Speaking Identity: The Role of Farsi Chant in Identity Construction and Community Belonging Among Pakistan's Khawaja Sira

This study examines the role of Farsi Chant, an in-group communicative practice associated with Pakistan's Khawaja Sira community, in identity construction, community belonging, privacy, stigma negotiation, and ethical cultural preservation. Public accounts frequently reduce Farsi Chant and related discussions of Hijra Farsi or Koti Farsi to the idea of a secret language. Although secrecy and selective communication are important, this framing is too narrow because it separates language from the social conditions in which Khawaja Sira people negotiate recognition, kinship, vulnerability, and cultural continuity. The study used an online Google Forms questionnaire administered in English. The form included an electronic informed-consent statement before the questions, closed-ended Likert-scale items, demographic and exposure questions, and open-ended narrative questions. No oral or face-to-face interviews were conducted; the qualitative material consists of written open-ended responses provided by participants. The final analysis used 30 complete responses from adult Khawaja Sira participants across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and Islamabad. Descriptive analysis showed strong agreement that Farsi Chant is associated with identity and bonding, practical use and learning, stigma awareness, and cultural preservation. Reflexive thematic analysis identified five themes: chosen kinship and social survival, privacy and safety in public interaction, intergenerational learning through gurus and elders, public misunderstanding and media stereotyping, and ethical preservation under community control. The study argues that Farsi Chant should not be viewed merely as an exotic secret code or vocabulary to be extracted. Instead, it is a socially situated language practice that sustains belonging, manages risk, and promotes cultural continuity while protecting sensitive community knowledge.