Will Pakistan’s Senate Get Its First Hindu Woman Lawmaker?

Pakistan’s Senate may soon get the country's first woman -- a young Hindu -- as its member.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has nominated Krishna Kumari from Thar in Sindh province to contest for a general Senate seat, TOI reported. And here is the good news -- if Krishna Kumari wins, she could be the first Hindu Senator in the Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Kumari belongs to the Kolhi community and has struggled all her life to fight societal barriers,. The woman comes from the family of freedom fighter Rooplo Kolhi, who fought the British colonialist forces during the Sindh attack in 1857.

If elected, Krishna Kumari will be the first female Hindu lawmaker in Pakistan since 1947, when Pakistan gained independence

Kumari’s political journey started as a social reformer. She joined the PPP as an activist along with her brother. Later, she was elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano. Her brother Samaa became a valuable member of the party, a news channel reported.

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Kumari was nominated by the country's opposition party for the Senate's upcoming March 3 elections for the upper house of parliament.

Born in 1979, Kumari was not even 10 years old when she was held captive by a landlord near Tharparkar desert in the south of Sindh. By the time she was 16 and studying in the 9th class, she was married off. However, she kept up her studies. In 2013, Kumari graduated in masters in sociology from the Sindh University, the channel said.

She was also actively involved in working for the rights of unprivileged people of marginalised communities living in Thar and other areas

The PPP is known to be a women-friendly assembly with several women leaders provided to Pakistan, including Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister; Hina Rabbani Khar, the first woman foreign minister and Fehmida Mirza, the first woman speaker of the National Assembly.

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Feature Image Credit: Facebook

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