Hindu woman enters poll fray as independent

Meghwar challenges feudal mindsets with campaign focused on health and education

In a rare show of courage, a Pakistani minority Hindu woman from rural Sindh has stepped forward to contest the upcoming elections as an independent candidate without political support.

Sunita Parmar Meghwar, one of the first Hindu women to contest general elections, is all prepared to represent the underdeveloped Tharparkar district in the Sindh provincial assembly.

Meghwar, who belongs to the Hindu Meghwar community, refused to bow to community pressures in the male-dominated society of feudal landlords in the underprivileged Tharparkar district.

Meghwar hails from Sindh’s southern bordering district, Tharparkar, which accounts the highest number of Hindus in Pakistan. The district has a population of 1.6 million, of which around half are Hindus, according to the 2017 census.

She submitted her nomination papers as an independent candidate from the Sindh assembly constituency PS-56, in the Islamkot area of Tharparkar district.

The 30-year-old said she was compelled to contest elections as political parties representing the region had failed to deliver in the province and politicians who won seats from the constituency never even paid a visit to resolve the plight of the locals. “Issues such as drinking water, health and education have not been addressed by the local representatives. I felt the urge to step up for our people” to work for the development of community, she said.

In a viral video message, Meghwar blamed the political parties in power in Sindh for the deteriorating status of women, especially in the education and health sectors. She pointed out that no political party has given a ticket to any woman for the general seat because the parties fear the fact that women are honest and would oppose their rigging and create hurdles to their corrupt practices.

The resilience of the daughter of the Thar has amazed the locals who are hopeful her victory will transform the lives of the people of the desert region who face various health issues such as waterborne diseases, inadequate health facilities, famine, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and lack of basic infrastructure.