Hindu Dalit woman chairs Pak Senate session on Women's Day
Pakistan's first female senator from Hindu Dalit community
Islamabad, Mar 8: Krishna Kumari Kohli, Pakistan's first female senator from the Hindu Dalit community, on Friday chaired the session of the Upper House of Parliament on occasion of International Women's Day.
"Chairman Senate of Pakistan decided to make our colleague Krishna Kumari Kohli aka Kishoo Bai to Chair the Senate for today on Women's Day," Senator Faisal Javed tweeted.
Krishna, 40, was elected as senator in March 2018 after spending many years working for the rights of bonded labourers in Muslim-majority Pakistan. She is the first Thari Hindu woman to be elected to the Pakistan senate.
She belongs to the Kohli community from the remote village of Dhana Gam in Nagarparkar area of Sindh province where a sizeable number of Hindus live.
"I consider myself very fortunate today to be sitting on this seat...," she said before starting the session.
International Women's Day is observed across the world on March 8.
Born to a poor peasant, Jugnu Kohli, in February 1979, Krishna and her family members spent nearly three years in a private jail owned by the landlord of Kunri of Umerkot district.
She was a grade 3 student at the time when held captive. She was married to Lalchand at the age of 16, when she was studying in 9th grade.
She pursued her studies and in 2013 she did masters in sociology from the Sindh University. She had joined the Pakistan Peoples Party as a social activist along with her brother, who was later elected as Chairman of Union Council Berano.
Krishna's election to Senate represented a major milestone for women and minority rights in Pakistan.
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French President Macron concludes Mumbai visit
Mumbai (PTI): French President Emmanuel Macron, along with First Lady Brigitte Macron, left Mumbai for New Delhi on Wednesday after concluding his engagements here, including bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
They were seen off at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.
On Tuesday, Macron held discussions with Modi as part of efforts to further strengthen India-France strategic ties.
During the Mumbai visit, the French president and his wife also met some of India's top filmmakers and actors, and had an animated exchange with them about cinema, culture and collaboration.
President Macron is on an official visit to India from February 17 to 19 at the invitation of PM Modi to participate in the AI Impact Summit hosted by India in the national capital Delhi, besides the bilateral summit in Mumbai.
PM Modi will inaugurate the summit on February 19. As many as 20 heads of states, including French President Macron, will be present at the inaugural session, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said.
