Krishna Kumari Kolhi from Pakistan’s Sindh province has become the first-ever Hindu Dalit woman Senator in the Muslim-majority country, according to a media report.
Ms. Kolhi (39), from Thar is a member of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). She won the election for the reserved seat for women from Sindh.
Her election represents a major milestone for women and minority rights in Pakistan. Earlier, PPP had elected first Hindu woman named Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla as a senator.
Ms. Kolhi belongs to a remote village in Nagarparkar district of Thar in Sindh province.
Born to a poor peasant, Jugno Kolhi, in February 1979, Ms. Kolhi and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district.
She had joined the PPP as a social activist along with her brother, who was later elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano.
Ms. Kolhi also actively participated and worked for the rights of downtrodden people of marginalised communities living in Thar and other areas.
Provincial and federal lawmakers voted to elect 52 Senators in the Senate elections, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Twelve seats each from Punjab and Sindh, 11 each from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, four from tribal region and two from federal capital territory were up for grab due to retirement of 52 senators this month.
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