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Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Pakistan has five major ethno-regional communities in Pakistan: Baloch, Muhajir, Punjabis, Pushtuns and Sindhis, as well as several smaller groups. There are also religious and sectarian groups such as Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, Kalasha, Parsis and Sikhs, and Shia Muslim sects including Ismailis and Bohras.[1]

According to the 1941 census of India, there were 5.9 million non-Muslims in the territories that came to form Pakistan in 1947 (West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). During and after Pakistan's independence in 1947, about 5 million Hindus and Sikhs emigrated to India, with Punjab alone accounting for migration of 3.9 million people.[2] According to the 1951 census conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population.[3] In East Pakistan (Bangladesh), non-Muslims comprised 23.2% of the total population.[4][5]

By 1997, the percentage of Hindus remained stable at 1.85% in Pakistan,[6] while Bangladesh has witnessed a decline with Hindus migrating from it because of insecurity due to fear of persecution, conflict, communal violence (as a result of newly created Bangladesh's assertion of its Muslim identity) and poverty.[7][8] The percentage of Hindus in Bangladesh had fallen drastically to 9.2% by 2011, with non-Muslims accounting for 10.2% of the total population.[9] due to disproportionate birth rates between the two communities. The demolition of the Hindu temple site serves as a poignant illustration of the ongoing discrimination endured by the Hindu community in Pakistan.[10] In Pakistan, religious minorities, women, and transgender individuals remain subject to violence, discrimination, and persecution. Authorities frequently fall short in providing sufficient protection and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.[11]

Much of the decrease in minority populations in Pakistan has occurred due to the events surrounding Partition, and the wars of 1965 and 1971.[12] Forced conversions and marriages occur largely in rural and backward areas in Pakistan. November 2019, Pakistan formed parliamentary committee to stop the act of forced conversion in the country.[13] However, according to "[t]he All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (APHP)...[the] majority of cases of marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men were result of love affairs. It said due to honour, the family members of women concoct stories of abduction and forced conversions".[14]

Pakistan, from its very first day, used Islam as a state policy. This is evident in the decline in the numbers of minorities. Moreover, Pakistan's first law minister, Jogendar Nath Mandal, clearly stated in his resignation from the cabinet of Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan.

"I gave expression to this view of mine. I must say that this policy of driving out Hindus from Pakistan has succeeded completely in West Pakistan and is nearing completion in East Pakistan too."[15]

According to the Western religious freedom and human rights monitoring group Global Human Rights Defence,[16][17] the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the United States Department of State, religious minorities face severe discrimination in Pakistan.[18][19][20][21]

However in recent years, Pakistan has seen development in safeguarding the rights of the minorities. For instance in 2019, Supreme Court of Pakistan gave verdict that Christians would be able to register their marriages with an official marriage certificate.[22] In another case, Pakistan opened the Kartarpur Corridor, allowing Sikh pilgrims from around the world to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, one of the holiest shrines in Sikhism, as a goodwill gesture towards minorities.[23] Similarly, a judge in Pakistan nullified the "free-will" marriage of a Hindu girl, Mehik Kumari, and confirmed that she was underage when she "embraced" Islam and married a Muslim man. Activists had argued that Kumari was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.[24]

Since these events, Pakistan has given over 1 million non-Muslims the right to vote. The number rose to 4.43 million from 3.63 million since 2018.[25]

Despite new allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings emerging, the government of Pakistan has not taken adequate measures to hold law enforcement agencies accountable for these serious abuses. Additionally, Islamist militants have carried out attacks targeting law enforcement officials and religious minorities, resulting in the loss of dozens of lives.[26]

Pakistan's blasphemy laws illustrate one of the most extreme instances of this issue: Since 1990, over 62 individuals have fallen victim to vigilante violence linked to blasphemy accusations. The repercussions of this legal and political marginalization are acutely felt by religious minority groups, impacting their daily lives significantly.[27][28]

  1. ^ REPORT: Religious Minorities in Pakistan (by Dr Iftikhar H. Malik). Accessed 31 January 2024.
  2. ^ Kosinski, Leszek A.; Elahi, K. Maudood, eds. (2012). Population Redistribution and Development in South Asia. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 136. ISBN 9780706908374.
  3. ^ D'Costa, Bina (2011). Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-56566-0.
  4. ^ Rawat, Mukesh (12 December 2019). "No, Pakistan's non-Muslim population didn't decline". India Today. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. ^ Kabir, Muhammad Ghulam (1980). Minority Politics in Bangladesh. Vikas. p. 2. ISBN 9780706908374.
  6. ^ Population by Religion, Census of Pakistan Archived 2010-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference D'Costa2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Ganguly-Scrase, Ruchira; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (2016), Rethinking Displacement: Asia Pacific Perspectives, Routledge, pp. 100–, ISBN 978-0-415-56566-0
  9. ^ "Census of Bangladesh". Banbeis.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Hindu Countries 2023". worldpopulationreview.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  11. ^ Human Rights Watch (21 December 2020), "Pakistan: Events of 2020", English, retrieved 28 July 2023
  12. ^ "Cleansing Pakistan of Minorities" (PDF). Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference thehindu was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Rana, Yudhvir (30 January 2020). "Most marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men result of love affairs, not abduction, says All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Jogendra Nath Mandal's Resignation letter To PM Liaqat Ali Khan". fruit-chat.com. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Open Complaint Letter to the UN Human Rights Council: Subject: Forced conversion of underage girls from minority communities in Pakistan". Global Human Rights Defence. 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  17. ^ "GHRD Written Submission to UN Human Rights Council – 41st Regular Session". Global Human Rights Defence. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  18. ^ GHRD Human Rights Report 2019 (PDF) (Report). Global Human Rights Defence. 7 March 2019. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2022.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ Sen, Ashish Kumar (30 April 2013). "Pakistan tops worst list for religious freedom". The Washington Times. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  20. ^ "US report speaks of 'crisis for minorities'". Dawn. AFP. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. A US government-appointed panel urged Washington on Tuesday to step up pressure on Pakistan over religious freedom, alleging that risks to its minorities have reached a crisis level.
  21. ^ "Deeply concerned over reports of human rights abuses, religious discrimination in Pakistan, says US". Business Today (India). 22 October 2019.
  22. ^ "Supreme Court orders registration of Christian marriages". Samaa TV. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Goodwill gesture, Pakistan opens corridor to Sikh shrine for Indian pilgrims". The Washington Post. 9 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Pakistan court nullifies converted minor Hindu girl Mehak Kumari's marriage - OrissaPOST". Pakistan Court nullifies converted minor Hindu girl Mehak Kumari's marriage. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  25. ^ Khan, Iftikhar A. (20 December 2022). "Pakistan enrols one million non-Muslim voters in four years". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  26. ^ Human Rights Watch (21 December 2020), Pakistan: Events of 2020, retrieved 31 July 2023
  27. ^ Munshey, Menaal; Zahid, Haya. "Inequality and Discrimination faced by Religious Minorities in Pakistan | OHRH". Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  28. ^ "Religious minorities do not feel safe in Pakistan". DNA India. Retrieved 31 July 2023.

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