First female Dalit senator elected

Pakistan elected its first female senator from the lowest Dalit caste in weekend polls which also saw the ruling party strengthen its hand ahead of a general election in the Muslim-majority country.The surprise victory of opposition candidate Krishna Kumari Kohli in the Senate election stirred a wave of optimism on social media, as Pakistanis celebrated the rare success for a woman from a marginalised community at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy.“I feel proud, I am thankful to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that they nominated me,” the victorious candidate said yesterday.“Kudos to PPP for electing #KrishnaKohli ... our parliament should have representatives of all religions, classes & genders in pursuit of true democracy,” tweeted rights activist Jibran Nasir.Pakistan’s Hindus make up around 2% of the country’s 200mn people.Members of parliament and of provincial assemblies voted on Saturday to fill half the seats in the Senate, or upper house, before elections due this summer for the lower house of parliament.