LGBT rights in Pakistan
The 18th century British colonists, the self-righteous Anglican males of the self-assessed superior civilisation, upon arrival in the Mughal-Muslim Indian subcontinent, were repulsed by the sight of Hijras (transgenders) and baffled over why they were accorded so much respect in royal courts and other spheres of life. After deposing the Mughals, and in discharging the white man’s burden of civilising the inferior races, the British colonists enacted the so-called Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 which was introduced on the 12th of October in 1871; to declare what they called Eunuchs (transgenders) a so-called criminal tribe (among many other Indian tribes) on the theory that certain tribes were genetically criminal and must be placed under state surveillance. By invoking the power of criminal law and associated prisons and penalties, the British colonists attacked the dignity of transgender community, degrading them in social echelons, and eventually forcing them to adopt begging, prostitution, and other questionable professions. Turning a respected community into a legally certified criminal tribe was an egregious blunder of the British colonialism (and it is hoped that Sadiq Khan, the new Mayor of London, will begin to restore the full rights of transgenders at least in London municipality).