ISLAMABAD: In a historical first for Pakistan, a Dalit woman from the country’s marginalised Hindu group has been elected to the Senate, the higher house of the parliament. Krishna Kumari Kolhi, a 39-year-old Hindu Dalit woman, was once elected senator on a girls’s seat from Sindh. She is a member of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Her election represents a significant milestone for girls and minority rights in Pakistan. Earlier, PPP had elected first Hindu woman named Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla as a senator. Dalits, too, have been elected on PPP tickets from Sindh previously but Kolhi is the first woman from the scheduled caste to grow to be a senator.
The first non-Muslim Dalit senator in Pakistan was once Dr Khatumal Jeewan. He was once additionally elected by way of PPP on a normal seat in 2009. Engineer Gianchand was once the second one Dalit to be elected as senator on a normal seat by way of PPP in 2015. Kolhi hails from Nagarparkar village in Tharparkar district of Sindh province, the place girls are disadvantaged of basic elementary rights.
Being a victim of bonded labour along side her parents, a not unusual follow in Tharparkar, Kolhi fought hunger and poverty in her early lifestyles. She was once married to Lalchand on the age of 16, when she was once studying in 9th grade. However, she pursued her studies, and in 2013, she did masters in sociology from the Sindh University. “Fortunately my husband and inlaws were extremely supportive and inspired me to proceed my training,” she instructed an area news channel. “We didn’t have electrical energy so I used to study with the help of an oil lantern,” she added.
While at university, she actively labored againstbonded labour, sexual harassment at workplaces, and for the rights of women and deficient people of her village. “I can no longer handiest constitute girls of Tharparkar but act as a consultant for girls around the nation and talk for their rights,” Krishna mentioned whilst highlighting child marriages and forced conversions as main issues confronted by way of the folk of Tharparkar. “I can battle for implementation of the rules in charter drafted for the rights of women. There are rules for rights of women but none of them have been applied,” she mentioned.
Her election represents a significant milestone for girls and minority rights in Pakistan. Earlier, PPP had elected first Hindu woman named Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla as a senator. Dalits, too, have been elected on PPP tickets from Sindh previously but Kolhi is the first woman from the scheduled caste to grow to be a senator.
The first non-Muslim Dalit senator in Pakistan was once Dr Khatumal Jeewan. He was once additionally elected by way of PPP on a normal seat in 2009. Engineer Gianchand was once the second one Dalit to be elected as senator on a normal seat by way of PPP in 2015. Kolhi hails from Nagarparkar village in Tharparkar district of Sindh province, the place girls are disadvantaged of basic elementary rights.
Being a victim of bonded labour along side her parents, a not unusual follow in Tharparkar, Kolhi fought hunger and poverty in her early lifestyles. She was once married to Lalchand on the age of 16, when she was once studying in 9th grade. However, she pursued her studies, and in 2013, she did masters in sociology from the Sindh University. “Fortunately my husband and inlaws were extremely supportive and inspired me to proceed my training,” she instructed an area news channel. “We didn’t have electrical energy so I used to study with the help of an oil lantern,” she added.
While at university, she actively labored againstbonded labour, sexual harassment at workplaces, and for the rights of women and deficient people of her village. “I can no longer handiest constitute girls of Tharparkar but act as a consultant for girls around the nation and talk for their rights,” Krishna mentioned whilst highlighting child marriages and forced conversions as main issues confronted by way of the folk of Tharparkar. “I can battle for implementation of the rules in charter drafted for the rights of women. There are rules for rights of women but none of them have been applied,” she mentioned.
Meet Krishna Kolhi, Pakistan's 1st Dalit woman senator
![Meet Krishna Kolhi, Pakistan's 1st Dalit woman senator]()
Reviewed by Kailash
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March 05, 2018
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