ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first Hindu female judge Suman Kumari Bodani said it was an honor for her to inspire women from the country’s tiny Hindu minority.
Hindus in Pakistan are now estimated to number around 4 million out of a population estimated at nearly 208 million.
“It is the biggest honor for me to become a role model for families in my community,” Bodani told Arab News in a phone interview. “Especially for those families and those girls who do not permit their girls to go further in education.”
Bodani is also the first female advocate from Shahdadkot City, a densely populated city in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province. She grew up in Hyderabad, and eventually moved to the port city of Karachi to study law.
While working at Rasheed A. Razvi Law Firm, Bodani completed her Masters of Law from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Law University in Karachi, where she passed with distinction and came third in her class.
“Since childhood I wanted to be an advocate and part of the judiciary,” Bodani said. “This field is highly respectable and full of honor, where everyone can come to get justice.”
When asked what she hopes to do during her tenure, Bodani said that she wanted to work to improve girls’ education, particularly to raise awareness about its importance. given that she was herself an example of the potential women could achieve if they were allowed to pursue their dreams and get an education.
“My family and friends supported me which is how I reached this position and I am so grateful for that support,” Bodani said. “I want to give a message to families who do not support girls education that they should encourage girls to pursue higher education and create their own success, so that they can serve their country as I want to serve my country.”
The first Hindu judge in Pakistan was late Justice Rana Bhagwandas, who also briefly served as Chief Justice of Pakistan.
'Honored to be role model for Hindu community,' says Justice Bodani
'Honored to be role model for Hindu community,' says Justice Bodani
- Justice Sumon Bodani aspires to raise awareness about girls’ education
- Is the first woman advocate from Shahdadkot City in Sindh province
Blast kills six policemen in northwest Pakistan amid Afghanistan operation
- The explosion targeted a police vehicle in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- It comes after Pakistan’s overnight ‘precision strikes’ against militant hideouts in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: At least six policemen were killed in an explosion in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the interior ministry said on Friday, amid Pakistan’s continuing strikes against alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan.
The explosion took place in the Lakki Marwat district near a police vehicle following an attempted drone strike by Afghan Taliban forces in Kohat, according to Pakistani officials.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militant attacks in KP, which borders Afghanistan, by the Pakistani Taliban, who have mounted assaults since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
“The brave soldiers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police sacrificed their lives today for the nation’s peaceful tomorrow,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, lauding police personnel in the restive region.
In a statement issued from his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in Lakki Marwat and extended his prayers and best wishes for the deceased and injured personnel.
“We will never let sacrifices of police personnel and security forces go in vain,” he said. We are determined to completely eradicate terrorism from the country.”
The bomb attack came a day after two suspected militants were killed and four others were arrested during a joint operation conducted by police, counter-terrorism department and pro-government militias in the same district, police said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of failing to rein in militant groups that it says use Afghan soil to plan and launch attacks in Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
Last month, Pakistan conducted air strikes against what it said were Pakistani Taliban and Daesh targets in Afghanistan, provoking the Afghan side to retaliate across their shared border. The two neighbors have since been locked in a conflict.
