Krishna Kumari: First Hindu Dalit female senator in Pakistan

Krishna Kumari Kohli has become the first Hindu Dalit woman to be elected to the upper house of Pakistan’s parliament, reports the Daily Pakistan.

The 39-year-old Hindu Dalit woman was elected on Saturday in the Muslim-majority country.

Kohli, born into a poor peasant family in Nagarparkar village in Sindh, was nominated by the Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-led PPP for the minority Senate seat last month.   

According to the report, the PPP had first elected the non-Muslim Dalit Senator in 2009. Kohli is the sixth non-Muslim candidate for parliament nominated by the opposite party. Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla was the first Hindu woman nominated for a seat.

Kohli joined the PPP as a social activist and actively worked for the rights of Thar’s marginalised communities.

The Daily Pakistan described Kohli as a multi-dimensional person with multiple interests. She not only represents her province, but has worked as a human rights activist on issues of women’s rights, bonded labour and sexual harassment at the workplace.

“Married at the age of 16, Kumari pursued her education after her marriage, earning a postgraduate degree in sociology,’’ the Pakistan daily said.

Her forefathers were freedom fighters of 1857 liberation war against the British force. Her brother Veerji Kohli, a PPP leader and Union Council chairman, is a noted human rights activist.