Woman from persecuted Meghwar community announces candidacy from Thar seat

Author: Zulfiqar Kunbhar

Mithi: A woman from the country’s Hindu community has announced her intentions to contest the upcoming general election from a provincial assembly constituency in Thar.

Sunita Parmar, who belongs to Meghwar community, will contest for PS-56, in Islamkot area of Tharparkar, the district with the highest number of Hindus community members in Pakistan. According to 2017 census, the population of Tharparkar is 1.6 million, around half of whom identify themselves as Hindus. As part of a regressive tradition, Meghwars have historically been considered untouchables among the Hindu community.

In her video message on Wednesday, Sunita blamed ruling political parties in Sindh for worsening conditions of women, especially in education and health sectors.

She said institutions that conducted big programmes on women’s rights and politicians who talk on the subject had failed to provide basic facilities like education and health, including maternity homes. “Every village in Sindh depicts the same picture. Politicians imprison women. This shows how sincere they are to promote women’s rights,” she said.

According to Parmar, no political party had fielded a woman on a general seat in Thar’s history because these parties knew that women were honest and they would oppose malpractices.

Without naming ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who completed two consecutive terms in power, the activist said, “Through this video I want to say that during the last decade, you have insulted Thar’s women in the name of schemes to distribute wheat bags, sewing machines and Benzair Income Support Programme cards. On the one hand, you imprison women; while on other hand, you make them suffer hardships for just one wheat bag,” she stated.

Sunita added that she doesn’t have enmity with any political party, and her struggle was just for women’s rights.

“I don’t have enmity with anyone. It is the 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 announced.

Sunita said that while national and international media had focused on deaths of children in Thar due to malnutrition, they failed to pay attention to the crisis of maternal health.

Published in Daily Times, June 7^th 2018.