W.I.L.D. Woman to Watch: Mayawati Kumari

I am always interested in learning about how other female lawyers have used their law degrees or legal education outside of litigation since litigation is basically all I know.  Politicians often have a legal background.  This Reuters article features someone to watch: Mayawati Kumari, the leader of India’s low-caste Bahujan Samaj party in Uttar Pradesh state.   Mayawati is the first Dalit woman to become the Chief Minister of any of India’s states.

She studied law at the University of Delhi.  I’m sure that her law degree prepared her for many things in life, but administering to a group of Dalits numbering 170 million people is not something anyone can truly be prepared for through classroom education.  No matter how law schools teach the laws and legal theories on equality, discrimination, justice, and the rights of the poor, one can’t really “learn” how to identify with the poor.  Either you do or you don’t, in my opinion.  Clearly, she knows how to give voice to these people although she is not ‘poor’ by any means now.