In a first for the Hindu community in Pakistan’s Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr. Saveera Parkash has submitted her nomination papers for a general seat in the country’s upcoming general elections. Prakash filed for nomination on 23rd December.
Saveera Parkash hopes to run for office on the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ticket. Her father, retired doctor Oam Parkash, had been an active member of the party for the past 35 years.
Parkash was the first woman from Buner to file nomination papers for the upcoming general seat elections, according to Saleem Khan, a local politician affiliated with the Qaumi Watan Party. Saveera Parkash, a 2022 graduate of Abbottabad International Medical College, is the general secretary of the PPP women’s wing in Buner.
Parkash stated that she wished to follow in her father’s footsteps by working for the poor in the area.
She emphasised her commitment to working for the region’s women’s well-being, ensuring a safe environment, and advocating for their rights. “Women,” Saveera Prakash asserts, “have been oppressed and overlooked, particularly in the field of development.”
Concerning her party’s endorsement for candidature, Prakash expressed optimism, citing “senior leadership” approaching her father to allow her to run for the general seat. She claimed that her desire to “serve humanity” was innate, shaped by firsthand experiences of mismanagement and helplessness in government hospitals during her career as a doctor.
Imran Noshad Khan, a Buner-based social media influencer, expressed his unequivocal support for the candidate, regardless of her political affiliation. He emphasised that Saveera Prakash was challenging traditional patriarchal stereotypes and noted the importance of acknowledging that it had taken 55 years since Buner merged with Pakistan for a woman to step forward and contest elections.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has recently amended its rules to require the inclusion of 5% of women candidates in general elections. On 8th February 2024, general elections will be held in Pakistan to elect members of the 16th National Assembly. The Election Commission of Pakistan released the detailed schedule on 15th December. The Pakistan Muslim League (N), led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, are the two major parties contesting for the elections.
