A Pakistani transgender artist suffers the worst amid COVID19 lockdown
The entire world has been affected by the Coronavirus and lockdowns have stifled the life for many but for some, it has been far more stifling. Some people can survive and some can thrive and sustain their fortunes even in these tough times but then some folks were reliant on chores which didn’t yield the same kind of fortunes as the ones garnered by the aforementioned strata of society. For some, these difficult times have been not just nightmarishly horrendous but have also reinforced woes that they were already trying to escape. For this type of person, the present circumstances bring an issue of survival as to sustain and to thrive are still the capabilities that are a far cry from them. It’s an excruciating situation when one gets deprived of their work, art, and their sole source of joy and creativity in life. It’s the same reservoir of creative talent that used to bring bread to their household but a virus and the lockdown it has caused has made this reservoir and its owner suffer the worst.
This is an account of the current circumstances that a Pakistani transgender artist named Sonia Naz is confronting. The transgender community is a marginalized section of Pakistani society as they have always confronted issues when it comes to moving ahead towards upward social mobility in society. They have always faced systemic injustice along with social prejudice and discrimination directed at them by the wider society. Though few members of the community have tried their luck and have been successful to some extent in achieving their desired objective of living a dignified life by getting work in the entertainment business of the country and Sonia is one of those few. Sonia has an ample share of talent in art forms ranging from dancing to acting. Before the lockdown, she used to dance in private events and used to act in Pakistani short films and documentaries apart from acting in short roles at several productions of Pakistan’s television industry. At the moment, she has no work to do and now no projects to either act in as her options to earn a livelihood have suffered a closure and a huge blow due to the lockdown imposed as a result of the alarming spread of COVID 19 in Pakistan. The projects she was working on have been halted and alongside that, she has not been able to get any new project as an artist implying a worsening of her financial woes. Sonia used to find both spiritual solace and a source of her physical sustenance through acting and dancing but now everything has been turned upside down and she even fears her survival.
Sonia’s life is a completely different story altogether now as she does not even have the resources to comply with what doctor has suggested her to do in the aftermath of the stomach infection and abdomen swelling she recently suffered from and which had taken a toll on her health and lifestyle. The doctor had suggested her to resort to a healthy diet comprising of fruits, fresh juices and milk alongside regular consumption of the prescribed medicine for two to three months after her treatment but due to her financial issues, she is unable to follow doctor’s instructions resulting in her not getting fully cured. She says “Depression due to financial crisis made me sick. My voice has not reached yet to Mr. Khan (current prime minister of Pakistan). No one has even asked me whether I’m alive or dead. I swear I’m currently under a debt of PKR 250,000. Nobody bothered to ask me how I’m getting my treatment done. I spent at least twenty to twenty-five thousand Pakistani rupees on getting treated.”
Sonia’s dilemma makes us realize that tough times such as the ones brought by the spread of the Coronavirus always make the already marginalized section of society suffer the most. Such tough times are capable of making already marginalized individuals like Sonia reach a position where they have nothing to lose and to rebel and revolt against a society that gave them very few options to prosper in life.