Pakistani politician Krishna Kumari Kohli has been featured on BBC 100 Women 2018 list. The list features 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2018.
The BBC list includes women who are leaders, trailblazers and everyday heroes. Women from over 60 countries from the age of 15 to 94 have been included.
About the Pakistani leader, the lists states, “Krishna was elected to the Pakistan Senate after campaigning for women’s rights, having previously been forced into bonded labour for three years.”
Krishna Kumari the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is also the first-ever senator from a scheduled case.
Born in 1979, Krishna hails from Nagarparkar, a village in Tharparkar where women are to date deprived of basic facilities. She battled hunger and poverty early in her life and was also a victim of bonded labour.
Her family was tied to bonded labour and she had worked on the lands of village landlords.
Despite her hardships, driven by her passion for knowledge, Krishna continued her education at a ‘run-down’ school in her neighbourhood.
“We didn’t have electricity so I used to study under the light of an oil lantern,” she told Geo News in an interview conducted in March.
In what may have been a hindrance to her education, Krishna was married when she was in ninth grade. “Fortunately my husband and in-laws were extremely supportive and encouraged me to continue my education,” she said.
In 2013, Krishna received her master’s degree in sociology from University of Sindh. All the while, she actively worked against bonded labour, sexual harassment at workplaces, and for the rights of women and the people of her village.
