By Muhammad Luqman
Dr. Darshan, a member of National Assembly belonging to ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) has taken oath as state minister as a part of the federal cabinet of Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister , Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
He is the first Hindu minister to become a part of federal cabinet in a period of 25 years.
Dr. Darshan Punshi, 65 years old medical doctor, belongs to upper Sindh district of Ghotki, and has been elected against minorities seat of National Assembly.
Pakistan’s first cabinet headed by Prime Minister Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan had Jogandar Nath Mandal as the law and justice minister. Mandal, a Dalit Hindu by birth, was a close confidant of Pakistan’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Another Hindu federal minister, Rana Chandra Singh , also an MP from Sindh province, remained a federal minister during the tenure of former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.
