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 concentration in eastern Sindh province, 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 southern 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]
Pakistan was the fulcrum of Indus Valley Civilization, one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is assumed that the Pashupati image of Mohenjo-daro evolved to be worshipped as Shiva and the Mother Goddess as Shakti.[33] Various archaeological finds such as the Swastika symbol and Yogic postures from Indus Valley Civilization also point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism.[34] The religious beliefs and folklore of the Indus valley people have become a major part of the Hindu faith that evolved in this part of the South Asia.[35]
Later, during the Vedic period, the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the Indus River around 1500BCE.[36]
The Sindh kingdom and its rulers play an important role in the Indian epic story of the Mahabharata. In addition, a Hindu legend states that the Pakistani city of Lahore was first founded by Lava, while Kasur was founded by his twin Kusha, both of whom were the sons of Lord Rama of the Ramayana. The Gandhara kingdom of the northwest, and the legendary Gandhara people, are also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Many Pakistani city names (such as Peshawar and Multan) have Sanskrit roots.[37][38]
Pre-Islamic period
The Vedic period (1500–500 BCE) was characterised by an Indo-Aryan culture; during this period the Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism, were composed, and this culture later became well established in the region.[39]Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in the Punjab, which was founded around 1000BCE.[40] Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire (around 519 BCE), Alexander's empire in 326BCE and the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region.[41] Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in 6th century BCE.[citation needed] The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was provided on an individualistic basis. The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE.[42]
The Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi was a departure point for those migrating to India after independence.
At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'two nation theory' had been espoused. According to this theory the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India.[47][48]Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, stated in an address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan, "You will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the State."[49] However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2ndPrime Minister of Pakistan stated: "I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".[50]
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, over 4.7million Hindus and Sikhs from West Pakistan left for India, and 6.5 million Muslims chose to migrate to Pakistan.[13] The reasons for this exodus were the heavily charged communal atmosphere in British Raj, deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities.[51] That over 1million people lost their lives in the bloody violence of 1947 should attest to the fear and hate that filled the hearts of millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who left ancestral homes hastily after independence.[52]
Decadal censuses taken in British India revealed the religious composition of all administrative divisions that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan. The 1901 Census in British India taken in administrative divisions that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan indicated that Hindus numbered approximately 3,009,842 persons and comprised roughly 17.1 percent of the total population,[b] followed by a decline to around 2,766,581 persons or to 14.7 percent in 1911.[c] The Hindu population would rise to approximately 2,957,680 persons in 1921 with the share of the total population rising to 15.3 percent,[c] prior to declining back to 14.7 percent in 1931, despite the total Hindu population growing to roughly 3,298,570 persons.[e][68][69][70][71][72][73][74]
In the final census taken prior to partition in 1941, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in West Pakistan (currently Pakistan)[a] and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh).[11][12] After Pakistan gained independence from Britain on 14August 1947, 4.7 million of the country's Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India.[13]
In the 1951 census, West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan) had 1.3% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (contemporary Bangladesh) had 22.05%.[75][76][77] During the same census, Hindus constituted approximately 12.9% of the total population of Pakistan (composing contemporary Pakistan and Bangladesh) which represented the second-largest Hindu-population country after India.[78]
In 1956, the government of Pakistan declared 32 castes and tribes, the majority of them Hindus, to be Scheduled Caste, including Kohlis, Meghawars, and Bheels.[79][80]After 1971, Bangladesh separated from Pakistan and the population of Hindus and other Non-Muslims declined in Pakistan as Bangladesh population was no longer part of the census conducted in Pakistan.[81]
The 1998 census of Pakistan recorded 2,443,614 Hindus, which (includes 332,343 Scheduled Caste Hindus), which constitutes to 1.85 percentage of the total population of Pakistan.[82][61] and about 7.5% in the Sindh province.
The 2017 census recorded 4,444,870 Hindus (includes 849,614 Scheduled Caste Hindus) which constituting 2.14% of the total population of Pakistan.[65][62]
The Pakistan census separates the members of scheduled castes from Hindus and has assessed that they form 0.41% of the national population in 2017 census (up from 0.25% in 1998 census).[62][61][78] However, the actual population of Scheduled Caste Hindus is expected to be much higher, as the Scheduled Caste Hindus categorise themselves as Hindus in the census rather than as Scheduled Caste .[83]
As per the data from the Election Commission of Pakistan, as of 2018 there were a total of 1.77 million Hindu voters. Hindu voters were 49% of the total in Umerkot and 46% in Tharparkar.[84][85] According to estimates in religious minorities in Pakistan's elections, Hindus have a population of 50,000 or more in 11 districts. All of these are in Sindh except the Rahim Yar Khan District in Punjab.[86]
According to the 1901 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.01 million persons or 17.1 percent of the total population.[b] With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 17,633,258, for an overall response rate of 99.6 percent out of the total population of 17,708,014, as detailed in the table below.[b]
Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division[b]
According to the 1911 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 2.77 million persons or 14.7 percent of the total population.[c] With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 18,806,379, for an overall response rate of 92.1 percent out of the total population of 20,428,473, as detailed in the table below.[c]
Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division[c]
According to the 1921 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 2.96 million persons or 15.3 percent of the total population.[d] With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 19,389,016, for an overall response rate of 87.3 percent out of the total population of 22,214,152, as detailed in the table below.[d]
Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division[d]
According to the 1931 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.30 million persons or 14.7 percent of the total population.[e] With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 22,514,768, for an overall response rate of 90.9 percent out of the total population of 24,774,056, as detailed in the table below.[e]
Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division[e]
According to the 1941 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.98 million persons or 14.6 percent of the total population.[a] With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 27,266,001, for an overall response rate of 92.0 percent out of the total population of 29,643,600, as detailed in the table below.[a]
Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division[a]
The percent of population of Hindus (separating the Scheduled Caste from other Hindus) in the provinces in Pakistan, according to the 2017 census:[65][116]
The official number of Hindus living in Pakistan is about 4.5 million or approx. 2.15% as per 2017 census conducted by Pakistan government authority.[118] However, at different time some of the demographic experts of Pakistan Hindu council as well as various Hindu politicians have given numbers based on their estimation research which have led to various controversies.[119] Pakistan has been accused on undercounting minority population over the decades. Karachi Supreme Court attorney Neel Keshav claimed that the Hindu population in Pakistan is likely to be much higher, as reported by Pakistan Today newspaper. Neel Keshav further claimed that the 1998 census data showed a Hindu population of nearly 2million. While the new census showed that it had only risen to 3.5 million in 20 years," which throws a light possibility of undercounting Hindu population.[120][121]
Number of Hindus residing in Pakistan as an estimation research of (2019–21)
According to a 2015 report by India TV, Hinduism is reported to be the fastest-growing religion in Pakistan. The report highlights that the total Hindu fertility rate in Pakistan stands at 3.2, which is equivalent to the Muslim fertility rate in India.[126] Pakistan's population is projected to increase to 367.8 million by 2050. As of the 2023 Census, Pakistan currently hosts 5.2million Hindus, making it the world's fifth-largest Hindu population.[127] By 2050, it is projected to climb to the fourth position with 11.55 million Hindus. This surpasses Indonesia, the current fourth-largest Hindu country, according to the Pew Research Center.[128] However, according to Pakistani newspaper DAWN, 5,000 Hindus migrate to India every year seeking safety from religious persecution.[129] The same newspaper have also reported that some 1,000 Hindu women are forced to convert and marry Muslim men in Pakistan annually.[130]
Religious conversions
Forced conversion of minority Hindu girls to Islam
Protest against forced conversion of Hindu girls, procession conducted by Pakistan Hindu Council
One of the biggest issues the Hindu community faces in Pakistan is the forced conversion of minor Hindu girls to Islam; the number of such conversions, according to one highest estimate, is up to 1,000 per year.[131][132][133]
Girls are often kidnapped by complicit acquaintances and relatives or men looking for brides. Sometimes they are taken by powerful landlords as payment for outstanding debts by their farmhand parents, and the authorities often look the other way.[134] In one case, a landlord abducted a Hindu daughter from a farm worker and falsely claimed the teen was compensation for a $1,000 debt that the family owed him.[135] Religious institutions and persons like Abdul Haq (Mitthu Mian) politician and caretaker of Bharachundi Sharif Dargah in Ghotki district and Pir Ayub Jan Sirhindi, the caretaker of Dargah pir sarhandi in Umerkot District support forced conversions and are known to have support and protection of ruling political parties of Sindh.[136][137][138] According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) around 1000 non-Muslim minority women are converted to Islam and then forcibly married off. This practice is being reported increasingly in the districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas in Sindh.[137][139]
In November 2016, a bill against forced conversion was passed unanimously by the Sindh Provisional Assembly. However, the bill failed to make it into law as the Governor returned the bill. The Bill was effectively blocked by political parties like the Council of Islamic Ideology and Jamaat-e-Islami.[140]
In 2019, a bill against forced conversion was proposed by Hindu politicians in the Sindh assembly, but was turned down by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers.[141]
Conversions to Christianity
There are also Irish Christian missionaries and Ahmadiyya missionaries operating in the Thar region. The Christian and Ahmadi missionaries offer impoverished Hindus schools, health clinics etc. as an inducement for those who convert.[16] Korean Christian missionaries are also very active in Sindh, who have built schools from Badin to Tharparkar.[142]
Korean Christian missionaries have converted more than 1,000 Hindu families in 2012 alone. According to the Sono Kangharani, a member of the Pakistan Dalit Network, the Korean missionaries have been active in the area since 2011 and these missionaries do not focus on individuals but they convert entire villages. According to him, about 200 to 250 Hindu villages were converted in the last two and a half years between 2014 and 2016.[136]
Incentivized Conversion to Islam
Many Hindus are induced to convert to Islam for easily getting Watan Cards and National Identification Cards. These converts were also given land and money. For example, 428 poor Hindus in Matli were converted between 2009 and 2011 by the Madrassa Baitul Islam, a Deobandi seminary in Matli, which pays off the debts of Hindus converting to Islam.[143] Another example is the conversion of 250 Hindus to Islam in Chohar Jamali area in Thatta.[144] Conversions are also carried out by Baba Deen Mohammad Shaikh mission which converted 108,000 people to Islam since 1989.[145]
Social, religious and political institutions
Festival of Holi in Lahore
The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, Pakistan Hindu Council, Pakistan Hindu Youth Council[146] and the Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association are the primary civic organizations that represent and organise Hindu communities on social, economic, religious and political issues in most of the country, with the exception of the Shiv Temple Society of Hazara, which especially represents community interests in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in addition to being the special guardians of the Shiva temple, at Chitti Gatti village, near Mansehra. The Pakistan Hindu Council runs 13 schools across Tharparkar and also conducts mass wedding of poor Hindu couples.[147][148] The Dalit Sujag Tehreek is a Scheduled Caste Hindu movement representing the scheduled caste Hindu communities like Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar, Oad, Bhagri etc.[149]
ISKCON also has a presence in Pakistan. It is involved in preaching and distributing Urdu translated Bhagavad Gita. It has a large following among the Scheduled Caste Hindus in Urban areas of Pakistan. There is a significant increase in the influence of Iskcon due to its rejection of caste system.[150] Iskcon has been conducting Rathayatras since 2015.[151]
There was a Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Government of Pakistan which looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities. In 2011, the Government of Pakistan closed the Ministry of Minority Affairs.[152][153] And a new ministry Ministry for National Harmony was formed for the protection of the rights of the minorities in Pakistan.[154] But in 2013, the Ministry of National Harmony was merged with the Ministry of Religious Affairs despite opposition from the minorities.[155]
In Pakistani law and politics
The Constitution's Article 51(2A) provides 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, 23 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the four provincial assemblies under Article 106[156] and four seats for non-Muslims in the Senate of Pakistan.[86] Conventionally, Hindus were allotted 4 or 5 seats. The number of national Assembly seats were increased from 207 in 1997, to 332 in 2002. But the number of non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased from 10. Similarly, the number of seats in Provincial Assembly of Sindh and Punjab were increased from 100 to 159 and 240 to 363 respectively, but the non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased.[80] Although a bill for increasing minorities' seats was introduced by Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, it was not passed.[157] Political parties Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) party is against giving reserved seats for minorities.[158]
In 1980s Zia ul-Haq introduced a system under which non-Muslims could vote for only candidates of their own religion. Seats were reserved for minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. Government officials stated that the separate electorates system is a form of affirmative action designed to ensure minority representation, and that efforts are underway to achieve a consensus among religious minorities on this issue, but critics argued that under this system Muslim candidates no longer had any incentive to pay attention to the minorities. Hindu community leader Sudham Chand protested against the system but was murdered. In 1999, Pakistan abolished this system. Hindus and other minorities achieved a rare political victory in 2002 with the removal of separate electorates for Muslims and non-Muslims. The separate electorate system had marginalized non-Muslims by depriving them of adequate representation in the assemblies. The Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association was active by convening a national conference on the issue in December 2000. And in 2001, Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis successfully conducted a partial boycott of the elections, culminating in the abolishment of the separate electorate system in 2002. This allowed religious minorities to vote for mainstream seats in the National and Provincial assemblies, rather than being confined to voting for only minority seats. Despite the victory, however, Hindus still remain largely disenfranchised.[159]
In 2018, Pakistan general election Mahesh Kumar Malani became the first Hindu candidate who won a general seat in Pakistan National Assembly 2018. He won the seat from Tharparkar-II and thus became the first non-Muslim to win a general seat (non-reserved) in Pakistan national assembly.[162] In the Sindh provincial assembly election which took place along with the Pakistan National Assembly election 2018, Hari Ram Kishori Lal and Giyan Chand Essrani were elected from the Sindh provincial assembly seats. They became the first non-Muslims to win a general seat (non-reserved) in a provincial assembly election.[163]
Tamil Hindus celebrating a religious festival in karachiHindu children at Mandir during prayer
Some Tamil Hindu families migrated to Pakistan in the early 20th century, when Karachi was developed during the British Raj, and were later joined by Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Madrasi Para area is home to around 100 Tamil Hindu families. The Maripata Mariamman Temple, which has been demolished, was the biggest Tamil Hindu temple in Karachi.[164] The Drigh Road and Korangi also have a small Tamil Hindu population.[165]
The Kalasha people practice a religion which is based on an older set of mountain beliefs, but which has some vedic influence, alongside animism and shamanism.[166][167] Though having some cultural and religious similarities to the Hindus, they are considered a separate ethnic religion people by the government of Pakistan.[168] They reside in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.[169]
The Valmiki or Balmikis are Hindu worshippers of Valmiki, the author of The Ramayana. Most Valmiki Hindus converted to either Christianity or Islam after the partition. However, many of those who converted still worship Valmiki and celebrate Valmiki Jayanti.[171][172] The most important centre for worship of Valmikis in Pakistan is Valmiki Mandir in Lahore.[173] Most of the Balmikis (or Valmikis) belonged to the Schedule Caste.[174]
In the early times, before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan, most of the modern-day Pashtun people belonged to the Hindu Religion.[175] Though due to the repeated Islamic invasion in the Pakhtun areas, most of them have converted to Islam or migrated to other parts of the Asia.[176] Still, there is a small Pashtun Hindu community, known as the Sheen Khalai meaning 'blue skinned' (referring to the color of Pashtun women's facial tattoos), migrated to Unniara, Rajasthan, India after partition.[177] Prior to 1947, the community resided in the Quetta, Loralai and Maikhter regions of the British Indian province of Baluchistan.[178] They are mainly members of the Pashtun Kakar tribe. Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate Pashtun culture through the Attan dance.[177]
Umarkot Shiv Mandir in Umarkot is famous for the three-day Shivarathri celebration, which is attended by around 250,000 people.
According to a study, Information on Caste Based Discrimination in South Asia, Long Behind Schedule, a Study on the Plight of Scheduled Caste Hindus in Pakistan, the majority of scheduled caste Hindus (79%) in Pakistan have experienced discrimination. This discrimination is higher in southern Punjab (86.5%), compared to the rest of the country. The study found that majority (91.5%) of the respondents in Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them.[185][80]
In Balochistan province, Hindus are relatively more secure and face less religious persecution. The tribal chiefs in Balochistan, particularly the Jams of Lasbela and Bugti of Dera Bugti, consider non-Muslims like Hindus as members of their own extended family and allows religious freedom. They have never forced Hindus to convert. Also, in Balochistan Hindu places of worship are proportionate to their population. For example, between Uthal and Bela jurisdiction in Lasbela District, there are 18 temples for 5,000 Hindus living in the area, which is an indicator of religious freedom.[186] However, in Khuzdar District and Kalat District, Hindus face discrimination.[187]
In Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hindus enjoy religious freedom and live peacefully alongside the Muslims. The city of Peshawar today is home to four Hindu tribes – the Balmiks, the Rajputs, the Heer Ratan Raths and the Bhai Joga Singh Gurdwara community. Since partition, the four tribes have lived in harmony with all religious communities including Muslims. However, there is the lack of upkeep of the dilapidated Hindu temples in the city. The local government always fails to assign caretakers and priests at temples.[188] But in other parts of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa like Buner, Swat and Aurakzai Agencies, Hindu and Sikh families, have been targeted by Taliban for failing to pay Jizya (religious tax) and due to this more than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families in Pakistan's have moved to Hasan Abdal and Rawalpindi in Punjab in 2009[189]
In central Punjab, Hindus are a small minority. After the partition, Hindus have been converting to Islam under pressure, particularly in Doda village near Sargodha. Due to the low population of Hindus in the Central Punjab, many of the Hindus have married Sikhs and vice versa. Intermarriages between the Hindus and Sikhs are very common there.[187]
According to Pakistan's National Council for Justice and Peace (NCJP) report the average literacy rate among Hindu (upper caste) is 34 percent, Hindu Scheduled Caste is 19 percent, compared to the national average of 46.56 percent.[193] According to a 2013 survey conducted by the Pakistan Hindu Seva Welfare Trust, the literacy rate among Scheduled Caste Hindus in Pakistan is just 16%. The survey noted that majority of the scheduled caste Hindu families do not send their girl children to schools due to the fear of forced conversion.[194] Pakistan belongs to those nations who have the world's worst literacy rate, which is the main reason for its slow agricultural growth and sluggish economy. Pakistan's literacy rate is ranked 113 in a total of 120 countries. This is a huge issue for the country and its economic development.[195][196]
The Sindh Hindu Marriage Bill was passed by the Provincial Assembly of Sindh in February 2016. This was the first Hindu Marriage act in Pakistan.[198][199][200] It was amended in 2018 to include divorce rights, remarriage rights and financial security of the wife and children after divorce.[201]
At federal level, a Hindu Marriage Bill was proposed in 2016, which was unanimously approved by the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2016[202][203] and by the Senate of Pakistan in 2017.[204] In March 2017, the Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain signed the Hindu Marriage Bill and thereby making it a law. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also mentioned that the marriage registrars will be established in areas where Hindus stay.[205] However, many have criticised the Clause 12(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Bill which says that "a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion".[199]
The Communal violence of the 1940s and the subsequent persecutions have resulted in the destruction of many Hindu temples in Pakistan, although the Hindu community and the Government of Pakistan have preserved and protected many prominent ones. Some ancient Hindu temples in Pakistan draw devotees from across faiths including Muslims.[206]
According to a survey, there were 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan at the time of Partition and 408 of them were now turned into toy stores, restaurants, government offices and schools.[23] Among these 11 temples are in Sindh, four in Punjab, three in Balochistan and two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, in November 2019, government of Pakistan started the restoration process for 400 Hindu temples in Pakistan. After restoration, the temples will be reopened to Hindus in Pakistan.[23]
The Pamwal Das Shiv Mandir, centuries-old historic temple in Baghdadi area of Lyari Town was illegally turned into a Muslim Pir and slaughterhouse for cows by Muslim clerics with the help of Baghdadi police after making series of attacks on Hindu families living in the area.[207][208][209] The 135,000 acres of temple land is now controlled by the Evacuee Trust Property Board. The historic Kali Bari Hindu Temple has been rented out to a Muslim party in Dera Ismail Khan who converted the temple into a Hotel. The Holy Shiv Temple in Kohat has been converted into a government primary school. The Raam Kunde Complex of Temples at Saidpur village in Islamabad is now a picnic site. Another temple at Rawal Dam in Islamabad has been shut down and the Hindu community believes that the temple is going to dilapidate day by day without being handed over to them. In Punjab, a Hindu temple at Rawalpindi was destroyed and reconstructed to use as a community centre, while in Chakwal the Bhuwan temple complex is being used by the local Muslim community for commercial purposes.[210]
According to a report issued by a one-man commission to the Supreme Court in February 2021, out of 365 Hindu temples built before partition in Pakistan, 13 are being managed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, 65 are being managed by the Hindu community, and the remainder of 287 have been abandoned to land mafias.[211]
Reopened temples
Shawala Teja Singh Temple after Renovation by the Government
In 2019, the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his government will reclaim and restore 400 temples to Hindus.[217] Following this, the 1,000-Year-Old Shivala Teja Singh temple in Sialkot (which was closed for 72 years)[218] and a 100-year-old Hindu temple in Balochistan was reopened.[219]
Major Pilgrimage centres
Shri Hinglaj Mata temple – Shakti peetha in Pakistan.[220] The annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan. More than 250,000 people take part in the Hinglaj Yathra during the spring.[221]
Umarkot Shiv Mandir –The three-day Shivrathri festival in the temple is famous. It is one of the biggest religious festivals in the country. It is attended by around 250,000 people. All the expenses were borne by the Pakistan Hindu Panchayat.[223]
In 2006, a Hindu temple in Lahore was destroyed to pave the way for construction of a multi-storied commercial building. When reporters from Pakistan-based newspaper Dawn tried to cover the incident, they were accosted by the henchmen of the property developer, who denied that a Hindu temple existed at the site.[224]
In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down.[225]25 March 2014 Express Tribune citing an All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement (PHRM) survey said that 95% of all Hindu temples in Pakistan have been converted since 1990. Pakistani Muslims have attacked Hindu temples if anything happens to any mosque in neighbouring India.[226]
In 2019, three Hindu temples were vandalised in Ghotki district in Sindh over blasphemy accusations.[228]
In 2019, a Hindu temple Pakistan's southern Sindh province was vandalism by miscreants and they set fire to holy books and idols inside the temple.[229]
In January 2020, a Hindu temple in Chachro, Tharparkar district in Sindh was vandalised by miscreants, who desecrated the idols and set fire to holy scriptures.[230]
In December 2020, a Hindu temple in Teri village of Karak district was attacked and vandalised.[231]
There has been a historical decline of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism in the areas of Pakistan. This happened for a variety of reasons even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan. The region became predominantly Muslim during the rule of Delhi Sultanate and later Mughal Empire. In general, religious conversion was a gradual process, though it is mostly attributed to the works of Sufis, some converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement,[234] or freedom from slavery and some by force.[235] The predominantly Muslim population supported Muslim League and Partition of India. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while the Muslims refugees from India migrated to Pakistan. Approximately 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved to India while 6.5 million Muslims settled in Pakistan.
Some Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to migrate to India.[236][237] According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013.[238] In May 2014, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, revealed in the National Assembly of Pakistan that around 5,000 Hindus are migrating from Pakistan to India every year.[239]
Targeted sexual harassment
Those Pakistani Hindus who have migrated to India allege that Hindu girls are sexually harassed in Pakistani schools and their religious practices are mocked.[240] The Indian government is planning to issue Aadhaar cards and PAN cards to Pakistani Hindu refugees, and simplifying the process by which they can acquire Indian citizenship.[241] In 2019, India passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 that allows the persecuted Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs who arrived in India before the end of December 2014 to obtain Indian citizenship.[242][243]
Discrimination and attacks
Jogendranath Mandal, Pakistan's first minister of Law and Labour, left for India in 1950, 3 years after taking office, citing anti-Hindu bias by the bureaucracy.[244] He quoted, "I have come to the conclusion that Pakistan is no place for Hindus to live in and that their future is darkened by the ominous shadow of conversion or liquidation".[245]
Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985—a policy originally proposed by Islamist leader Abul A'la Maududi. Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process, but the policy had strong support from Islamists.[246] Until 1999, when former military chief Pervez MusharrafoverthrewNawaz Sharif's government, non-Muslims had dual voting rights in the general elections that allowed them to not only vote for Muslim candidates on general seats, but also for their own non-Muslim candidates.[247]
In December 2020, a mob in Karak District attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple which was originally demolished in 1997 before being restored by the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2017. The head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani stated "We will stage a protest in front of the Supreme Court against the attack on our temple which is one of the four largest holy sites of the Hindu community in Pakistan."[251] Religious discrimination remains common to this day throughout the country, and Pakistan has been designated a 'Country of Particular Concern' by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for engaging in or tolerating "systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom".[252]
The rise of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and non-Muslims in Pakistan.[253][254][255][256] Between 2011 and 2012, 23 Hindus were kidnapped for ransom and 13 Hindus were killed as a part of targeted killings of non-Muslims.[136] In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down.[257] Pakistan's Supreme Court has sought a report from the government on its efforts to ensure access for the minority Hindu community to temples – the Karachi bench of the apex court was hearing applications against the alleged denial of access to the members of the minority community.[258][259][260]
Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria recently alleged mistreatment by team members and management for being a Hindu.[261]
In June 2023, the Pakistan Higher Education Commission banned the celebration of the Hindu festival Holi on institute campuses to preserve "Islamic identity" and "sociocultural values" which flared the issue of religious discrimination in the country.[262][263][264] The ban was later removed a month later by the education commission, following outrage on social media.[265]
A Hindu temple was attacked with rocket launchers by a gang of dacoits in the Southern Sindh Province of Pakistan on July 16, in the second such incident of vandalism of a place of worship belonging to the minority community in less than two days. The assailants attacked the small temple built by the local Hindu community and adjoining homes belonging to members of the minority community in the Kashmore area of the Sindh Province. The attack came after the Mari Mata Temple in Karachi's Soldier Bazar was razed to the ground by bulldozers in the presence of a heavy contingent of police force late on Friday night. The temple believed to be nearly 150 years ago was demolished after being declared an old and dangerous structure in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh Province.[266]
According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report, "Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible".[267]
A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, a non-profit organization, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. "From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious", the report stated.[268][269][270][271]
In 1975, Islamiat or Islamic studies was made compulsory, resulting that a large number of minority students being forced to study Islamic Studies.[272][273] In 2015, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced Ethics as an alternative subject to Islamiat for non-Muslim school children in the province[274] followed by Sindh in 2016.[272]
Hindu students are often forced to study as per the Islamic curriculum. It has been reported that students are taught hatred against the Hindus in Pakistan's school.[275][276] While speaking at the UN Working Group on Durban Declaration and Plan of Action in Genava, Munir Mengal, the president of Baloch Voice Association said, "I used to go to school in a very high standard state-run Army school called Cadet College the first lesson to us was Hindus are Kafirs, Jews are enemies of Islam both are liable to death for no other reason". He added, "Even today the same is the first most important and basic message from uniformed Army teachers that we have to respect guns and bombs because we have to use these against Hindu mothers to kill them otherwise they will give birth to a Hindu child".[277]
In 2021, Single National Curriculum (SNC) was adopted by the Pakistan government in which instead of Islamiat for Muslims, the Non-Muslim students belonging to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Kalash and Bahai religions will be taught separate books on their religion separately.[278]
As per the new Curriculum, Hindu students from Grade 1 to 5 will study about Om symbol, Dharma, Moksha, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, arti song Om Jai jagdhesh with meaning, Hindu celebrations (like Ram Navmi, Diwali, Cheti Chand, Janmashtami), Hindu deities (like Ganesh, Jhulelal, Sita) Prahlad pictorial life story of Ram, Krishna, Hindu Saints like Valmiki, Mira Bai, Kabir das, Tulsi das; Sacred places of Hindus in Pakistan like Sant Nenuram Ashram, Sadhu Bela, Hinglaj Mata Mandir etc.[279] The Brookings Institution, in a recent report evaluating the SNC, points to the phenomenon of isomorphic mimicry in which developing states "pretend to do the reforms that look like the kind of reforms that successful countries do" without actually changing much. SNC also aims at mainstreaming madrassas, which might lead to spilling over of extremist and more theological subjects into formal schools.[280]
Prominent Pakistani Hindus
Bhawani Shankar ChowdhryKrishna Kohli
Hinduism have long influence in Pakistan and many successful Hindus contributed to the country—
Sports
Anil Dalpat – First Hindu Cricketer to Play for Pakistan
Punjab is a province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the most populous province in Pakistan and second most populous subnational polity in the world. Located in the central-eastern region of the country, it has the largest economy, contributing the most to national GDP, in Pakistan. Lahore is the capital and largest city. Other major cities include Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Multan.
Sindh is a province of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province by population after Punjab. It is bordered by the Pakistani provinces of Balochistan to the west and north-west and Punjab to the north. It shares an International border with the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan to the east; it is also bounded by the Arabian Sea to the south. Sindh's landscape consists mostly of alluvial plains flanking the Indus River, the Thar Desert of Sindh in the eastern portion of the province along the international border with India, and the Kirthar Mountains in the western portion of the province.
Bahawalpur is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 13th largest city of Pakistan and 8th most populous city of Punjab. Bahawalpur is the capital of Bahawalpur Division.
The North-West Frontier Province was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the British Punjab, during the British Raj. Following the referendum in 1947 to join either Pakistan or India, the province voted hugely in favour of joining Pakistan and it acceded accordingly on 14 August 1947. It was dissolved to form a unified province of West Pakistan in 1955 upon promulgation of One Unit Scheme and was reestablished in 1970. It was known by this name until 19 April 2010, when it was dissolved and redesignated as the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa following the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Kasur is a city to the south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The city serves as the headquarters of Kasur District. Kasur is the 16th largest city in Punjab and 24th largest in Pakistan, by population. It is also known for being the burial place of the 17th-century Sufi-poet Bulleh Shah. It is farther west of the border with neighboring India, and bordered to Lahore, Sheikhupura and Okara Districts of Punjab. The city is an aggregation of 26 fortified hamlets overlooking the alluvial valleys of the Beas and Sutlej rivers.
Arain are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation.
Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district.
Sikhism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs form a small community in Pakistan today. Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab, a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages, with some also residing in Peshawar in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is located in Pakistan's Punjab province. Moreover, the place where Guru Nanak died, the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib is also located in the same province.
The official religion of Pakistan is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of the Constitution, and is practised by an overwhelming majority of 96.35% of the country's population. The remaining 3.65% practice Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and other religions.
Punjab is home to 2.3% of India's population; with a density of 551 persons per km2. According to the provisional results of the 2011 national census, Punjab has a population of 27,743,338, making it the 16th most populated state in India. Of which male and female are 14,639,465 and 13,103,873 respectively. 32% of Punjab's population consists of Dalits. In the state, the rate of population growth is 13.9% (2011), lower than national average. Out of total population, 37.5% people live in urban regions. The total figure of population living in urban areas is 10,399,146 of which 5,545,989 are males and while remaining 4,853,157 are females. The urban population in the last 10 years has increased by 37.5%. According to the 2011 Census of India, Punjab, India has a population of around 27.7 million.
Religion in the Punjab in ancient history was characterized by Hinduism and later conversions to Jainism, Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Christianity; it also includes folk practices common to all Punjabis regardless of the religion they adhere to. Such practices incorporate local mysticism, including ancestral worship and worship of local saints of all faiths.
It is estimated that the city of Lahore, Pakistan, has a Muslim majority with 94.7% and Christian minority constitute 5.1% of the population and rest Sikhs and Hindus constitute the remaining 0.2%. There is also a small but longstanding Zoroastrian community.
Jainism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history, with several ancient Jain shrines scattered across the country. Baba Dharam Dass was a holy man whose tomb is located near the bank of a creek called near Chawinda Phatic, behind the agricultural main office in Pasrur, near the city of Sialkot in Punjab, Pakistan. Another prominent Jain monk of the region was Vijayanandsuri of Gujranwala, whose samadhi still stands in the city.
Religions in Karachi include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and others. According to a 2023 census of Pakistan, the religious breakdown of the city is as follows: Muslim (96.53%), Christian (2.21%), Hindu (1.12%), Ahmadis (0.0%) and other (0.14%). Other religious groups include Parsis, Sikhs, Baháʼí, Jews and Buddhists. Of the Muslims, approximately 66% are Sunnis and 34% are Shia. The Sunnis follow Hanafi fiqh while Shi'ites are predominantly Ithnā‘Ashariyyah fiqh, with significant minority groups who follow Ismaili Fiqh, which is composed of Nizari, Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaymani fiqhs.
Islam is a minority religion in Punjab, India followed by 535,489 people constituting about 1.93 percent of the state population out of 27.7 million population as of 2011 census report.
Malerkotla district is a district in Punjab state of India. It was formed after the bifurcation of Sangrur district. Malerkotla district was carved out of Sangrur and became the 23rd district of Punjab on 02 June, 2021. District Malerkotla is divided into three subdivisions: Malerkotla, Amargarh and Ahmedgarh.
Hinduism is a minority religion in Punjab province of Pakistan followed by about 0.19% of its population. Punjab has the second largest number of Hindus in Pakistan after Sindh. Hinduism is followed mainly in the Southern Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.
Hinduism is a minority religion in Balochistan followed by 0.41% of the population of the province. It is the largest minority religion in Balochistan. The Balochistan is home to the shrine of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple, which is one of the most sacred Hindu temples. The annual Hinglaj Yatra to the temple is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.
Hinduism is the second-largest religion in Sindh, numbering 4.9 million people and comprising 8.8 percent of the province's population in the 2023 Pakistani census. Sindh has the largest population and the highest percentage of Hindus in Pakistan. Sindh has the Shri Ramapir Temple, whose annual festival is the country's second-largest Hindu festival.
Hinduism is a minority religion in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province followed by 0.02% of the population of the province as per 2023 Census.
↑ Khan, Nyla Ali (2013). The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism. Routledge. ISBN978-1-135-92304-4. 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.
↑ Maclean, Derryl N. (1989). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. Brill. p.52. ISBN90-04-08551-3.
↑ Stubbs, John H.; Thomson, Robert G. (10 November 2016). Architectural Conservation in Asia: National Experiences and Practice. Taylor & Francis. p.427. ISBN978-1-317-40619-8. 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.
↑ "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)
1 2 3 Hasan, Arif; Raza, Mansoor (2009). Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan. IIED. p.12. ISBN9781843697343. 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.
↑ Chakraborty, Chandrima (2 October 2017). Mapping South Asian Masculinities: Men and Political Crises. Routledge. ISBN978-1-317-49462-1. 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.
↑ "Pakistan". Ethnologue. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
↑ 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.
↑ 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)
↑ Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi: identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.66. ISBN9780190850555. OCLC1008771979. 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.
↑ 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.
↑ Dhulipala, Venkat (2015). Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India. Cambridge University Press. p.19. ISBN9781316258385. Archived from the original on 16 January 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2020. Within the subcontinent, ML propaganda claimed that besides liberating the 'majority provinces' Muslims it would guarantee protection for Muslims who would be left behind in Hindu India. In this regard, it repeatedly stressed the hostage population theory that held that 'hostage' Hindu and Sikh minorities inside Pakistan would guarantee Hindu India's good behaviour towards its own Muslim minority.
↑ Qasmi, Ali Usman (2015). The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan. Anthem Press. p.149. ISBN9781783084258. Nazim-ud-Din favored an Islamic state not just out of political expediency but also because of his deep religious belief in its efficacy and practicality...Nazim-ud-Din commented:'I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be'.
↑ Zamindar, Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali (2010). The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories. Columbia University Press. pp.40. ISBN978-0-231-13847-5. Second, it was feared that if an exchange of populations was agreed to in principle in Punjab, ' there was likelihood of trouble breaking out in other parts of the subcontinent to force Muslims in the Indian Dominion to move to Pakistan. If that happened, we would find ourselves with inadequate land and other resources to support the influx.' Punjab could set a very dangerous precedent for the rest of the subcontinent. Given that Muslims in the rest of India, some 42 million, formed a population larger than the entire population of West Pakistan at the time, economic rationality eschewed such a forced migration. However, in divided Punjab, millions of people were already on the move, and the two governments had to respond to this mass movement. Thus, despite these important reservations, the establishment of the MEO led to an acceptance of a 'transfer of populations' in divided Punjab, too, 'to give a sense of security' to ravaged communities on both sides. A statement of the Indian government's position of such a transfer across divided Punjab was made in the legislature by Neogy on November 18, 1947. He stated that although the Indian government's policy was 'to discourage mass migration from one province to another.' Punjab was to be an exception. In the rest of the subcontinent migrations were not to be on a planned basis, but a matter of individual choice. This exceptional character of movements across divided Punjab needs to be emphasized, for the agreed and 'planned evacuations' by the two governments formed the context of those displacements.
1 2 Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. "1981 Census Report of Pakistan". p.68. Retrieved 17 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Daur, Naya (16 September 2019). "Who Is Mian Mithu?". Naya Daur Media (NDM), Pakistan. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
↑ Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi: identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p.145,290. ISBN9780190850555. OCLC1008771979.
↑ Vogelsang, Willem (28 November 2001). The Afghans. Wiley. ISBN978-0-631-19841-3. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2021. During the 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern terroritries of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists
↑ Arnold, Alison; Nettl, Bruno (2000). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia. Taylor & Francis. p.785. ISBN9-780-824-04946-1. Before the emergence of Islam, the Pakhtuns were followers of Hinduism and Buddhism and considered music sacred, employing it in many religious rituals.
↑ Avari 2013, pp.66–70: "Many Hindu slaves converted to Islam and gained their liberty."
↑ Sohail, Riaz (2 March 2007). "Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan". BBC. Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2011. But many Hindu families who stayed in Pakistan after partition have already lost faith and migrated to India.
↑ "Pakistanis Attack 30 Hindu Temples". The New York Times. 7 December 1992. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2011. Muslims attacked more than 30 Hindu temples across Pakistan today, and the Government of this overwhelmingly Muslim nation closed offices and schools for a day to protest the destruction of a mosque in India.
Allchin, F. Raymond (1993). "The Urban Position of Taxila and Its Place in Northwest India-Pakistan". Studies in the History of Art. 31: 69–81. JSTOR42620473.
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5.2 million (2023 census)
