PESHAWAR: Bilal alias Sobia Khan and Zohaib Ahmad have become the first transgender persons to be appointed as warders in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prisons Department.

An official told Dawn that there were a total of 18 posts as per quota for transgender people, but only two had applied who were selected after they cleared the physical test, the written exam and the interview.

He said that a lack of awareness was the reason behind transgender persons not applying for the job.

Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was the chief guest at a ceremony held here on Wednesday to hand over the appointment letters to the two transgender individuals.

Officials confirm Sobia Khan and Zohaib Ahmad earned their place without concession. They met every benchmark: the gruelling physical test, the written exam, and the interview panel. Merit, not mercy, opened this door.

Sobia Khan will now serve in the women’s section of Central Jail Peshawar, bringing not just discipline, but empathy to a space that needs both.

Their appointment has generated a feeling of pride. Saida Khan, president of All Artists Association KP, called it a ‘dawn after a long night’. She thanked the chief minister, the home secretary, IG prisons Rehan Gul Khattak, and the DIG prisons for the courage to act.

IG prisons Rehan Khattak was clear about the standard that mattered. “We hire for duty, not for labels.”

He added that Sobia Khan and Zohaib Ahmad proved their ability at each stage. “I am confident they will make our jails more professional and more humane,” he stated.

Rights advocates have declared that with the appointments, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, has finally stepped off the page and into the world.

“Law becomes justice only when it changes a life,” said Farzana Jan of Transgender Rights Network. “Today, it changed Sobia Khan’s life. Tomorrow, it can change hundreds more if other departments show the same will.”

Sobia Khan’s journey to this moment was paved with rejection. Forced to beg and dance to survive, she refused to let the street be her only address. Two years ago, with help from a local NGO, she earned her matriculation and completed a computer course.

“They laughed when I filled the form,” she recalled. “I applied anyway, because hope is a decision.”

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026