Pakistan’s Parliament took a significant step toward inclusive democracy on Saturday, when the upper chamber elected its first woman senator from the Hindu community of the Muslim majority nation.
Krishna Kumari, who hails from southern Pakistan’s less developed district of Tharparker, is a member of Pakistan People’s Party from Sindh. Her victory has been widely welcomed as a long due step towards a pluralist and inclusive society after decades of neglect and exclusion of diverse communities from the national political process.
Kumari was born to a poor peasant Jugno Kolhi in February 1979 and lived through some travails of life. Kumari and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail allegedly owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district. She was a grade three student at the time when held captive.
Congratulations Krishna Kumari Kolhi, elected as Senator on reserve seat for Women from Sindh. pic.twitter.com/oGtyODlF0S
— Pakistan Peoples Party (@PPP_Org) March 3, 2018
Kumari was married to Lalchand at the age of 16, when she was studying in the 9th Grade. However, her husband supported her in pursuing studies, as later in 2013 she did a Masters in Sociology from Sindh University.
She also actively participated and worked for the rights of the downtrodden people of marginalized communities living in Thar and other areas.
“I will bring issues of marginalized Hindu community of Thar to the limelight and help them get resolved through pro-people legislation,” Kumari had told media after submitting her papers in Karachi last month.
Krishna Kumari, belonging to a remote village in Nagarparkar district, was among the 12 candidates contesting for seats from the Sindh Assembly.
Apart from Kumari, the other candidate fielded by PPP for women representation in the Senate was Quratulain Marri. Senate, the upper house of Pakistan’s parliament has 104 seats. There are 18 women Senators; Pakistani constitution requires that there be at least 17 women Senators. Members of the Senate are elected under Article 59 of the Constitution. The four provinces are represented by 23 senators each while FATA is represented by 8 and federal capital by 4 members.
