KARACHI:
Archrivals Sardar Khan Chandio and Nadir Magsi were eyeing all the seats in their stronghold Shahdadkot district but it was a minority community member who stole their thunder.
Anil Kumar Gurnani, an independent candidate belonging to the Hindu community, won one of the 13 general seats for Shahdadkot Municipal Committee, defeating Pakistan Peoples Party’s Abdul Hanan Shaikh.
The winner, who owns a private school in Kambar that provides free education to all, is determined to work for the city by opening a library that can promote the culture of learning.
The entire Hindu community of the area was united in ensuring Gurnani’s victory. “Since the Hindu community has no social and political support in the area, I decided to vote for a Hindu candidate,” said Ishwar Lal Nagdev, one of Gurnani’s voters. “The unity of the Hindu community resulted in a victory on the general seat.”
Apart from Gurnani, several Hindus have managed to mobilise support for the local government (LG) elections in upper Sindh and won general seats. Lawyer Pawan Jiwani, an independent candidate, secured the highest votes on a general seat of the Kandhkot Municipal Committee’s ward number 7 from Kashmore district.
Jiwani, the only Hindu candidate from his ward, secured 557 votes while his main opponent, Dr Muhammad Ali Dayo, an independent candidate, could only secure 502 votes. “I could not have won the seat had the Muslims of the area not supported me,” claimed Jiwani.
He explained how he approached every single Muslim and Hindu voter in his constituency. “I did not face any hate incidents during the entire election campaign,” he pointed out. “LG elections opened an avenue for the minorities to contest grassroots-level elections and help build their neighbourhoods.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Vijay Kumar Samnani, who won a general seat of the Gambat Municipal Committee, ward number 12, from Khairpur district. Samnani was, however, contesting on Pakistan Muslim League – Functional’s ticket. He shared how the odds were not in his favour as he only had the support of the younger generation while the Hindu Panchayat and the mukhi of the area were supporting his opponent.
Samnani wants to build a community hall for Hindus in the area. As soon as he assumes office, he will start repairing the temples in his constituency. But he wants to please his Muslim supporters as well. “Muslims are like my brothers and I will try my level best to come up to their expectations as well,” he said.
Minority vs minority
In Kandhkot, two members of the Hindu community faced each other for a general seat in ward number 8. Kandhkot Panchayat Panel’s Santosh Kumar defeated PPP’s minority wing general secretary Dr Meharchand.
Kumar’s victory was made possible by a group of Muslim voters. Asif Jamali, a Muslim voter, said he chose a Hindu candidate as the Muslim ones were not credible. “Religion is not a criterion for voting in our area,” he said. “Every community member is free to vote for anyone.”
Meanwhile, Hindu members have secured seats in other parts of upper Sindh as well. In Ghotki district, two Hindus have won general seats. In Jacobabad district, two PPP ticket-holders, Devanand and Harpal Das Chabria, have won general seats of the municipal committees. Ramesh Lal won in Nasirabad. However, no minority candidate was able to win in Sukkur, Shikarpur and Larkana districts, according to the relevant district returning officers.
Fuente: http://tribune.com.pk/story/985267/devolution-of-power-in-chandio-magsi-...
