The Lahore police have set up a Tahaffuz Markaz (protection centre) each in four zones of the city, in order to protect the fundamental rights of the marginalised communities and other deprived segments of the society. At each centre, a transgender person has been employed as a victim support officer.

The protection centres are being established across the province on the instructions of Punjab Police inspector general, Dr Usman Anwar. However, the question that needs to be answered is whether the police who have received funds from the national kitty for the project will be able to safeguard life and property of citizens with this new initiative.

ASP Shehrbano Syed, who has been entrusted with the task to head the protection centres, tells TNS that the Punjab Police “took the cue from a small centre that had been set up by the Rawalpindi police to rescue vulnerable communities in the district, in 2020. That was a time when the country was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cases of sexual harassment, torture and discrimination against transgender persons were on the rise.”

According to Syed, the first Tahaffuz Markaz was set up in Civil Lines area on the directions of the then Rawalpindi police chief, Ahsan Younis. ASP Beenish was the first officer to head the centre. In January this year, when Dr Anwar assumed charge as IG, “he wanted to replicate it in most districts of the province so that the police could play its role in facilitating those in need of justice and help.”

She says that a Tahaffuz Markaz offers legal assistance and social support not only to the transgender individuals but also to runaway children, underage drug abusers, special persons in need of help, abandoned mentally challenged people, beggars with disabilities and victims of sexual violence.

In the first phase, the protection centres are being set up on the premises of the Police Khidmat Markaz. At each centre, a representative of the transgender community has been employed. The idea, as ASP Syed puts it, is to “ensure the best services for the [transgender] community.”

In Lahore, two protection centres have already been set up — one in Liberty Market, and the other close to Data Darbar.

Asked as to how the locations were chosen, she says, “The Data Darbar area has seen a high number of cases of abduction and runaway/ homeless women and children. Besides, you find a lot of drug addicts. So, we had to have a centre there. For similar reasons, our next location is the Lorry Adda.”

Replying to a question, Syed says that “no authentic data on the transgender community is available. Many of them aren’t willing to reveal their identity due to societal taboos and other problems. For instance, those with registration cards that announce X as their gender have to face a number of issues when travelling abroad.

“At Tahaffuz Markaz, special arrangements have been made to register [the transgender people]. We make sure that the data remain confidential.”

All police stations in the city are supposed to direct complaints lodged by the transgender people to the nearest centre.

Syed also talks of “efforts [that] are under way to make the marginalised communities and abandoned people a productive part of the society, by turning them into skilled persons.” In this connection, the department has signed MoUs with some government and non-government organisations and facilities such as the TEVTA, for imparting technical and vocational education to disabled beggars; Akhuwat, for providing financial assistance to the transgender community; Care Foundation, for educating out-of-school children; and Children’s Hospital, for providing medical facilities to special children.

About the performance of the protection centres, she says that so far the Tahaffuz Markaz at Data Darbar alone has facilitated more than 3,000 people including women, disabled persons and members of the transgender community.

Zanaya Chaudhry, a victim support officer (VSO) at one of the centres in Lahore, seconds ASP Shehrbano Syed: “[Tahaffuz Markaz] has helped resolve a variety of civil as well as legal problems of the downtrodden in the shortest possible time. We work like a team. We ensure follow-up in each case.”

Chaudhry cautions, “No one from my community should think that they will get undue favours just because I am at the desk.” She says that having dealt with many cases she has “learnt how to tell a genuine case from a fraudulent one. I am very careful while performing my duties.”

Tahaffuz Centres are operational from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at ahsanzia155@gmail.com