Daily Times

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday rejected nomination papers of AansooKohli, dubbed as Sindh’s Malala, for the upcoming general elections.

According to details, the Returning Officer (RO) Umerkot rejected the nomination papers of AansooKohli on bases of her being underage.

“The candidate is 23-years and nine-months-old while minimum age for applying for MNA seat is 25 years,” RO officer remarked.

Upon rejection of her papers, Aansoo said that she was disappointed but she vowed to continue her mission. “Although I am sad, but never mind, I will contest in next elections. Also, I would continue my struggle for the better future of children in my area,” she told Daily Times.

The 23-year-old had filed her nomination papers to contest general elections on Tharparkar’s constituency NA-220 as an independent candidate.

Aansoo, a physically impaired girl, rose to fame in 2014 when she converted her cattle pen into a school for children in her area. Her students are mostly from the underprivileged Kohli community.

Aansoo soon became a symbol of pride when she offered education to boys and girls, even those who were physically and mentally impaired despite the fact that she had no formal training in teaching special children.

The school is established in Mina JiDhani village, located around 27 kilometers from the Umerkot city. Aansoo started with eight students but the number of students has increased to over 300 now.

On her contributions, the then Sindh Assembly dubbed Aansoo as ‘Sindh’s Malala’ – after youngest Nobel Prize laureate MalalaYousafzai’s advocacy for education.

Published in Daily Times, June 13^th 2018.