Pakistan elects Dalit woman in historic senate vote

Krishna Kumari hails from the so-called Hindu untouchables and was elected from a reserved seat for women in southern Sindh province. Deposed premier Nawaz Sharif's party came first to gain control of parliament's upper house in the polls.

Krishna Kumari, who worked in the fields alongside her parents as a child, will take the oath of office later this month.
AP

Krishna Kumari, who worked in the fields alongside her parents as a child, will take the oath of office later this month.

A woman from Pakistan's marginalised Hindu minority has been elected to the senate for the first time ever in an election over the weekend.  

Krishna Kumari, a member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), hails from the so-called untouchables or Dalits - the lowest rung of the caste system that still prevails in Pakistan and neighbouring India.

Lawmakers in national and four provincial assemblies on Saturday elected half of the 104-member senate to six-year terms.

Deposed premier Nawaz Sharif's party came first in Saturday's election, in a boost for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party ahead of a general election due in summer. 

It has a total of 33 seats in the upper house, and along with its allies, the party has 48 seats in the senate, Geo TV reported.

Former President Asif Zardari's party PPP came in second, followed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party led by former cricket star Imran Khan.

"I feel delighted"

Most of Pakistan's Hindu population fled to India as part of the population exchange that followed the 1947 partition. 

Those who remain live on the political and economic margins.

"I feel delighted, this was unthinkable for me to reach the senate," Kumari said.

Kumari, who was born and raised in a remote district, attributed her success to her parents, who encouraged her to pursue her education and eventually helped her to earn a university degree. 

She later worked for a non-governmental organisation before joining PPP, the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. 

PPP's Hindu senators

The party nominated her for a seat reserved for women candidates from the Sindh province, where it holds a majority.

"I will continue to work for the rights of the oppressed people, especially for the empowerment of women, their health and education," she said.

Kumari, who worked in the fields alongside her parents as a child, will take the oath of office later this month alongside some of the biggest landowners in the country.

In March 2006, PPP's Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla from Jacobabad in Sindh province was the first Hindu woman to sit in the Pakistan's senate, Dawn reported.

In 2009, Pakistan elected PPP's Khatumal Jeewan, a Hindu Dalit, on a general seat while Engineer Gianchand was the second Hindu Dalit to be elected as PPP senator in 2015, Geo TV reported. 

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