Islamabad: In the recently held general elections, NA-222 Tharparkar II has claimed a record of having a Hindu candidate elected to the National Assembly against all odds, for the first time in the country’s history since the introduction of the Joint Electorate back in 2002.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani secured 106,630 votes against Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) candidate and brother of former Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Arbab Zakaullah, who could bag a little more than 80,000 votes.

PPP is the only party that awarded three tickets to Hindu candidates on general seats in the 2018 elections and interestingly, all three of them won. Dr Mahesh Malani won from NA-222 on the National Assembly seat while from PS-81 Jamshoro, Gyanchand Esrani defeated independent candidate Malik Changez Khan by securing over 34,000 votes. Malik got 29,400 votes. Less than 3,000 Hindu votes are registered in this constituency and noteworthy is the fact that it was Muslim voters who reposed confidence in Gyanchand against a Muslim candidate.

The third seat where again a Hindu candidate defeated MQM’s Muslim candidate is PS-47 Mirpur Khas. MQM claims this urban constituency seat as its own, but PPP candidate Hari Ram won securing 33,644 votes against MQM’s Mujeebul Haq (23,700 votes).

Women’s vote

NA-222 has also emerged as the only constituency in the country’s electoral landscape with the highest recorded turnout of female voters, i.e. 70.91 per cent.

Despite poor development, lack of infrastructure and backwardness in the area, Thari women have shown how enlightened they are with regard to their constitutional right as voters, turning out in large numbers on election day. Again, NA-221 Tharparkar I came second with the highest percentage of women voters in the general elections, at 68.70 per cent.

According to election commission officials, this is a record percentage of female voters in any constituency of Pakistan.

For Kapil Dev, an Islamabad-based young Pakistani Hindu from Tharparkar, who has been raising voice for minority rights, this is unprecedented in the history of the country. Such a large number of women participating in the election from Tharparkar and Hindu candidates defeating Muslims in general elections — all this shows that Sindhi women and Sindhi voters are more progressive than those in the rest of the country.

“Credit also goes to Pakistan People’s Party, particularly its young chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who took the risk and fielded non-Muslims against Muslims,” said Kapil.

Only PPP could do this, he said, adding that no non-Muslim candidate was given a ticket by PML-N or PTI in Punjab or KP on general seats, despite the fact that a large number of Christians live in Yuhanna Abad Lahore and also in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. This is also a wake-up call for those who exploit the religious sentiments of voters, said Kapil. Voters today elect their representatives on the basis of their performance, not for their religion or faith.

As a non-Muslim, what does Dev expect from the upcoming PTI government? If Imran Khan really wanted to take Pakistan forward in line with its founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision, he should remove the constitutional bar on non-Muslims from becoming the president or prime minister of Pakistan, Dev said.