Nisha Rao has become the first transgender to take admission in MPhil in Pakistan. She is a transgender activist who is actively pursuing higher studies.
By profession, she is a lawyer and is enrolled in the MPhil program to study law. She voiced her excitement over being enrolled in the Mphil program. “I had been very worried for two months,” she said in an interview with Geo News. “I took the exam in June this year, but was informed just four days ago that I had gotten admission.”
Vice-Chancellor of KU, Khalid Iraqi, said that it would be the first time, the university will award a Mphil degree to a transgender. A two-year LLM degree is equivalent to a Mphil degree.
Nisha Rao is the first Pakistani transgender to get admission into a MPhil program to study Law. She will be joining University of Karachi.#Karachi #NishaRao #MPhil #Trans pic.twitter.com/1TxxebLqQX
— Fifth Deck (@fifth_deck) September 11, 2021
She said that due to a lack of financial resources many people belonging to the transgender community cannot pursue their education.
Read more: A look into Pakistan’s justice system
Nisha Rao, 28, has the honor of becoming the first transgender lawyer of Pakistan, reported Independent Urdu on Wednesday.
Nisha Rao has now become the first trans woman to be enrolled at an LLM course at Karachi university.
From begging on the streets to training to be a lawyer!
She really is the defining example of strength and resilience.— toofani-badtameezi (@thesedcat) September 10, 2021
It's awesome and sad at the same time it took so long as a nation to accept these things !
More power to you girl .#nisharao pic.twitter.com/UsR1xsw6bE— Suraksha Kp 🇵🇰 (@Surakshakumari1) September 11, 2021
From begging in the streets to studying law in a university
She said the brutal behavior of police with her and the transgender community goaded her to take up the profession of law. In an interview with the Independent Urdu, Rao said that the abusive behavior of police intimidated her when she used to beg on the roads of Karachi. Then her teacher advised her to overcome her fears by becoming a lawyer. She quoted her mentor as saying that, police will be afraid of her once she becomes a lawyer.
Read more: Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer: Nisha Rao makes incredible journey from streets to courts
She attained her Law degree from Karachi’s Sindh Muslim Law College in 2018. So far she has fought 50 cases. Rao hails from Lahore but fled to Karachi to escape the physical abuse of her family after her matriculation. While explaining her ordeal and life’s toughest battle, Nisha said, she used to beg in the morning and study at night.
She said she realized her identity when she reached ninth grade. Rao said God had made her different. She said she felt depressed at first but motivated herself with positive thoughts.