The woman vowing to change the political landscape in Pakistan

(20 Jul 2018) LEAD IN Pakistan's marginalized Hindu minority has a new political voice. A woman who hails from the so-called untouchables in the still prevailing caste system is standing for election and challenging traditional class hierarchies along the way. STORYLINE 31-year old Sunita Parmar, a Hindu woman in Pakistan's Sindh province, will become the first from the minority community to contest the provincial assembly elections to be held on July 25. Parmar is a member of  the scheduled caste and from the Meghwar community.  Scheduled castes are those lower Hindu castes protected by Pakistani law. She will contest the election as an independent candidate for the Sindh Assembly constituency PS-56 from Tharparkar district – in the Thar Desert. According to the 2017 census, Tharparkar has a population of 1.6 million. Half of those are Hindus, of which the majority – like Parmar belongs to the scheduled castes, at the bottom of the social class system. She is not only the first woman from her caste but also her religion to contest the election, thus challenging centuries-old caste divisions and traditional prejudices. "It has been very difficult and I have had to work very hard. In this, I have been greatly supported by the women of my area. I am doing this to get us out of the clutches of the elite class (system). The middle class people of Thar are tired of voting for these elite lords. It is my heartfelt desire to free us all of the elite class (system) and improve our lives" Parmar explains. Parmar says she was compelled to contest the upcoming polls as previous governments failed to deliver on their promises of making life better for the people of her constituency, especially the women "In rural areas, people face a lot of difficulties during labor. There are no roads so it is very difficult to find transportation. Quite often, women have died in route due to labor complications. There are so many such problems. If I win the election, then I will open a maternity hospital that caters to two to three villages with a competent gynecologist. Schools and education is almost non-existent here. People in Thar are unable to educate their children as there are no schools. Even the girls in villages across Thar (desert) hope to go educated. They want to be like other children but they are unable to due to lack of schools. Even if there is a school, there are no teachers. If I win, my first bill will be on education" she says. Over fifty per cent of its 152,000 registered voters in Thar district belong to the Hindu community the highest in Pakistan, according to local authority data. Parmar heads on the campaign trail with her trademark Matka (traditional water jug made of clay) on her balanced on her head, a powerful symbol of her connection to the lives of the people she wants to represent.   Parmar and her team head to one of the 400 villages that fall within the provincial assembly constituency that she contesting. Resident Malika Bai says that the elite class that her family has regularly voted has failed to deliver on its promises. "We don't have schools. We don't have water. We have to pull out water from well that are hundreds of feet deep and they are also running dry. There is no road that leads to our village. We have nothing." She says she will vote for Parmar who promises to improve standards of education for women and health facilities in her constituency. Parmar's election symbol resonates with my voters in these rural villages. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...