AMN / KARACHI
Sunita Parmar, a Hindu woman in Sindh province in Pakistan, has created history by becoming the first from the minority community to contest the provincial assembly elections to be held on July 25.
Parmar, 31, who is from the Meghwar community will contest as an independent candidate for the Sindh Assembly constituency from Tharparkar district which has the highest number of Hindus in Pakistan.
Confident of challenging the status quo, Parmar said she was compelled to contest the upcoming polls as previous governments failed to deliver on their promises of making life better for the people of her constituency.
Sunita vowed to improve standards of education for women and poor health facilities in her constituency.
Unveiling her agenda in her native town of Islamkot, Sunita vowed to improve standards of education for women and poor health facilities in Thar. I will try to improve standards of education for women and health facilities in Tharparkar, she said.
Previous governments did nothing for the people of this area. Even in 21st century, we lack basic health facilities and proper educational institutes for women, Sunita said. Despite hardships and pressure from society (to stop studying), she did her Master in Education. I believe in girl’s education. This is the only way to make women stronger and prosper, she said.
In March this year, Krishna Kumari Kolhi from Sindh became the first-ever Hindu Dalit woman Senator. Kolhi, 39, from Thar is a member of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), one of the main political parties in Pakistan. She won the election for the reserved seat for women from Sindh province.
Her election was a major milestone for women and minority rights in Pakistan. “Women like Sunita and Krishna are real face of Pakistan”, says Zareen Gul, a Women Right activist said.