Sunita Parmar, Pakistan’s First Hindu Woman to Contest Assembly Elections

As Pakistan’s general elections approach, there is a lot going in the country. Every other hour, there is a surprising development from any corner of the country. Pakistan, a country which is finally on the track of fighting against corruption by individuals and institutions, needs loyal and committed people to make their way to legislative assemblies.

Meet Sunita Parmar, a local Hindu woman hailing from the region of Tharparkar, Sindh, who is contesting for the provincial assembly elections this year. All geared up to break stereotypes, Sunita is the first ever Hindu woman in Pakistan to contest for general elections.

Despite having faced immense pressure from local feudal lords to step down, she stands firm on her position. She believes that the people of Tharparkar deserve a better representative from their region who can solve their issues of water scarcity, lack of health facilities and frequent droughts. Tharparkar has the highest child mortality rate in Pakistan and Sunita believes she can put an end to this menace.

In her video message that is going viral on social media, she blamed the ruling parties of Sindh for paying no attention to the living conditions of the people of Tharparkar.

“Politicians imprison the women. From this, it can be gauged that how much they are sincere with the prosperity of women...I don’t have any enmity or opposition with anyone but it is need of the hour that women’s existence and capabilities should be accepted. My goals are very clear. I want to work for girls’ education and play my role in providing basic health facilities on every doorstep,” she stated in her video.

Sunita belongs to Hindu Meghwar community of Tharparkar. She is contesting the elections as an independent candidate. Out of 1.6 million inhabitants of Thar, nearly half is Hindu population which plays a vital role in elections.

In March this year, Krishna Kumari Kohli from the province of Sindh became the first-ever Hindu Dalit senator in Pakistan. Women like Krishna and Sunita are a ray of hope for the country’s minorities.

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• PAKISTAN
• ELECTIONS