Minorities in Pakistan

Pakistan has various religious minorities. According to the 1941 census of India, there were 5.9 million non-Muslims in the provinces that today form Pakistan. During and after Pakistan's independence in 1947, about 5 million Hindus and Sikhs emigrated, with Punjab alone accounting for migration of 3.9 million.[1] Farahnaz Ispahani states that 23% of Pakistan's population, including Bangladesh, was non-Muslim minorities in 1947. Since the Partition of India, it has fallen to approximately 3%.[2] In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 22.05%.[3] By 1997, the percentage of Hindus remained stable at 1.6% in Pakistan,[4] while Bangladesh has witnessed a decline with Hindus migrating from it because of insecurity due to fear of persecution, conflict, communal violence and poverty.[3][5] The percentage of Hindus in Bangladesh had dropped to 9.7% by 2011, with non-Muslims accounting for 10.2% of the population.[6]

Currently minorities make up 4% of the Pakistani population.[7]

According to Western religious freedom and human rights monitoring groups, religious minorities face severe discrimination in Pakistan.[8][9][10]

Religious minorities

Demographics

According to the Government of Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), in 2012, the population of registered religious minorities in Pakistan was as follows:[11]

  • Hindus: 1,414,527
  • Christians: 1,270,051
  • Ahmedis: 125,681
  • Baha'is: 33,734
  • Sikhs: 6,146
  • Parsis: 4,020
  • Buddhists: 1,492
  • Others: 66,898

According to the most recent (1998) census conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Hindus make up 1.20% of the population and Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) 1.9%, or around 2.3 million people.[12] Other estimates put the numbers higher. Historically, there was also a small contingent of Jews in Pakistan who emigrated to Israel in 1948.

The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2002 estimates the Shi'a population between 10-12%,[13] among which around 900,000 are Ismailis which is a sect of Shi'i Muslims and who pay tribute to their living spiritual leader, the Aga Khan. It also lists Christians at 2.09 million; Ahmadis at 286,000, Hindus at 1.03 million; Parsis, Buddhists, and Sikhs at 20,000 each; and Baha'is at 30,000.

In a 2011 book, Ishtiaq Ahmed wrote that "Some independent studies, however, suggest that the non-Muslims population of Pakistan is nearly 10 per cent and Hindus, Christians and Ahmadis make up four million each. It is generally noted that while majorities play down minority figures, the minorities inflate them. This is especially true of the Ahmadiyya community. Official statistics return less than half a million for them while the Ahmadis claim to be around ten million."[14]

Discrimination and violence

According to the 2012 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) annual report, "The government of Pakistan continues to engage in and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief."[8][15] The USCIRF has designated Pakistan as "country of particular concern" since 2002.[8][16] The report argues that "The country’s blasphemy laws, used predominantly in Punjab but also nationwide, target members of religious minority communities and dissenting Muslims and this frequently results in imprisonment. The USCIRF is aware of at least 16 individuals on death row and 20 more serving life sentences. The blasphemy law, along with anti-Ahmadi laws that effectively criminalise various practices of their faith, has created a climate of vigilante violence. Hindus have suffered from the climate of violence and hundreds have fled Pakistan for India."[17]

Farahnaz Ispahani who was the media advisor to the President of Pakistan from 2008 to 2012, has blamed the successive Pakistani governments of pursuing a "slow genocide" against minorities to shore up their political base, especially accusing Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of creating a militant group to target them, the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan whose sole job was to harass Shias.[18] A BBC FAQ notes that "Beginning in 1980, a slew of clauses was added to the chapter of religious offences in the Pakistan Penal Code. These clauses can be grouped into two categories - the anti-Ahmadi laws and the blasphemy laws." The BBC notes that three is widespread popular support for these laws in Pakistan, and that two prominent critics of these laws, Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, have been assassinated in 2011. Regarding the blasphemy laws, the BBC observes that: "Hundreds of Christians are among the accused - at least 12 of them were given the death sentence for blaspheming against the Prophet."[19]

The Human Rights Watch noted that the condition of religious minorities deteriorated sharply in 2012, with the government unwilling or unable to provide protection against attacks by extremists or to reign in abuses committed by its own security forces.[10][20] Mass anti-Christian violence recently occurred in the 2009 Gojra riots and in the 2013 Joseph Colony riot and the 2013 Gujranwala riot.[21] Recent anti-Shia violence includes the February 2012 Kohistan Shia Massacre, the August 2012 Mansehra Shia Massacre[22] and the particularly deadly January 2013[23] and February 2013 Quetta bombings.[24] The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan was targeted in the similarly deadly May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore; the New York Times noted on that occasion that "Minority sects like the Ahmadis and the Shiites and have come under increasing pressure as religious extremism has taken hold, fomented by sectarian groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, formerly state-sponsored organizations."[25]

A survey carried out by All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement Pakistan's revealed that out of 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan only around 20 survive today and they remain neglected by the Evacuee Trust Property Board which controls those while the rest had been converted for other uses since 1990.[26] In 1990s nearly 1000 Hindu temples were targeted by the frenzied Islamists for vandalism destruction according to journalist Reema Abbasi.[27] Minorities sometimes have to hide their identity, adopt Muslim names and mannerism to survive and live in fear in areas like Lahore while hundreds of temples have been vandalized or demolished.[27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ L.A. Kosinski, K.M. Elahi (2012). Population Redistribution and Development in South Asia. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 136.
  2. ↑ Farahnaz Ispahani (2017). Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities. Oxford University Press. p. 9.
  3. 1 2 D'Costa, Bina (2011), Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia, Routledge, pp. 100–, ISBN 978-0-415-56566-0
  4. ↑ Census of Pakistan Archived 2010-12-22 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Ganguly-Scrase, Ruchira; Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (2016), Rethinking Displacement: Asia Pacific Perspectives, Routledge, pp. 100–, ISBN 978-0-415-56566-0
  6. ↑ "Census of Bangladesh". Banbeis.gov.bd. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Pakistan Elections: Women Minority Candidates Are Fighting Religion, Hierarchy For Electoral Success". News 18. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 Sen, Ashish Kumar (30 April 2013). "Pakistan tops worst list for religious freedom". The Washington Times. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. 1 2 "Security forces allowing extremists to attack minorities: HRW". Dawn. 2 Feb 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. “The Human Rights Watch has accused the government of having failed to act against abuses committed by security and intelligence agencies which are letting extremist groups to attack religious minorities....Pakistan’s human rights crisis worsened markedly in 2012 with religious minorities bearing the brunt of killings and repression,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, Pakistan Director of Human Rights Watch.
  11. ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/430059/over-35000-buddhists-bahais-call-pakistan-home/
  12. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-06-17. Retrieved 2006-06-17.
  13. ↑ https://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/14026.htm
  14. ↑ Ishtiaq Ahmed (2011). The Politics of Religion in South and Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-136-72703-0.
  15. ↑ http://www.osce.org/odihr/94875
  16. ↑ http://www.uscirf.gov/countries/tier1-countries-of-particular-concern.html
  17. ↑ Amina Jilani (May 10, 2013). [tribune.com.pk/story/546987/of-particular-concern/ "Of particular concern"] Check |url= value (help). The Express Tribune.
  18. ↑ "Slow genocide of minorities in Pakistan: Farahnaz Ispahani Mint". Mint.
  19. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12621225 Q&A: Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws
  20. ↑ https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/01/pakistan-abuses-impunity-erode-rights
  21. ↑ Sonya Rehman (April 5, 2013) Joseph Colony: Attacked and Unprotected, The Diplomat thediplomat.com/the-pulse/2013/04/05/joseph-colony-christian-community-in-lahore-attacked-and-unprotected/2/?all=true
  22. ↑ Pakistan Shias killed in Gilgit sectarian attack www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19280339
  23. ↑ Formidable power of Pakistan's anti-Shia militants www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20983153
  24. ↑ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/10/pakistan-bomb-billiards-hall/1823409/
  25. ↑ Attackers Hit Mosques of Islamic Sect in Pakistan https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/world/asia/29pstan.html?_r=0
  26. ↑ Gishkori, Zahid (25 March 2014). "95% of worship places put to commercial use: Survey". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  27. 1 2 The Hindus of Pakistan, Friday Times, Oct 2014.
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