Back الهندوسية في باكستان Arabic الهندوسيين فى باكستان ARZ পাকিস্তানে হিন্দুধর্ম Bengali/Bangla Hindouisme au Pakistan French પાકિસ્તાનમાં હિંદુ ધર્મ Gujarati पाकिस्तान में हिन्दू धर्म Hindi Hinduisme di Pakistan ID Induismo in Pakistan Italian പാകിസ്താനിലെ ഹിന്ദുമതം Malayalam पाकिस्तानमधील हिंदू धर्म Marathi

Hinduism in Pakistan

Pakistani Hindus
پاکستانی ہندو
Hawan at Shri Hinglaj Mata temple during Hinglaj Yatra in Balochistan
Total population
Increase 5.2 million (2023 census)
Increase (2.17%) of Pakistan's population)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Sindh(4,901,107) (8.8%)
Punjab(249,716) (0.2%)
Balochistan(59,107) (0.41%)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(6,104) (0.02%)
Religions
Hinduism of all sects
Scriptures
Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayana, and Bhagavad Gita
Languages
Sanskrit (holy)[2]
Sindhi (majority), Punjabi, Marwari, Baluchi, Urdu, Gujarati and others, (including Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Tamil, and Vaghri)
Hinduism by country
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Caribbean
Oceania
South America
Full list

Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam.[3] Though Hinduism was one of the dominant faiths in the region a few centuries ago,[4][5][6] Hindus accounted for just 2.17% of Pakistan's population (approx 5.2 million people) according to the 2023 Pakistani census.[7] With the largest population in eastern Sindh, Umerkot district has the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 54.6%, while Tharparkar district has the most Hindus in absolute numbers at 811,507.[8][9] Hindus are also found in urban Punjab and in areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Prior to the partition of India, according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in West Pakistan (which is now Pakistan)[a] and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).[10][11][12] After Pakistan gained independence from the British Raj, 4.7 million of West Pakistan's Hindus and Sikhs moved to India as refugees.[13] And in the first census afterward (1951), Hindus made up 1.6% of the total population of West Pakistan, and 22% of East Pakistan.[14][15]

Hindus in Pakistan are primarily concentrated in Sindh, where the majority of Hindu enclaves are found.[16] They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Vaghri,[17] and Gujarati.[18] Many Hindus, especially in the rural areas, follow the teachings of local Sufi pīrs (Urdu: spiritual guide) or adhere to the 14th-century saint Ramdevji, whose main temple Shri Ramdev Pir temple is located in Tando Allahyar. A growing number of urban Hindu youth in Pakistan associate themselves with ISKCON society.[19] Other communities worship manifold "Mother Goddesses" as their clan or family patrons.[24] A different branch, the Nanakpanth, follows the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, also known as the holy book of the Sikhs. This diversity, especially in rural Sindh, often thwarts classical definitions between Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.[25] Despite being a predominantly Muslim nation, Pakistan's Sindh province boasts a remarkable Hindu heritage and cultural legacy. However, discrimination is increasingly prevalent throughout Pakistan, including in Sindh. Nevertheless, the profound Hindu influence continues to shape the landscape and identity of Sindh.[26]

Though the Constitution of Pakistan provides equal rights to all citizens and is not supposed to discriminate between anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion, Islam remains the state religion, often meaning Muslims are afforded more privileges than Hindus or other religious minorities.[27] There have been numerous cases of violence and discrimination against Hindus, along with other minorities.[28] There have also been cases of violence and ill-treatment of Hindus, due to strict blasphemy laws.[29]

One of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Pakistan is the shrine of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan.[30][31] The annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.[32]

  1. ^ "Religious Demographics of Pakistan 2023" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  2. ^ Khan, Nyla Ali (2013). The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-92304-4. Prior to the partition of India in 1947 into two separate nation-states, a group of Western-educated Indian Muslims who constituted the Muslim League, the pivotal Muslim political organization in undivided India, ardently advocated the logical of creating a separate homeland for Indian Muslims. There were also debates between the Sanskrit believers Hindus and Arabic believers Muslims.
  3. ^ "Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  4. ^ Maclean, Derryl N. (1989). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. Brill. p. 52. ISBN 90-04-08551-3.
  5. ^ Stubbs, John H.; Thomson, Robert G. (10 November 2016). Architectural Conservation in Asia: National Experiences and Practice. Taylor & Francis. p. 427. ISBN 978-1-317-40619-8. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022. Perhaps best known as home to Asia's earliest cities, the Harappan sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, Pakistan's rich history includes contributions from prominent Buddhist, Hindu, Hellenistic, Jain and Zoroastrian civilizations, as well as those connected to its Islamic heritage.
  6. ^ Malik, Iftikhar Haider (2006). Culture and Customs of Pakistan. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-313-33126-8. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Population Census 2023". Pakistan Hindu Council. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ "Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi's offer of citizenship". Gulf News. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Mithi: Where a Hindu fasts and a Muslim does not slaughter cows". 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  10. ^ Ranganathan, Anand (9 January 2015). "The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  11. ^ The Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in Geography. Bobbs-Merrill Company.
  12. ^ Hill, Kenneth H.; Seltzer, William; Leaning, Jennifer; Malik, Saira J.; Russell, Sharon Stanton; Makinson, C (2004). A Demographic Case Study of Forced Migration: The 1947 Partition of India (Report). Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
    Session 44: Understanding the Forced Migration of Trafficked Persons and Refugees. Population Association of America 2004 Annual Meeting Program (Report). Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  13. ^ Hasan, Arif; Raza, Mansoor (2009). Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan. IIED. p. 12. ISBN 9781843697343. When the British Indian Empire was partitioned in 1847, 4.7 million Sikhs and Hindus left what is today Pakistan for India, and 6.5 million Muslims left India and moved to Pakistan.
  14. ^ Chakraborty, Chandrima (2 October 2017). Mapping South Asian Masculinities: Men and Political Crises. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-49462-1. Most of the Hindu population was in East Pakistan, where they constituted 22% of the population in 1951 and 18.4% in 1961. In West Pakistan, they represented only 1.6% (1951 and 1961) of the population.
  15. ^ Humayun, Syed (1995). Sheikh Mujib's 6-point Formula: An Analytical Study of the Breakup of Pakistan. Royal Book Company. ISBN 978-969-407-176-3. Interestingly, Hindus, who were the single largest minority, constituted 22% of East Wing population and only 1.6% of West Pakistan
  16. ^ Ali, Naziha Syed (17 August 2017). "The truth about forced conversions in Thar". Dawn. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Pakistan". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  18. ^ Rehman, Zia Ur (18 August 2015). "With a handful of subbers, two newspapers barely keeping Gujarati alive in Karachi". The News International. Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2017. In Pakistan, the majority of Gujarati-speaking communities are in Karachi including Dawoodi Bohras, Ismaili Khojas, Memons, Kathiawaris, Katchhis, Parsis (Zoroastrians) and Hindus, said Gul Hasan Kalmati, a researcher who authored Karachi, Sindh Jee Marvi, a book discussing the city and its indigenous communities. Although there are no official statistics available, community leaders claim that there are three million Gujarati-speakers in Karachi – roughly around 15 percent of the city's entire population.
  19. ^ Latief, Samiya (18 July 2020). "Explained: Pakistan's Krishna Temple and the controversy over its construction". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  20. ^ Avari 2013, pp. 219–220
  21. ^ Abbasi, Muhammad Yusuf (1992). Pakistani Culture. Oxford University: HarperCollins. pp. 16. ISBN 9-789-694-15023-9. OCLC 218233296.
  22. ^ Ispahani 2017, pp. 56–61
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference gulfnews was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ [20][21][22][23]
  25. ^ Taking its name from Pakistan, an acronym composed of the key letters of its constituent regions-Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan-Pakistan at first welcomed all of its new citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Non-Muslims comprised 23 percent of the total population, and non-Sunnis comprised a quarter of the Muslim population. (Ispahani 2017, p. 1)
  26. ^ "In Pakistan, Hindu culture perseveres despite discrimination". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  27. ^ "Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan". BBC News. 2 March 2007. Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  28. ^ Rehman, Javaid (13 April 2000). The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Minority Rights. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-90-411-1350-4.
  29. ^ Haq, Farhat (10 May 2019). Sharia and the State in Pakistan: Blasphemy Politics. Routledge. pp. 124–136. ISBN 978-0-429-61999-1.
  30. ^ Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi: identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 66. ISBN 9780190850555. OCLC 1008771979. The worship of the Hinglaj Mata in Balochistan has been one of the most important tourist and religious pilgrimage for the Hindus of Pakistan and the trends has place in history from Medieval India. The origin of the pilgrimage was practised under the rule of Rajput king, Rao Shekha.
  31. ^ OnBecoming Gods. Pakistan: Being in the World Productions. 2011. Event occurs at 44 min. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2018 – via YouTube.
  32. ^ "In a Muslim-majority country, a Hindu goddess lives on". Culture & History. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 1 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.


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