First female Sardar
In a remarkable feat, Heer Soho, daughter of former tribal leader Ismail Soho, will become the first female Sardar of a tribe in Sindh. Her appointment comes after a mutual consensus within the Soho community. It will help break the cycle of oppression and set a new tradition in place that can benefit all women within the Soho tribe as well as other tribal communities. Soho has a longstanding political career under her belt as she was first elected as a member of the Sindh Assembly from the MQM in 2002 and joined the PPP in 2018.
Across the country, particularly in tribal communities, women have little agency and face considerable barriers. This has been proven by the high rate of honour killings in Sindh and other parts of the country. Soho’s feat will show women in tribal and rural areas a different path and encourage their families to educate them. With a female chieftain at the helm of affairs, the entire community will be steered towards a more progressive route as people’s concerns will be better heard. Globally, women are found to be more empathetic and score better in most leadership skills compared to men. With her political knack, Soho will navigate and address the community’s bigger problems such as a lack of drinking and agricultural water. And also, focus on the more sensitive issues such as child marriages, honour killings, and improving women’s access to healthcare and education.
Considering that a large proportion of Pakistani women live in rural areas of which many are members of tribal clans, there is an increased likelihood of women being chosen as chieftains in the future. Soho’s position as a tribal Sardar will set a new precedent for women in leadership positions and help promote female representation in Pakistan’s political sphere. Ultimately, this is a monumental step for the empowerment of women and the progress of society at large.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2022.
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