

The meeting was told that during the campaign starting from Wednesday (today) over 206,820 children would be vaccinated, whereas in the last two days of the drive missing children would be covered.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2020