Now Reading: Transgender Activist Gul Panra Murdered, Confused With Her Singer Counterpart
In yet another atrocity committed against the Transgender community, the popular and well-respected activist for trans rights – Gul Panra – was shot dead in Peshawar. The trans right activist was killed by unknown assailants while returning from a function in a suburban Peshawar village. Another person was also injured as the attackers rained fire on them.
Gul Panra was reportedly shot six times during this. Both of the victims were quickly rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital but unfortunately, Gul quickly succumbed to the gunshot wound and was pronounced dead. The other victim is still under treatment. The body of the trans rights activist has been sent for autopsy to acquire further details.
#JusticeForGulPanra Trends as People Demand Justice
Panra was a major part of the TransAction Pakistan, a group which is solely devoted to advocating for the rights of trans minorities of the country. For the longest time, Gul has been bravely fighting against the injustice and mistreatment of transgender people for years. It is no secret that the country’s trans community has been subjected to discrimination and humiliation time and time again throughout the year. Anti-trans forces have victimized them by acts of torture and abuse.
Keeping all this in mind, it was only right that shortly after the news surfaced, people demanded action to be taken against the perpetrators behind this crime. Very quickly, the hashtag #JusticeforGulPanra shot to the top trend in Pakistan. The shooting has angered everyone on social media as just a year ago, she was marching to ask for protection for the community and today, she is no longer with us.
One year ago, on this date she was asking "Who should we reach for our protection".Any Answers??#JusticeforGulPanra pic.twitter.com/TzytuE6Ee6
— Phupo (@Phuposays) September 9, 2020
Netizens drew parallels between previous cases of the same nature, such as the Julie case. The parallels between various cases unfortunately don’t end there. Earlier this year, Beenish – a trans person was also shot dead in Islamabad by a group of unidentified assailants.
Gul Panra, a trans rights activist was shot dead in Peshawar today.
First Julie Case and Now this, please Let every HUMAN Live 💔#JusticeforGulPanra pic.twitter.com/w7bwrkAZMT— Alien-Hunter👊 (@TumraniZeeshan) September 9, 2020
Users also called out the lack of action on the judiciary’s part as cases like this keep rising day by day in the country.
Everyday in twitter trends we see justice Hashtags.
Justice for _____ Pashtun
Justice for _____ Baloch
Where is the judiciary sleeping?#JusticeforGulPanra a transgender activist from Peshawar. pic.twitter.com/27Yev6AMbZ— Amir Afridi (@AmirAfridi) September 9, 2020
Police Registers FIR against the Unknown Assailants
According to reports, the police has taken notice and on the request of the second injured victim i.e. Chahat, has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the unknown assailants. Based on the details of the FIR, the incident occurred as both of them were leaving to perform at a wedding function when the unidentified persons opened fire on them. The cause or motive behind the shooting remains unclear still.
As per Superintendent of Police Hassan Jahangir Watto, an investigation is underway currently and the alive victim might be able to identify the culprits involved in this heartless crime. A special team has also been constructed by SP Watto to delve into the details of the incident and arrest the culprits responsible for shooting that killed Gul Panra. Though it is important to note that at the time of writing, no arrests have been made.
Netizens Confuse the Trans Activist with Singer Gul Panra
While all this was going on, certain folks on twitter continued to spread misinformation, many of whom were actually under the false impression themselves. But instead of fact-checking things and actually taking time to research, they just went on to the internet to mislead others as well.
she was an amazing singer. RIP
I love her voice 😭😭#JusticeforGulPanra pic.twitter.com/EVeijEdH4x— Sufian ahmed (@Saifi_465) September 9, 2020
Consequently, other netizens had to take it upon themselves to clear this misinformation and tell people of the trans rights activist who actually met her demise at the hands of those anti-trans sorry excuses for human beings.
Please for God sake🙏 don't spread false news, the murdered Gul Panra wasn't singer but a transgender activist…
Really saddened on her demise, justice must be prevailed !!#JusticeforGulPanra pic.twitter.com/fOsm9xVXl6— السیدة المسلمة (@SyedaSays__) September 9, 2020
It is heartbreaking to see that there are monsters who would perform these inhumane acts against an already oppressed community. Hopefully, justice prevails and an example is made out of the culprits to prevent cases like this in the future.
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