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Religious Discrimination in Pakistan

Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue, as religious minorities like Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis often face discrimination, attacks, and violence. The Pakistani government has also been discriminatory in enforcing laws against non-Muslims, particularly through misuse of blasphemy laws. While the percentage of non-Muslims has declined significantly since Pakistan's independence, some progress has been made recently in preventing forced conversions and providing relief to religious minorities. However, discrimination remains a significant problem.

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48 views

Religious Discrimination in Pakistan

Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue, as religious minorities like Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis often face discrimination, attacks, and violence. The Pakistani government has also been discriminatory in enforcing laws against non-Muslims, particularly through misuse of blasphemy laws. While the percentage of non-Muslims has declined significantly since Pakistan's independence, some progress has been made recently in preventing forced conversions and providing relief to religious minorities. However, discrimination remains a significant problem.

Uploaded by

Saad Khan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Religious discrimination in Pakistan

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Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue for the human rights situation
in modern-day Pakistan. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Shias and Ahmadis among other
religious minorities often face discrimination and at times are even subjected to
violence. In some cases Christian churches and Ahmadi mosques and the worshippers
themselves have been attacked.[1] Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime 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".[2]
The State of Pakistan has particularly remained a discriminatory law enforcer against
Non-Muslims since independence. One of the significant issues being faced by minority
communities is the abuse of the blasphemy law. People belonging to minority religions
are often falsely accused of using derogatory remarks against the Islamic prophet
Muhammad, resulting in fines, lengthy prison sentences, and sometimes the death
penalty.[3] Often these accusations are made to settle personal vendettas and, due to the
bias against minorities, victims are often immediately presumed guilty without any
substantive evidence.[3]
According to 1951 census, Non-Muslims constituted 14.20% of total Pakistan's (West
Pakistan and East Pakistan) population. In West Pakistan (now Pakistan), the Non-
Muslims constituted 3.44% of the total population while East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh) had a significant share comprising 23.20 per cent of the population
therein.[4] One reason for low Non-Muslim percentage is because of higher birth rates
among the Muslims.[5][6][7][8] A report compiled by Members of the European
Parliament attributes multiple reasons for the decline of minority population including
communal violence and forced conversions.[9] Another reason was due to constant
migration of India and Pakistan's respective minorities after the partition of India in 1947.
However, the main reason as to why the population of minorities declined was due to
the separation of East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) which constituted almost
18% of Pakistan's Hindu population according to the 1961 Pakistani census. [10] After the
independence of Bangladesh, all minorities (mostly Hindus) that lived in the former East
Pakistan were no longer counted in the census as they were officially Bangladeshis,
and not Pakistanis. Due to the fact that Hindus made up the large bulk of the minority
population, the percentage of Pakistan's minorities plummeted.
In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East
Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 22.05%.[11] By 1997, the percentage of Hindus
remained stable at 1.6% in Pakistan,[12] while in Bangladesh, it had dropped to 9.2% by
2011, with non-Muslims accounting for 10.2% of the population. [13]
In 1999 the United Nations Human Rights Council approved the first resolution against
defamation of religions. However these resolutions have been severely criticized by the
United States, various European nations and freedom of religion groups as these
resolutions contained language which could be used to discriminate against minority
religions, and in March 2010 the UN refused to enact the most recent resolution. [14]
In 2011 religious intolerance was reported to be at its height, hundreds of minorities,
women, journalists and liberals were being killed by Islamist fundamentalist extremists,
while the Government remained mostly a silent spectator, often only making statements
which condemned the ruthless acts of violence by the extremists but taking no real
concrete action against them.[15][16][17]
Progress on religious freedom is being made gradually as Pakistan transitions to
democracy from Zia's legacy, in 2016 Sindh with Pakistan's largest Hindu minority
passed a bill that outlawed forced conversions. However, the bill was never ratified by
the Governor.[18] The bill was tabled by a faction of the Pakistan Muslim League which in
Sindh is led by Sufi leader Pir Pagara, called PML-F, Pakistan Muslim League
functional.[19] In 2014, NGOs estimated that around 1000 girls from minority groups every
year are being forcibly converted to Islam.[9][3][20] In November 2019, a parliamentary
committee was formed to prevent act of forced conversion in Pakistan. [21]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan, reports emerged that rations were being
denied to minority Hindus and Christians in the coastal areas of Karachi. The Saylani
Welfare Trust, carrying out the relief work, said that the aid was reserved for Muslims
alone.[22][23] On 14 April, the US Commission on International Religious
Freedom expressed concern with the discrimination. Other organisations, including Edhi
Foundation, JDC Welfare Organization and Jamaat-e-Islami are reported to have
stepped forward to provide relief to the minorities. [24]

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