PPP gives Senate ticket to Hindu woman

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Sunday gave a Senate ticket to Krishna Kumari, a Kolhi woman belonging to a remote village in Nagarparkar district in Sindh, to contest for a general seat for the upcoming elections.

The PPP holds a majority in the Sindh assembly. She will be the first female Hindu to become a Senator in Pakistan if she wins.

According to The Dawn, Kumari said that she was given assurances by senior party leaders that they would get her elected as the Senator "to set a new precedent and empower women from remote areas and minority communities".

Kumari has reportedly been asked by PPP to file nomination papers to contest the Senate elections.

"I was called by Bilawal Bhutto, Faryal Talpur and senior leaders a few days back. They said they will allot me the ticket to contest the election to become a senator on a general seat from Sindh," said Kumari.

Kumari was born to a poor peasant named Jugno Kolhi in 1979. Kumari and her family spent almost three years in jail for trespassing a land, allegedly owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district.

She was married off at the age of 16 when she was studying in Class 9. However, her husband supported her in pursuing further studies.

In 2013, Kumari did her masters in sociology from Sindh University.

Kumari is a social activist who joined PPP a few years ago, along with her brother, who is a chairman of a union council, Berano.

She has actively participated and worked for the rights of the backward communities living in Thar and other parts of Sindh province.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced the schedule of Senate elections, which will be held on March 3.

In a notification, the ECP has called upon the members of the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces to elect seven Senate members from general seats, two members from the seats, exclusively reserved for women and two members for the seats reserved for technocrats including Ulema from each of province.