First female senator from lowest caste

Islamabad – Pakistan elected its first female senator from the lowest Dalit caste in weekend polls.

The ruling party also strengthened its hand ahead of a general election in the Muslim-majority country.

The surprise victory of opposition candidate Krishna Kumari Kohli in the Senate election stirred a wave of optimism on social media, as Pakistanis celebrated the rare success of a woman from a marginalised community at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy.

“I feel proud. I am thankful to Pakistan People’s Party that they nominated me,” Kohli said yesterday.

Pakistan’s Hindus, who make up around 2% of the country’s 200 million people, have long faced economic and social discrimination.

Members of parliament and of provincial assemblies voted on Saturday to fill half the seats in the Senate, or upper house, before elections due this summer for the lower house of parliament.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 15 of the 52 seats up for election to secure a total of 33 spots in the 104seat upper house.

Support from their allies is likely to give it a dominating majority.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 12 seats and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former cricket star Imran Khan came third with six.

Last July, the Supreme Court toppled PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif from the premiership over corruption allegations.

Ahead of the Senate vote, the court also barred Sharif from leading his party, forcing all PML-N candidates officially to stand as independents because they had been selected by the axed chief.

Following the win, Sharif called on his supporters to keep fighting at the ballot box in the face of pressure from Pakistan’s courts.

The Sharif clan and their supporters have repeatedly denied corruption.

They have suggested that Nawaz is the victim of a conspiracy driven by Pakistan’s powerful military establishment. –

I feel proud. I am thankful to Pakistan People’s Party that they nominated me.

Krishna Kumari Kohli First Dalit female senator, elected after Pakistan MPs and provincial assemblies voted on Saturday to fill half the seats in the Senate before elections for the lower house of parliament.