Religious Minorities in Pakistan

{{see also|Demographics of Pakistan|Religion in Pakistan}}

As per 2017 census, Pakistan has a population of 207,684,000.{{cite web| url = https://www.dawn.com/news/1624375| title = Pakistan's population is 207.68m, shows 2017 census result - Pakistan - DAWN.COM| date = 19 May 2021}}

In 2012, according to the Government of Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), the population of officially registered religious minorities in Pakistan was as follows:{{Cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/430059/over-35000-buddhists-bahais-call-pakistan-home/|title=Over 35,000 Buddhists, Baha'is call Pakistan home |date=2012-09-02|website=The Express Tribune|language=en|access-date=2019-07-30}}

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

According to the 1951 census conducted by the Government of Pakistan, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had 22.05%.{{citation|last=D'Costa|first=Bina|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivzKjY5LncIC&pg=PA100|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-56566-0|pages=100–}}

According to the 1998 census conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Hindus made up 1.85% of the population and Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) 1.59%, or around 3.2million people. 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 estimated the Shi'a population to be between 10 and 15%,{{cite report |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/14026.htm |title=Pakistan, International Religious Freedom Report 2002 |date=7 October 2002 |publisher=United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor}} of which between 550,000 and 600,000 are Ismailis, a sect of Shi'a Muslims and who pay tribute to their living spiritual leader, the Aga Khan.

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 150,000 for them while the Ahmadis claim to be around ten million."{{cite book|author=Ishtiaq Ahmed|title=The Politics of Religion in South and Southeast Asia|year=2011|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-72703-0|page=82}}

Much of the decrease in minorities of Pakistan has occurred due to the events around the partition, the wars of 1965 and 1971. In November 2019, Pakistan formed parliamentary committee to stop the act of forced conversion in the country.{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/pak-forms-parliamentary-committee-to-prevent-forced-conversions-of-minorities/article30060686.ece|title=Pak. forms parliamentary committee to prevent forced conversions of minorities|date=23 November 2019|work=The Hindu}}

In 1995, the Parsis put their number at 2,831.{{cite news |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/464419-two-decades-from-now-pakistan-will-have-no-parsis |title=Two decades from now, Pakistan will have no Parsis |place=Karachi |work=The News International |date=29 April 2018 |first1=Arshad |last1=Yousafzai}}

{{Main|Blasphemy law in Pakistan}}

Pakistan's Blasphemy law stems from section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (6 October 1860) XLV of 1860. It states that whoever "defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."{{Cite web|url=http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/1860/actXLVof1860.html|title=Pakistan Penal Code (Act XLV of 1860)|access-date=3 June 2019}} This law is phrased in vague terms (therefore violating the principle of legality), and is often used to level false accusations at people from religious minorities. Asia Bibi is a notable example of a person against whom such a violation occurred. Victims of these false accusations are often presumed guilty, and can be convicted without substantive evidence.

Independent human rights organisation Global Human Rights Defence receives a number of cases each month from the representatives of victims of the blasphemy law.

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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.osce.org/odihr/94875|title=U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Annual Report 2012 {{!}} OSCE|website=osce.org|access-date=2019-07-30}} The USCIRF has designated Pakistan as "country of particular concern" since 2002.{{Cite web|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/all-countries/countries-of-particular-concern-tier-1|title=Tier 1 Countries of Particular Concern|website=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|language=en|access-date=2019-07-30}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/546987/of-particular-concern/|title=Of particular concern|author=Amina Jilani|date=10 May 2013|publisher=The Express Tribune}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.livemint.com/Politics/F4r3Tmf51k8Sm6DGjPRaEN/Slow-genocide-of-minorities-in-Pakistan-Farahnaz-Ispahani.html|title=Slow genocide of minorities in Pakistan: Farahnaz Ispahani Mint|newspaper=Mint}} 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 there 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."{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12621225 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120152748/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12621225 |archive-date=20 November 2012 |date=20 November 2012|title=Q&A: Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws}}

Mass anti-Christian violence recently occurred in the 2009 Gojra riots and in the 2013 Joseph Colony riot and the 2013 Gujranwala riot.Sonya Rehman (5 April 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 Recent anti-Shia violence includes the February 2012 Kohistan Shia Massacre, the August 2012 Mansehra Shia Massacre{{cite news | title=Pakistan Shias killed in Gilgit sectarian attack | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19280339 | date=16 August 2012 | publisher=BBC | access-date=10 January 2020}} and the particularly deadly January 2013Formidable power of Pakistan's anti-Shia militants www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20983153 and February 2013 Quetta bombings.{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/10/pakistan-bomb-billiards-hall/1823409/ |title=Bombings kill 115 people in Pakistan |work=USA Today |language=en |date=10 January 2013 |first1=Abdul |last1=Sattar |first2=Shirin |last2=Zada |access-date=30 July 2019}} The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan was targeted in the similarly deadly May 2010 attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore.{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/05/2010528923401784.html |title=Lahore tense after mosques' attacks |date=28 May 2010|work=Al Jazeera English |access-date=28 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529163648/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/05/2010528923401784.html |archive-date=29 May 2010 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10181380 |title=Pakistan mosque attacks in Lahore kill scores |date=29 May 2010 |work=BBC News}}

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.{{Cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/686952/95-of-worship-places-put-to-commercial-use-survey/ |title=95% of worship places put to commercial use: Survey |last=Gishkori |first=Zahid |access-date=13 October 2017 |work=The Express Tribune |date=25 March 2014}} However, in November 2019, government of Pakistan started restoring process for 400 Hindu temples in Pakistan. After restoration, the temples will be reopened to Hindus in Pakistan.{{cite news |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan-to-restore-hand-over-400-hindu-temples-1.1573614894498 |title=Pakistan to restore, hand over 400 Hindu temples |work=Gulf News |date=13 November 2019}}

{{Main|Forced conversions in Pakistan}}

{{See also|Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan}}

As of 2013, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that cases of forced conversion are increasing.{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/51826ef842.html|title=Refworld – USCIRF Annual Report 2013 – Countries of Particular Concern: Pakistan|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=Refworld |date=30 April 2013|access-date=May 5, 2015|author-link=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}}{{cite web | url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/03/04/PAK104258.E.pdf | title=Pakistan: Religious conversion, including treatment of converts and forced conversions (2009–2012) | publisher=Government Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada | work=Responses to Information Requests | date= January 14, 2013 | access-date=January 17, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504144820/https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2014/03/04/PAK104258.E.pdf| archive-date=May 4, 2017 |url-status=live}} because over the past few years, laws governing the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan have changed from neutral to explicitly discriminatory.{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Naziha Syed |date=2017-07-17 |title=The truth about forced conversions in Thar |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1345304 |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}} A 2014 report by the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP) says about 1,000 women in Pakistan are forcibly converted to Islam every year (700 Christian and 300 Hindu).{{cite web|title=1,000 Christian, Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam every year in Pakistan: report|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/1000-christian-hindu-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam-every-year-in-pakistan-report/1/353608.html|website=India Today|date=April 8, 2014|access-date=January 19, 2018}}{{cite web|last1=Anwar|first1=Iqbal|title=1,000 minority girls forced in marriage every year: report|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1098452|website=Dawn|access-date=25 July 2014|date=2014-04-08}}{{cite news |title=India ruling party chief urges law against religious conversions |url=http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/World/251054-India-ruling-party-chief-urges-law-against-religio |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203230225/http://dunyanews.tv/en/World/251054-India-ruling-party-chief-urges-law-against-religio |archive-date=3 December 2019 |url-status=dead |website=Dunya News |date=20 December 2014|access-date=13 September 2022 |location=New Delhi}} However, an opposing view also exists and was recently documented in an interview published in The Times of India; "[t]he All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (APHP)...[says 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".{{cite news |first1=Yudhvir |last1=Rana |date=30 January 2020 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/amritsar/most-marriages-between-hindu-women-and-muslim-men-result-of-love-affairs-not-abduction/articleshow/73747515.cms |title=Most marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men result of love affairs, not abduction, says All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat |work=The Times of India |access-date=3 March 2020}}

Sikhs in Hangu district stated they were being pressured to convert to Islam by Yaqoob Khan, the assistant commissioner of Tall Tehsil, in December 2017. However, the Deputy Commissioner of Hangu Shahid Mehmood denied it occurred and claimed that Sikhs were offended during a conversation with Yaqub though it wasn't intentional.{{cite web|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1585150/1-sikh-community-hangu-forced-convert/|title=Sikh community in Hangu 'being forced to convert' |date=16 December 2017|publisher=The Express Tribune|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/sikhs-in-pakistan-complain-of-pressure-to-convert/story-945AGLoXUjfEam6dZo2KBJ.html|title=Sikhs in Pakistan complain of pressure to convert|date=16 December 2017|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rabwah.net/sikhs-told-convert-islam-pakistani-official/|title=Sikhs told to 'convert to Islam' by Pakistani official|website=Rabwah Times|date=December 16, 2017|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-sikh-minority-forced-conversion/4177063.html|title=Authorities Investigate Cases of Forced Conversion of Sikh Minority in Pakistan|first=Madeeha|last=Anwar|publisher=Voice of America|work= Extremism Watch Desk|date=December 23, 2017|access-date=16 January 2018}}

Many Hindu girls living in Pakistan are kidnapped, forcibly converted and married to Muslims.[https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/08/forced-conversions-torment-pakistan-hindus-201481795524630505.html Forced conversions torment Pakistan's Hindus | India | Al Jazeera] According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) around 1000 Christian and Hindu minority women are converted to Islam and then forcibly married off to their abductors or rapists. This practice is being reported increasingly in the districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas in Sindh.[https://dailytimes.com.pk/116289/forced-conversions-of-pakistani-hindu-girls/ Forced conversions of Pakistani Hindu girls - Daily Times] According to another report from the Movement for Solidarity and Peace, about 1,000 non-Muslim girls are converted to Islam each year in Pakistan.{{Cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/pakistan/story/1000-christian-hindu-girls-forced-to-convert-to-islam-every-year-in-pakistan-report-188177-2014-04-08 | title=1,000 Christian, Hindu girls forced to convert to Islam every year in Pakistan: Report }} According to the Amarnath Motumal, the vice chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, every month, an estimated 20 or more Hindu girls are abducted and converted, although exact figures are impossible to gather.{{Cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/08/forced-conversions-torment-pakistan-hindus-201481795524630505.html | title=Pakistan, Hindus, Forced Conversions, Islam }} In 2014 alone, 265 legal cases of forced conversion were reported mostly involving Hindu girls.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1170682|title=265 cases of forced conversion reported last year, moot told|date=20 March 2015}}

Within Pakistan, the southern province of Sindh had over 1,000 forced conversions of Christian and Hindu girls according to the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 2018. According to victims' families and activists, Mian Abdul Haq, who is a local political and religious leader in Sindh, has been accused of being responsible for forced conversions of girls within the province.{{Cite news|url=https://religionnews.com/2019/06/06/forced-conversions-marriages-spike-in-pakistan/|title=Forced conversions, marriages spike in Pakistan|website=religionnews.com|date=6 June 2019}}

File:SWAMI NARAYAN TEMPLE HADDID UDDIN - panoramio - Haddid Uddin (1).jpg|The Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi

File:Hindu Temple near Budhist Stupa at Katas Raj Temple.JPG|Katas Raj Temples display characteristics of Kashmiri Hindu temples

File:Shri Varun Dev Mandir Manora Karachi.jpg|Varun Dev Mandir at Karachi

File:Katas Raj Temples 2.JPG|Katas Raj Temples (4th century)

File:AMB Temples, three temples inside fort big temple side view.jpg|One of the Amb Temples constructed between the 7th and 9th centuries

File:Views of Shawala Teja Singh Temple after Renovation.jpg|Shawala Teja Singh Temple after Renovation by the Government

File:Gurdwara Janam Asthan LRMEXPORT 36764050687651220200504 032135197.jpg|The Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib

File:Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur 04.jpg|Darbar Sahib, gurdwara commemorating Guru Nanak, in Kartarpur

File:Gurdwara Dera Sahib and Samadhi of Ranjit Singh.jpg|Golden dome of Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore

File:Gudwara Panja Sahib - Flickr - Al Jazeera English (1).jpg|Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Punjab

File:St. Patrick's Cathedral by M.Osama Anwer @shutterupphotography.jpg|Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi

File:Church Sacred Heart.jpg|Sacred Heart Cathedral, Lahore

File:Night view of St. Mary's Cathedral & Bishop's House Multan.jpg|Night view of St Mary's Cathedral & Bishop's House in Multan Cantt

File:Sialkot Cathedral, Pakistan WLMP forty eight.jpg|Outside of the Sialkot Cathedral

• Demographics of Pakistan
• Languages of Pakistan
• Minority rights
• Hinduism in Pakistan
• Christianity in Pakistan
• Judaism in Pakistan
• Pakistan National Commission for Minorities
• Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan
• Secularism in Pakistan

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060519101358/http://fletcher.tufts.edu/news/2005/09/najam091605.shtml Jews in Pakistan]. An article by Prof. Adil Najam of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

{{Asia topic|Minorities in}}

{{Asia topic|Ethnic minorities in}}

{{Asia topic|Religious minorities in}}

Religious

Category:Persecution by Muslims