Analysing the coloniality of gender in the case of Khawaja Sira and Hijra communities in Pakistan – the colonial past and post-colonial present

This research paper aims to analyse certain colonial and postcolonial laws concerning the khawaja sira and hijra communities in the North Western Provinces (NWP) of India, specifically 1) Section 377 of the IPC, 1860 2) Part II of the CTA, 1871 3) Section 377 of the PPC, 1860 4) the 2009 Khaki v. SSP Rawalpindi Case and 5) the TPA, 2018. These laws and rulings are examined from the coloniality of power and coloniality of gender analytical frameworks developed by Anibal Quijano and Maria Lugones. The paper focuses on how these analytical frameworks led to the policing of gender and sexuality in the case of the khawaja siras and hijras in India by the colonial state, and investigates the extent to which they prevail in the legal rulings and laws passed by the post-colonial state of Pakistan.