Sindh elections: Against the odds

In the stronghold of the Bhuttos, one Hindu woman hopes to make a difference.

LARKANA/ KARACHI:

Kalpana Devi is used to punching above her weight. In her career as a advocate, she has made a name for herself by fighting the cases of the minority community, and in particular, those of scheduled caste Hindus. When their lands are encroached on by the influential or their girls are forcibly converted, she is the one they turn to.

“These are voiceless people who do not even complain when some cruel person victimises them. Now they are happy because I have stood up for their rights as well.”

Now, she hopes they will reciprocate by offering her not just their moral support, but also their votes, because Kalpana Devi has thrown her hat in the electoral ring.

Kalpana, who lives in Larkana, belongs to a middle class Hindu Family from the Sukkur district. She is contesting for the provincial assembly seat of PS 36 (Larkana) on a PML-Q ticket against 39 candidates. Most of her opponents are political heavyweights who come from a feudal background, like the Speaker Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro of the PPP, Ghinwa Bhutto of PPP (SB) and Dr. Khalid Mehmood Soomro of JUI (F).

“Around 14,000 to 16,000 votes of minorities are registered in Larkana district. Besides this, many civil society organisations are supporting me and many Muslims have also assured me of their full support. I don’t care even if I lose the election, but I do know that my participation will give a sense of protection to minorities, especially the scheduled caste Hindus, who are very happy to see me challenging the arrogant feudals,” she said.

Kalpana Devi belongs to a family which is famous thanks to its left oriented politics and her father in law was none other than comrade Sobho Gianchandani, a noted politician and Marxist philosopher. She herself started her political career by joining the Sindh Democratic Alliance (SDA), which later merged into the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) during the tenure of General (retd) Musharraf. She is currently holding the portfolio of central secretary general minority wing of PML Q and is also chairperson of the Hindu Panchayat of Larkana city.

She was among those PML-Q leaders who did not quit the party, even after the 2008 elections. Irrespective of her affiliation with the PML-Q she was part of the lawyers movement which called for the restoration of the chief justice of Pakistan. “Supporting the chief justice was a very tricky decision, but I did it. When I led a rally in Larkana in favour of the CJ, my own party threatened to take action against me,” she said. Kalpana Devi said that she lost the senate seat because of her stance in favour of restoring democracy and the judiciary. “The party had decided to award me a senate seat from Sindh, but then chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and other senior PML-Q leaders opposed it because of my stand against the party policy,” she said, adding that many other parties including the PPP and MQM had also approached her to join them, but she refused and preferred to stick with the PML Q.

“Many people claim to make history, but history is actually being made by this Hindu woman who has taken stand against dynastic and status quo politics in Sindh,” she said, adding that soon after she started her campaign some local influentials started threatening her to withdraw from the race.  “They feel endangered because of an intra-party rift within two to three PPP groups in Larkana city. They are now approaching me and giving different offers in return for my withdrawal because the minority community, which used to vote for the PPP, has extended its support to me.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2013.