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The Transgender Café “Joban Food Court” in NCA Closes Down Due To Low Standards!

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They are no less of a human nor are they alien creatures but normal people who in our society should not be named. After struggling for their rights, the community has now learned to break stereotypes and show the world what they are truly capable of. Some time back, they started a cafe in one of Pakistan’s best art institutes, NCA (National College of Arts) Rawalpindi campus. But recently, it’s been closed down.

To make people understand that they are more than the labels we put on them of beggars, dancers and sex workers, Bubbli Malik started a cafe named “Joban Food Court” in NCA Rawalpindi. It was no less than a dream come to for her where she was not just providing delicious food but also jobs to other transgenders.

source: zara changezi

Going down the memory lane, Malik shared:

I cannot forget September 8, 2015, the day when we officially started running this cafeteria. For us, it was more like a dream had come true,” “For others, it was just a cafeteria. But for us, it was a mini-world where we earned a livelihood, fame, and respect,”

She also added that people called us baji’ and ‘aunty’, for the very first time.

After 2 years, the mouth-watering menu, including the spicy chicken biryani, different sorts of qeema dishes and tea that used to fill the institute with its aroma no more exists. As soon as the management changed, the mindset also varied which once again, saw them through the eyes of the society which doesn’t consider them worthy of something.

NCA PINDI….student we all miss u and ur beautifull commpany we miss u lot….aahhhhh

Posted by Bubbli Malik on Monday, 12 February 2018

Putting the emotions of transgenders in words, Zara Changezi, who herself is a trans, shared the incident on her facebook profile regarding how they face issues no matter what they try to do. The society always consider them misfit.

Bubbli Malik A person who considered herself as a Human instead of dividing herself into genders. We see alot of…

Posted by Zara Changezi on Monday, 12 February 2018

All the hard work of making people love her not only for taking an initiative but for her work went down in vain. Being blind from the heart and mind the management started harassing them and called their food substandard at times. Later, the cafe was handed over to some third party and now its nowhere to be found.

BLACK DAY IN TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY 23/10/2017 when NCA RWP close community caffe…!

Posted by Bubbli Malik on Monday, 12 February 2018

Malik said, “The cafeteria became an example and a platform where the transgender community could break taboos and prove that we are not less than anybody else, The call by the management to shut down the cafe and leave right away broke their hearts as they were yet again closed doors open.

Such attitude shows that in this society, there is no place for people like us, no matter how much we want to live like normal human beings and make a respectable living,”

Posted by Bubbli Malik on Sunday, 11 February 2018

The double standards of our society need to stop putting labels on others, there seems to be a problem with everything that they do. Whether they work or not, in both cases they fall under the category of “hijras” who can just dance and beg. Let them live their lives in peace, they are as worthy as you. It would be better if we realized it as soon as we could. If you liked the article like share and comment down below to give us your feedback.

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