ISLAMABAD: A woman from Pakistan’s marginalized Hindu minority has been elected to the senate for the first time ever in an election over the weekend in which a Taliban-linked cleric was defeated.
Krishna Kumari, a member of the Pakistan People’s Party, hails from the so-called untouchables, the lowest rung of the caste system that still prevails in Pakistan and neighboring India.
Lawmakers in national and four provincial assemblies on Saturday elected half of the 104-member Senate to six-year terms.
Deposed premier Nawaz Sharif’s party holds a plurality of 33 seats in the upper house of parliament after winning 15 in Saturday’s elections. Former President Asif Zardari’s party came in second, followed by the party led by former cricket star Imran Khan.
Khan’s party supported Maulana Samiul Haq, a mentor to a number of Taliban leaders, but he fell short. Extremist groups in Pakistan have mobilized mass rallies in recent years to protest US policies and support tough anti-blasphemy laws, but have largely failed to translate their clout into electoral victories.
Most of Pakistan’s Hindu population fled to India as part of the population exchange that followed the 1947 partition. Those who remain live on the political and economic margins, and like other minorities they have endured discrimination at the hands of the Muslim majority.
“I feel delighted, this was unthinkable for me to reach the senate,” Kumari told The Associated Press.
Kumari, who was born and raised in a remote district, attributed her success to her parents, who encouraged her to pursue her education and eventually helped her to earn a university degree. She later worked for a non-governmental organization before joining the Pakistan People’s Party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The party nominated her for a seat reserved for minority candidates from the Sindh province, where it holds a majority.
“I will continue to work for the rights of the oppressed people, especially for the empowerment of women, their health and education,” she said.
Kumari, who worked in the fields alongside her parents as a child, will take the oath of office later this month alongside some of the biggest landowners in the country.
Hindu woman elected to Pakistan’s senate in historic first
Hindu woman elected to Pakistan’s senate in historic first
LA 2028 Olympics chief to sell agency over Epstein uproar: reports
WASHINGTON: The embattled chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is selling his talent agency after his name appeared in the recent wave of revelations concerning late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to US media reports.
LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman has faced mounting calls to step down after racy emails he sent Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 emerged in US Justice Department files dropped last month.
In a memo late Friday to the employees of talent agency Wasserman Group, which bears his surname, the entertainment executive reportedly said he would sell the firm but stay on as Olympics chief.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote in the memo published by multiple US media outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about.”
Wasserman, 51, said in the memo that his appearance in the Epstein files had “become a distraction,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
He has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in the scandal.
He said in an apology last month that his exchange with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein, took place before her crimes came to light.
In one email exchange between Wasserman and Maxwell in April 2003, he told her “I miss you” before appearing to ask for a massage.
The LA28 executive committee this week said he should continue in his role following a probe into his appearance in the files.
His talent agency represents a galaxy of stars from across music, sport and entertainment.
But several artists represented by Wasserman’s company, including Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, have announced their departure from the agency since his involvement in the scandal emerged.
Multiple Los Angeles city officials have also called on Wasserman to step aside as head of the 2028 Olympics.
