Hindu woman elected to Pakistan's senate in historic first

Krishna Kumari Kohli. Pic/AFP

Krishna Kumari Kohli from Pakistan's Sindh province has become the first-ever Hindu Dalit woman Senator in the Muslim-majority country, the Pakistan People's Party has said.

Kohli, 39, from Thar is a member of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP). She was elected Senator on a minority seat from Sindh. The PPP awarded her the Senate ticket, it said.

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. Kohli belongs to a remote village in Nagarparkar district of Thar in Sindh province. Born to a poor peasant, Jugno Kohli, in February 1979, Kohli and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district. She was married to Lalchand at the age of 16. However, she pursued her studies and in 2013, she did masters in sociology from the Sindh University.

She joined the PPP as a social activist along with her brother, who was later elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano. Kohli also actively participated and worked for the rights of downtrodden people of marginalised communities living in Thar and other areas.

Pakistan's ruling PML-N of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif won 15 seats in Senate and became the largest party in the upper house of Parliament, according to the provisional results.

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