What percentage of the Pakistani population is Hindu?
Sindh
Sindh also has Pakistan's highest percentage of Hindu residents, with 7.5% of Sindh's population overall, and 11.56% of Sindh's rural population, classifying itself as Hindu, and over 40% of residents in Tharparkar District identifying themselves as Hindu. The communal harmony between Sindhi Muslims and Hindus is an example of Sindh's pluralistic and tolerant Sufi culture.
Pakistan, India
Since partition in 1947 the village no longer has any Muslim inhabitants; the inhabitants of the village are Hindus. The people belong to the Santhal tribe, the largest tribal group in India. The village is quite a poor one and reportedly it lacks basic facilities including roads, schools and hospitals. The literacy rate of the district as a whole is 35.51.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization
A poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan during January 2011 of over 2,700 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country, found 67% of Pakistanis responding yes to the question "In your opinion should government take steps to ‘Islamise’ the society?" 13% of those polled answered that Pakistan did not need Islamisation and 20% gave no response. In 2016 an opinion poll by PEW found that 78% of Pakistanis said that the country's laws should strictly follow the Quran and a further 16% of Pakistanis said that the laws should follow the values and principles of Islam, but not strictly follow. This was the highest figure amongst all Muslim populations surveyed by PEW.
Census in Pakistan
According to 1951 census, Dominion of Pakistan(both east and West Pakistan) had a population of 75 million population, in which West Pakistan had a population of 33.7 million and East Pakistan( modern Bangladesh) had a population of 42 million. In 1951, Hindus constituted 12.9% of the Pakistani population (this includes East Pakistan, modern day Bangladesh),which made Dominion of Pakistan second biggest Hindu-population country after India. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 22.05%. After Partition of India in 1947, two-thirds of the Muslims resided in Pakistan (both east and West Pakistan) but a third resided in India.
Partition of India
Despite the migration, a significant Sindhi Hindu population still resides in Pakistan's Sindh province where they number at around 2.28 million as per Pakistan's 1998 census; the Sindhi Hindus in India were at 2.57 million as per India's 2001 Census. Some bordering districts in Sindh had a Hindu majority like Tharparkar District, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Badin, but their population is decreasing and they consider themselves a minority in decline. In fact, only Umerkot still has a majority of Hindus in the district. The Sindhi community did not face large scale violence, but felt deprivation of homeland and culture.
Minorities in Pakistan
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."
Partition of India
The population in the Tharparkar district in the Sind province of West Pakistan was 80% Hindu and 20% Muslim at the time of independence in 1947. During the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971, the Hindu upper castes and their retainers fled to India. This led to a massive demographic shift in the district. In 1978 India gave citizenship to 55,000 Pakistanis. By the time of the 1998 census of Pakistan, Muslims made up 64.42% of the population and Hindus 35.58% of the population in Tharparkar.
Pakistan Hindu Panchayat
The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (PHP) is the leading socio-political representative organization of the Hindu community in Pakistan.
Sukkur District
Sukkur district is chiefly populated by Muslims that constitute 96% of the total population. The minorities include: Hindus 3.28% and Christians about 0.51%. Hindus are mostly settled in urban areas and are engaged in the trade and services sectors. The independence of Pakistan in 1947 saw the influx of Muslims which include Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, Bandhani-speaking Rajputs from Rajasthan, Memons from Bombay, Gujarat and Kathiawar were migrated from India and settled here, mostly in the aftermath of anti-Muslim riots when Pakistan was carved out of India as the result of Muslim vote; the Muslim population of India voted for their separate homeland, the Pakistan. While some of the Bandhani, Memons, and Punjabis were settled here before partition, i.e., the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Traditionally Memons were associated with trade and retail business but during last two decades they have ascended as an active social and economic front. 
Sukkur is noteworthy in Sindh and Pakistan generally for its comparative tolerance towards religious and ethnic minorities. City is a multi-ethnic and has a mix of Sindhis, Punjabis, Brahuis, Balochis and Pakhtuns. Sindhis are native to the area and speak its various dialects, including, Utradi, Lari, Thari, Dadhki, etc. A large number of Punjabis were attracted to the city after the Indus treaty settlement and are settled around the downtown and chowk Ghantaghar in central part of the city. Most Pakhtuns are distinct and separately living near the railway station and its vicinity. The city therefore has cosmopolitan atmosphere with multiethnic and multicultural communities.
Following are the demographic indicators of the district, The population of the district is according to 2,125,122 Population 2015:
Pakistan
The population of Pakistan follow different religions. Most of Pakistanis are Muslims (96.4%) followed by Hindus (1.5%) and Christians (1.5%). There are also people in Pakistan who follow other religions, such as Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and the minority of Parsi (who follow Zoroastrianism).
Indian people
Hinduism is the majority in most states; Kashmir and Lakshadweep are Muslim majority; Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya are Christian majority; Punjab is a Sikh majority with Hindus 37%. It is to be noted that while participants in the Indian census may choose to not declare their religion, there is no mechanism for a person to indicate that he/she does not adhere to any religion. Due to this limitation in the Indian census process, the data for persons not affiliated with any religion may not be accurate.
India contains the majority of the world's Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and Bahá'í. Christianity is widespread in the Northeast India, parts of southern India, particularly in Kerala and among various populations of Central India. Muslims are the largest religious minority. India is also home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.
Hinduism in India
The Hindu percentage has steadily decrease from 84.1% in 1951 to 79.8% in 2011 respectively. After India got independence Hindu percentage in the country stands at 85% approximately during 1947. India around that time have 350 million population out of which 300 million are Hindus. Today, in 2011 India has around 1.02 billion Hindus out of 1.2 billion people.
Islam in India
India's Muslim population is the world's third largest and the world's largest Muslim-minority population. Officially, India has the third largest Muslim population next to Indonesia and Pakistan. India is home to 10% of the world's Muslim population. India has around 172 million Muslims (2011 census). Pakistan has more Muslims than India, as the 2017 Census in Pakistan released on August 25, 2017 put its population at 207.8 million. Pakistan's population is 212,742,631 after including data from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, which were added in the final report which will come in 2018.
Sindhis
Hinduism was the predominant religion in Sindh before Islamic conquest. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Hindus constituted about 8% of the total population of Sindh province. Most of them live in urban areas such as Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpur Khas. Hyderabad is the largest centre of Sindhi Hindus in Pakistan, with 100,000–150,000 living there. The ratio of Hindus was higher before the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Many Hindus are migrating to India and other parts of the world; they are regarded as a minority in decline.
Jammu Division
The Jammu Division overall has a Hindu majority population – 62% of Jammu's population practise Hinduism, 33% practice Islam and most of the remainder are Sikhs. The Hindus form a majority in the Jammu, Kathua, Samba and Udhampur districts, and roughly half the population in the Reasi district. Most of Jammu's Hindus are native Dogras, Kashmiri Pandits as well as migrants from Kotli and Mirpur, and Punjabi Hindus. Many Sikhs are migrants from Pakistani Controlled Kashmir (from areas like Muzaffarabad and Punch sector areas annexed by Pakistan during 1947).
Hinduism in Pakistan
The rise of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan, such as Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and other minorities. It is said that there is persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan.
In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindu community in Karachi were attacked and evicted from their homes following an incident of a Dalit Hindu youth drinking water from a tap near an Islamic Mosque. In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down. 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.
Punjab, Pakistan
The population of Punjab (Pakistan) is estimated to be 97.21% Muslim with a Sunni Hanafi majority and Shia Ithna 'ashariyah minority. The largest non-Muslim minority is Christians and make up 2.31% of the population. The other minorities include Ahmadiyya, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and Bahá'í.
Punjabi Hindus
Punjabi Hindus are a group of people that follow Hinduism and have their roots and origin in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. In India, most Punjabi Hindus are concentrated in the state of Punjab, Delhi and the union territory of Chandigarh, with additional populations in parts of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. They also have significant presence in Jammu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Solangi Kharal
Hinduism was the predominant religion in Sindh before Islamic conquest. According to the 1998 census of Pakistan, Hindus constituted about 8% of the total population of Sindh province.[10] Most of them live in urban areas such as Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpur Khas. Hyderabad is the largest centre of Sindhi Hindus in Pakistan, with 100,000–150,000 living there.[10] The ratio of Hindus was higher before the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Many Hindus are migrating to India and other parts of the world; they are regarded as a minority in decline.[11]
Polba Dadpur
As per the 2011 census, majority of the population of the district belong to the Hindu community with a population share of 82.9% followed by Muslims at 15.8%. The percentage of the Hindu population of the district has followed a decreasing trend from 87.1% in 1961 to 82.9% in the latest census 2011. On the other hand, the percentage of Muslim population has increased from 12.7% in 1961 to 15.8% in 2011 census.
Hinduism by country
By total number, India has the most Hindus. By percentage, Nepal has the largest percentage of Hindu population in the world followed by India and Mauritius. There are an estimated 60 to 70 million Hindus who lived outside India in 2010. Only two countries in the world, in 2010, had a majority of its population as Hindus – Nepal and India. Guyana, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname have very large and influential Hindu minorities.
Persecution of Hindus
Hindu women have also been known to be victims of kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam. A member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan claimed in 2010, though without official record, that around 20 to 25 girls from the Hindu community, along with people from other minorities like Christians, are abducted every month and forcibly converted. Many Hindus are continuing to flee Pakistan even now due to persecution. Krishan Bheel, a Hindu member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, came into the news recently for manhandling Qari Gul Rehman after being taunted with a religious insult.
Human rights in Pakistan
Due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Hindus continue to flee to India. Most of them tend to settle in the state of Rajasthan in India. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, just around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013. 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.
Sikhism in Pakistan
According to the Government of Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), there were 6,146 Sikhs registered in Pakistan in 2012. Other sources, including the US Department of State, claim the Sikh population in Pakistan to be as high as 20,000.
Hinduism in Pakistan
Some Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to migrate to India. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, just around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013. 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.
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. Farahnaz Ispahani states that 23% of Pakistan's population, including Bangladesh, was non-Muslim minorities in 1947, the bulk of which was in East Pakistan which is now known as Bangladesh. Since the Partition of India, it has fallen to approximately 3% almost entirely due to the separation of East Pakistan and the resulting creation of Bangladesh . In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 22.05%. By 1997, the percentage of Hindus remained stable at 1.6% in Pakistan, while Bangladesh has witnessed a decline with Hindus migrating from it because of insecurity due to fear of persecution, conflict, communal violence (as a result of newly-created Bangladesh's assertion of its Muslim identity) and poverty. The percentage of Hindus in Bangladesh had dropped to 9.7% by 2011, with non-Muslims accounting for 10.2%
of the population.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Pakistan
Eastern Orthodoxy in Pakistan is a Christian denomination in the territory of Pakistan. In 2011, the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Pakistan was estimated at 500 people, representing approximately 0.0002% of the population. Eastern Orthodox Churches in the country are represented by:
There are five Eastern Orthodox parishes:
Punjabi Hindus
Punjabi Hindus suffered a great deal due to partition of Punjab in 1947. They were a minority in areas of Pakistan. Many of the Hindus/Sikhs had to move to East Punjab and Muslims to West Punjab. Estimates of a million people or more were killed in the riots following the partition and subsequent independence of Pakistan and later India from British colonial rule. Most of the Punjabi Hindus who moved from West Punjab settled in the areas which are now Indian state of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Western UP, and even as far as Mumbai and Calcutta.
Christmas traditions
Christianity in Pakistan constitutes the second largest religious minority community in Pakistan after Hindus. The total number of Christians is approximately 2,800,000 in 2008, or 1.6% of the population. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant. Christians celebrate Christmas by going from house to house singing carols, and in return the family offers something to the choir. Mostly the money collected from such carols is used for charity works or is given to the church. Their homes are decorated with local Christmas handicrafts while artificial stars signifying the Star of Bethlehem are hung on rooftops. Christmas celebrations are also popular with the urban middle class in the country with hotels, cafes, restaurants and theme parks hosting festivities and special events.
Shia–Sunni relations
Pakistan's citizens have had serious Shia-Sunni discord. Almost 80% of Pakistan's Muslim population is Sunni, with 20% being Shia, but this Shia minority forms the second largest Shia population of any country, larger than the Shia majority in Iraq.
Punjabi festivals
Punjabi festivals are various festive celebrations observed by Punjabis in Pakistan, India and the diaspora Punjabi community found worldwide. The Punjabis are a diverse group of people from different religious background that affects the festivals they observe. According to a 2007 estimate, the total population of Punjabi Muslims is about 90 million (~75% of all Punjabis), with 97% of Punjabis who live in Pakistan following Islam, in contrast to the remaining 30 million Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus who predominantly live in India.
1971 Bangladesh genocide
The Bengali people were the demographic majority in Pakistan, making up an estimated 75 million in East Pakistan, compared with 55 million in the predominantly Punjabi-speaking West Pakistan. The majority in the East were Muslim, with large minorities of Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. The West considered the people of the East to be second-class citizens, and Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, who served as head of the Pakistani Forces in East Pakistan in 1971, referred to the region as a "low-lying land of low-lying people".
Anti-Hindu sentiment
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' A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, 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. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan's past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today's students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.
Punjabi nationalism
As the nation, religion, and state are realities, because their functions, intentions, principles, purposes, reasons, rules, and utilities are different, therefore, now Punjabi nationalists are required to provide the consciousness of Punjabi ideology too, to the Pakistani Muslim Punjabi masses, that;After division of British India with creation of Pakistan, the Christian Punjabi community of Punjabi nation also opted the Pakistan as their state, therefore, revival of Punjabi nationalism in the biggest religious community in Punjabi nation, i.e.; Muslim Punjabi community of Punjabi nation will directly benefit the Christian Punjabi community of Punjabi nation due to creation of atmosphere and circumstances to accelerate the respectable social, economic and political interaction of Punjabi Muslims with the Punjabi Christians because, both the communities are part of same nation. For the purpose, Pakistani Christian Punjabis are required to determine that;The Pakistani Muslim Punjabi community of Punjabi nation and Christian Punjabi community of Punjabi nation are the 60% population of Pakistan and Punjabis has total control on the agricultural sector, trade sector, industrial sector, educational institutions, skilled professions, media organizations, political organizations, civil bureaucracy, military establishment and foreign affair institutions of Pakistan. But, due to only 2% population of India, the Hindu Punjabi community of Punjabi nation and Sikh Punjabi community of Punjabi nation is not in a position to dominate the state of India. However, to participate in the revival of Punjabi nationalism, Indian Hindu Punjabi community of Punjabi nation and Indian Sikh Punjabi community of Punjabi nation is also required to determine their role; 1. As a Punjabi 2. As a Hindu/Sikh Punjabi. 3. As an Indian Hindu/Sikh Punjabi.
Hinduism in Pakistan
The Pakistani Constitution reserves 10 seats for religious minorities to be filled by proportional representation among parties with more than 5% of the vote. Conventionally, Hindus were allotted 4 or 5 seats.
Human rights in Pakistan
The rise of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and discrimination against religious minorities in Pakistan, such as Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and other minorities. It is said that there is persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan. In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindu community in Karachi were attacked and evicted from their homes following an incident of a Dalit Hindu youth drinking water from a tap near an Islamic Mosque. In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down. 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.
South Asia
In 2010, South Asia had the world's largest population of Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, about 510 million Muslims, as well as over 25 million Buddhists and 35 million Christians. Hindus make up about 68 percent or about 900 million and Muslims at 31 percent or 510 million of the overall South Asia population, while Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Sikhs constitute most of the rest. The Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians are concentrated in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while the Muslims are concentrated in Afghanistan (99%), Bangladesh (90%), Pakistan (96%) and Maldives (100%).
Pakistani Americans
Although most Pakistani Americans are Muslims, there are also Hindus, Christians, and Zoroastrians within the community. Pakistani Christians, like Asian Christians, worship at churches all over the country and share in the religious life of the dominant Christian culture in America. Pakistani Hindus mainly share in the religious life of numerous Hindus from various nationalities, such as Indian American Hindus. Pakistani Hindus are mostly from Karachi. In recent times, Pakistani Zoroastrians (called Parsis) have come to the United States mainly from the cities of Lahore and Karachi. Apart from fellow Pakistanis, they also congregate with fellow Zoroastrian co-religionists from Iran.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan
It is estimated that 95% of Pakistanis are Muslims (75-95% Sunni, 5-20% Shia and 0.22-2.2% Ahmadi), while the remaining 5% includes Hindus, Christians and Sikhs. The Ahmadiyya have faced greater persecution since 1974 after being declared "non Muslims" over allegations that they do not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet.
Demographic history of Pakistan
After Partition of India in 1947, two-thirds of the Muslims resided in Pakistan (both east and West Pakistan) but a third resided in India. According to 1951 census, Dominion of Pakistan(both east and West Pakistan) had a population of 75 million population, in which West Pakistan had a population of 33.7 million and East Pakistan( modern Bangladesh) had a population of 42 million. In 1951, Hindus constituted 16% of the Pakistani population (this includes East Pakistan, modern day Bangladesh), which made Dominion of Pakistan the second biggest Hindu-population country after India. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 15% This exchange of population had different impact within Pakistan itself. The migration of Hindus and Sikh from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to India and the settlement of Muslim Punjabis from India in Punjab created homogeneity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Balochistan remained unaffected but exchange of population but shook the demographic balance in Sindh. Approximately 1.8 million Sindhi Hindus left for India and 3 million mainly Urdu speaking North Indian Muslim refugees settled mainly in urban Sindh. In 1954, Urdu speakers constituted 20% of the population of Sindh. Unlike the refugees settling in Punjab who spoke the same language and shared the same lifestyles the North Indian Muslims settling in Sindh were socially, linguistically, culturally, politically and economically different from Sindhis.
Punjab, India
Punjab has the largest population of Sikhs in India and is the only state where Sikhs form a majority with approximately 57.69 of the state population practicing Sikhism. Hinduism is second most popular religion in state of Punjab with 38.49 following it. Islam is followed by 1.93%, Christianity by 1.26%, Jainism by 0.16%, Buddhism by 0.12% and others 0.36%. Sikhs form a majority in 18 districts out of the total 22 districts while Hindus form the majority in 4 districts.
The Sikh shrine, Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple), is in the city of Amritsar, which houses the SGPC, the top most Sikh religious body. The Sri Akal Takht Sahib, which is within the Golden Temple complex, is the highest temporal seat of Sikhs. Of the five Takhts (Temporal Seats of religious authority) of Sikhism, three are in Punjab. These are Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Damdama Sahib and Anandpur Sahib. At least one Sikh Gurdwara can be found in almost every village in the state, as well as in the towns and cities (in various architectural styles and sizes). Before the advent of Islam, and later birth of Sikhism, Hinduism was the main religion practised by the Punjabi people. Due to non-exclusive nature of their religion, a segment of Punjabis who are categorised as Punjabi Hindus continue heterogeneous religious practices in spiritual kinship with Sikhism. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh Gurus in private practice but also visits to Sikh Gurdwaras in addition to Hindu temples.
2011 Census of India
The religious data on India Census 2011 was released by the Government of India on 25 August 2015. Hindus are 79.8% (966.3 million), while Muslims are 14.23% (172.2 million) in India. and Christians are 2.30% (28.7 million). According to the 2011 Census of India, there are 57,264 Parsis in India. For the first time, a "No religion" category was added in the 2011 census. 2.87 million were classified as people belonging to "No Religion" in India in the 2011 census 0.24% of India's population of 1.21 billion. Given below is the decade-by-decade religious composition of India until the 2011 census. There are six religions in India that have been awarded "National Minority" status - Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis. Sunnis, Shias, Bohras, Agakhanis and Ahmadiyyas were identified as sects of Islam in India. As per 2011 census, six major faiths- Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains make up over 99.4% of India's 1.21 billion population, while "other religions, persuasions" (ORP) count is 8.2 million. Among the ORP faiths, six faiths- 4.957 million-strong Sarnaism, 1.026 million-strong Gond, 506,000-strong Sari, Donyi-Polo (302,000) in Arunachal Pradesh, Sanamahism (222,000) in Manipur, Khasi (138,000) in Meghalaya dominate. Maharashtra is having the highest number of atheists in the country with 9,652 such people, followed by Kerala.Hindi is the most widely spoken language in northern parts of India. The Indian census takes the widest possible definition of "Hindi" as a broad variety of "Hindi languages". According to 2011 Census, 57.1% of Indian population know Hindi, in which 43.63% of Indian people have declared Hindi as their native language or mother tongue. The language data was released on 26 June 2018. Bhili/Bhilodi was the most spoken unscheduled language with 10.4 million speakers, followed by Gondi with 2.9 million speakers. 96.71% of India's population speaks one of the 22 scheduled languages as their mother tongue in the 2011 census.
Demographics of Karachi
According to a 1998 census of Pakistan, the religious breakdown of the city is as follows: Muslim (96.45%), Christian (2.42%), Hindu (0.86%), Ahmadis (0.17%) and other (0.10%). Other religious groups include Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Bahai, and Jews. Of the Muslims, approximately 73% are Sunnis and 27% are Shi'ites.
Panchla (community development block)
In 2011 census Hindus numbered 134,061 and formed 53.21% of the population in Panchla CD Block. Muslims numbered 117,444 and formed 46.62% of the population. Others numbered 425 and formed 0.17% of the population.
In 2011, Hindus numbered 3,535,844 and formed 72.90% of the population in Howrah district. Muslims numbered 1,270,641 and formed 26.20% of the population. In West Bengal Hindus numbered 64,385,546 and formed 70.53% of the population. Muslims numbered 24,654,825 and formed 27.01% of the population.
Demographics of Sindh
In Pakistan Sindhi is written in a modified Arabic script, where the majority of the Sindhi population is Muslim. Hindu Sindhis who migrated to India after independence (currently are about 2.7 million) still register their mother tongue as Sindhi, meanwhile 3 million Hindu Sindhis are living in Pakistan.
Human rights in Pakistan
Hindus in what is now Pakistan have declined from 23% of the total population in 1947 to 1.5% today. The report condemns Pakistan for systematic state-sponsored religious discrimination against Hindus through bigoted "anti-blasphemy" laws. It documents numerous reports of millions of Hindus being held as "bonded laborers" in slavery-like conditions in rural Pakistan, something repeatedly ignored by the Pakistani government.
Pakistan Hindu Panchayat
Hindus in Pakistan nowadays make 2% of the total population, roughly 3 million people. The Hindu minority has reserved seats in the National Assembly and can also vote for their local candidate.
Hindus are mainly concentrated in the Province of Sindh where they form around nearly 8% of the population.
2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election
As per the 2011 census, 57.69% of the state's population follows Sikhism, making Punjab the only Sikh majority state in India. Hindus form 38.5% of the population, while Muslims, 1.93%; Christians, 1.3%; Buddhists, 0.12%; and Jains, 0.16%. Dalits (Scheduled Castes) constitute 31.94% of the population, the highest percentage amongst all the states. Other Backward Classes (OBCs) like -Sainis, Sunar, Kambojs, Tarkhans/Ramgarhias, Gurjars, Kumhars/Prajapatis, Telis, Banjaras, Lohars constitute 20%- 25% of the population. Jat-Sikhs comprise 21% of the population while other forward castes (general category) - Brahmins, Khatris/Bhapas, Bania, Thakurs/Rajputs constitute around 20%. As of 2016, Government of India has not publicly released Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 "caste population data" for every single non-SC/ST castes (General castes, OBC/EBCs) in India.
Pakistan
At the time of the partition in 1947, Pakistan had a population of 32.5 million; the population increased by ~57.2% between the years 1990 and 2009. By 2030 Pakistan is expected to surpass Indonesia as the largest Muslim-majority country in the world. Pakistan is classified as a "young nation", with a median age of 23.4 in 2016; about 104 million people were under the age of 30 in 2010. In 2016 Pakistan's fertility rate was estimated to be 2.68, higher than its neighbour India (2.45). Around 35% of the people are under 15. The vast majority of those residing in southern Pakistan live along the Indus River, with Karachi being the most populous commercial city in the south. In eastern, western, and northern Pakistan, most of the population lives in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. During 1990–2008, city dwellers made up 36% of Pakistan's population, making it the most urbanised nation in South Asia, which increased to 38% by 2013. Furthermore, 50% of Pakistanis live in towns of 5,000 people or more.
Balochistan, Pakistan
According to the 1998 Census, Balochistan had a total population of 6,565,885 of which most (6,484,006) were Muslims. There were also Hindu and Christian minorities in the province. The 1998 Census recorded that the Hindu population in the province was approximately 39,000 (including the Scheduled Castes). There was also a Christian minority of 26,462 individuals in the province.67 ^
Sectarian violence in Pakistan
Pakistan, like India, is said to have at least 16 million Shias. A PEW survey in 2012 found that only 6% of Pakistani Muslims were Shia. Globally, Shia Islam constitutes 10–20% of the total Muslims, while the remaining 80%–90% practice Sunni Islam.
Partition of India
Due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Hindus continue to flee to India. Most of them tend to settle in the state of Rajasthan in India. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, just around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013. 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. Since India is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention it refuses to recognise Pakistani Hindu migrants as refugees.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan
Attacks on religious minorities in Pakistan have claimed hundreds of lives of religious minorities, such as Pakistani Ahmadis, Hindus, Sufis and Christians. Hindu women have also been known to be victims of kidnapping and forced conversion to Islam. An official of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in 2010 that around 20 to 25 Hindu girls are abducted every month and forcibly converted to Islam. A Pakistan Muslim League politician has stated that abduction of Hindus and Sikhs is a business in Pakistan, along with conversions of Hindus to Islam. Forced conversion, rape, and forced marriages of Hindu women in Pakistan have recently become very controversial in Pakistan. Sadiq Bhanbhro, Researcher on Public Health and Gender-Based Violence at Sheffield Hallam University commented he found reports of 286 girls forcibly converted from 2012 to 2017 in English-language dailies, though this number is likely higher. South Asia Partnership Pakistan has stated that every year at least 1,000 girls mostly belonging to the Hindu community are forcibly converted annually. Amarnath Motumal who works for Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has stated that 20 to 25 were kidnapped and converted every month.
Pashtunistan
Depending on the source, the ethnic Pashtuns constitute 42-60% of the population of Afghanistan. In neighboring Pakistan they constitute 15.42 percent of the 190 million population, which includes the Hindkowans. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, Pashto speakers constitute above 73 percent of the population as of 1998.
1951 Census of India
Separate figures for Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi were not issued, due to the fact the returns were intentionally recorded incorrect in states such as East Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, PEPSU, and Bilaspur.
Hindus comprises 306 million(84.1%) and Muslims were 34 million(9.8%) in 1951 census. 1951 Indian census showed that there were 8.3 million Christians. Hindus comprised about 66 per cent of the population of India before partition.
Religious discrimination in Pakistan
Religious discrimination in Pakistan is a serious issue in modern day Pakistan. Christians, Hindus, Atheists and Ahmadi Muslims among other religious groups in Pakistan are routinely discriminated against. They are at times refused jobs, loans, housing and other similar things simply because of their choice of religious faith. Christian churches and Ahmadi worship places and their worshippers are often attacked. At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'hostage 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. 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".
Religious discrimination in Pakistan
In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 16% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (modern Bangladesh) had 4.05%. By 1997, the percentage of Hindus remained stable at 3.02% in Bangladesh, while it dropped to 14.05% in Pakistan.
Punjabi nationalism
Pakistani Muslim Punjabis are the majority population of Pakistan and they have total control on the agricultural sector, trade sector, industrial sector, educational institutions, skilled professions, media organizations, political organizations, civil bureaucracy, the military establishment and foreign affair institutions of Pakistan. However, since the creation of Pakistan, Pakistani Muslim Punjabis have felt uncomfortable and upset due to the insulting attitude and behavior with Pakistani Muslim Punjabis regarding social respect and regard of Punjabi people by the non-Punjabi Muslims, victimization with the Punjabis in Sind, Karachi, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, hurdles in socioeconomic stability of the Pakistani Muslim Punjabi community in Pakistan, conspiracies in the prosperity and integrity of Punjab by the non-Punjabi Muslims of Pakistan.
Pakistan
The Ahmadis, a small minority representing 0.22–2% of Pakistan's population, are officially considered non-Muslims by virtue of the constitutional amendment. The Ahmadis are particularly persecuted, especially since 1974 when they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. In 1984, Ahmadiyya places of worship were banned from being called "mosques". , 12% of Pakistani Muslims self-identify as non-denominational Muslims. There are also several Quraniyoon communities.
Separatist movements of Pakistan
In 2009, the Pew Research Center conducted a Global Attitudes survey across Pakistan, in which it questioned respondents whether they viewed their primary identity as Pakistani or that of their ethnicity. The sample covered an area representing 90% of the adult population, and included all major ethnic groups. According to the findings, 6% of Punjabis identified themselves first as Pakistanis, as did 2% each of Pashtuns and Muhajirs; 5% of Sindhis chose a Pakistani identification, while 84% chose Sindhi and 16% selected "both equally"; whereas 3% of Baloch respondents chose Pakistani and 97% selected their ethnicity. Collectively, only 8% of the sample opted their primary identity as Pakistani. Similarly in 2010, Chatham House conducted an opinion poll in the Pakistani and Indian-administered regions of Kashmir asking respondents if they favoured independence or an accession to either countries; in Azad Kashmir, 2% of respondents voted for all of Kashmir to accede to Pakistan, 14% voted for independence, and 86% voted for accession to India. In the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan, longstanding local sentiments oppose any merger of the area with Kashmir, and instead demand a constitutional integration with Pakistan.
Religion in Pakistan
Based on information collected from the Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, CIA World Factbook, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania, U.S. State Department and others, the following is a list of estimations about the percentage of people professing different faiths in the country. These estimations vary considerably from source to source, depending on methods of research and databases that were used.
As of 2012, around 5,900,000 Pakistanis of non-Muslim faiths were holding the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC cards) from National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), which can only be obtained by citizens over 18 years of age. It is estimated that some 96% adult Pakistanis currently hold CNIC cards, and therefore the total adult population of non-Muslim religions seems to be over 3 million. Of the minority CNIC holders, 1,414,527 were Hindus (769,647 males and 644,880 females), 1,270,051 were Christians (731,713 males and 538,338 females), 125,681 were Ahmadi Muslims (63,479 males and 62,202 females), 33,734 were Bahais, 6,146 were Sikhs, 4,020 were Parsis, 1,492 were Buddhist and 66,898 were others (such as Kalasha Animists). NADRA has made it near impossible to declare and change the religion to anything from Islam therefore the statistics must be looked at with a pinch of salt.
Hinduism in Pakistan
In 2006, Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla became the first Hindu woman elected to the Senate of Pakistan. Though there is reservation for women in Pakistan National Assembly, not a single seat was allotted for non-Muslim women till 2018. In 2018, Krishna Kumari Kohli, a Hindu woman became the first non-Muslim women to win a women reserved seat in Senate of Pakistan.
Freedom of religion in Pakistan
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. 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. Pakistan is 96% Muslim, and most provinces are overwhelmingly Muslim, Pakistan's most religiously diverse province is Sindh with an 8% religious minority population (predominantly Hindus and also Christians) and there is significant protection within Sindh province against forced conversions against one's will.
Pakistan
Christians formed the next largest religious minority, after Hindus, with a population of 2,092,902, according to the 1998 census. They were followed by the Bahá'í Faith, which had a following of 30,000, then Sikhism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, each back then claiming 20,000 adherents, and a very small community of Jains. There is a Roman Catholic community in Karachi that was established by Goan and Tamil migrants when Karachi's infrastructure was being developed by the British during the colonial administration between World War I and World War II. The influence of atheism is very small, with 1.0% of the population identifying as atheist in 2005. However, the figure rose to 2.0% in 2012 according to Gallup.
1950 East Pakistan riots
In August 1947, the erstwhile British India was partitioned into the Dominions of India and Pakistan on the basis of religion. Pakistan was to become the homeland for the Muslims of former British India with a majority Muslim population. The province of Bengal with a marginal Muslim majority was also partitioned with the Muslim majority East Bengal going to Pakistan and Hindu majority West Bengal going to India. The Sylhet district of Assam was added to East Bengal after the Sylhet Referendum where the majority voted for Pakistan. According to the 1941 census, East Bengal had 24.5% non-Muslim population, the majority of them being Bengali Hindus. West Bengal has a 30.2% Muslim population, the rest were Hindus.
Ethnic groups in Pakistan
Punjabis are numbered as 91 million and they are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan by population. The Punjabis found in Pakistan belong to groups known as biradaris. In addition, Punjabi society is divided into two divisions, the zamindar groups or qoums, traditionally associated with farming and the moeens, who are traditionally artisans. Some zamindars are further divided into groups such as the Rajputs, Jats, Shaikhs or Muslim Khatris, Khandowas, Gujjars, Awans, Arains and Syeds. People from neighbouring regions, such as Kashmiris, Pashtuns and Baluch, also form sizeable portion of the Punjabi population. A large number of punjabis descend from the groups historically associated with skilled professions and crafts such as Sunar, Lohar, Kumhar, Tarkhan, Julaha, Mochi, Hajjam, Chhimba Darzi, Teli, Lalari, Qassab, Mallaah, Dhobi, Mirasi etc.
Hinduism in Bangladesh
Senator Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that was part of United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations testimony dated 1 November 1971, "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked "H". All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad". In the same report, Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as UNESCO and World Health Organization the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million. Given that the Hindu population in East Pakistan was around 11 million in 1971, this suggests that up to 8 million, or more than 70% of the Hindu population had fled the country.
Hinduism in Bangladesh
A significant portion of the middle-class, urban Hindu population left the region that is now Bangladesh immediately after the partition in 1947 when East Pakistan came into existence. Many of these East Bengali refugees went on to contribute actively to Indian society after their migration. In 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh from Pakistan, a similar scenario happened. But even after 1971, Hindu population has continued to decline and currently they form 8.96% of the population. According to a study by Pew Research Organisation, Hindus will constitute 7% of the population of Bangladesh by 2050, while Muslims will form 92% of the population.
Punjabis
Following the independence of Pakistan and the subsequent partition of British India, a process of population exchange took place in 1947 as Muslims began to leave India and headed to the newly created Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs left Pakistan for the newly created state of India. As a result of these population exchanges, both parts are now relatively homogeneous, where religion is concerned.In 2017 places the total population of Punjabi Muslims to be 110,012,442 (~75% of all Punjabis), with 97% of Punjabis who live in Pakistan following Islam, in contrast to Punjabi Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus who predominantly live in India.
Khalistan movement
British India was partitioned on a religious basis in 1947 and Punjab province was divided between India and newly created Pakistan. A majority of the Sikhs along with the Hindus migrated from the Pakistani province of Punjab to the Indian province of Punjab, which then included present-day Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The Sikh population that in 1941 was as high as 19.8% in some districts of Pakistan, dropped to 0.1% in all of them, and it rose sharply in the districts assigned to India. They were still a minority in the Punjab province of India, which remained a Hindu-majority province.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan
Hindus in Pakistan are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to flee to India. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, just around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013. 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.
Hinduism in Pakistan
There has been 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, with some converting to Islam to get rid of the caste system of Hinduism, with some converts attracted to pious Muslim saints, while others converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement, or freedom from slavery and many converted by force. 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.
Punjabis
The total number of Punjabi Christians in Pakistan is approximately 2,800,000 and 300,000 in Indian Punjab. Of these, approximately half are Roman Catholic and half Protestant. Many of the modern Punjabi Christians are descended from converts during British rule; initially, conversions to Christianity came from the "upper levels of Punjab society, from the privileged and prestigious", including "high caste" Hindu families, as well as Muslim families. However, other modern Punjabi Christians have converted from Churas. The Churas were largely converted to Christianity in North India during the British raj. The vast majority were converted from the Mazhabi Sikh communities of Punjab, and to a lesser extent Hindu Churas; under the influence of enthusiastic British army officers and Christian missionaries. Consequently, since the independence they are now divided between Pakistani Punjab and Indian Punjab. Large numbers of Mazhabi Sikhs were also converted in the Moradabad district and the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. Rohilkhand saw a mass conversion of its entire population of 4500 Mazhabi Sikhs into the Methodist Church. Sikh organisations became alarmed at the rate of conversions among high caste Sikh families, and as a result, they responded by immediately dispatching Sikh missionaries to counteract the conversions.
South Asian Canadians
Canadians from South Asian tend to be significantly more religious than Canadians as a whole, with only 4% claiming to have no religion compared in 17% of Canadians in 2001. In addition 28% of Canadians from South Asia were Sikh, 28% Hindu, 22% Muslim and 16% Christian. Religious affiliation can vary greatly based on nationality as well. The majority of Pakistani Canadians and Bangladeshi Canadians profess to follow Islam, while the majority of Sri Lankan Canadians are Hindu with a significant minority following Christianity. Indian Canadians are split between Sikhs and Hindus with large minorities being Christian and Muslim as well. Nepalese Canadians tend to mostly follow Hindu with few of them following Buddhism.There are also a sizeable community of Canadians from South Asia adhering to religions such as Jainism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism.
Minorities in Pakistan
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: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. Other estimates put the numbers higher. Historically, there was also a small contingent of Jews in Pakistan who emigrated to Israel in 1948.
Sindhi Hindus
Hinduism, as in other areas of the Indian Subcontinent, was the earliest religion predominantly practiced in the Sindh region in modern-day Pakistan. The region of Sindh has historically been, and still is, home to the largest community of Hindus in Pakistan. Following the Arab Muslim conquest in the 8th century, Islam spread throughout the region and over the period of time Islam became the faith practiced by the majority of Sindhi people. The Islamic religion, coupled with traditional influences and exposure to and interaction with Hinduism, has shaped the diverse Sindhi culture. Starting with Muhammad bin Qasim and Habbari dynasty, the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire ruled the region. After the partition of India in 1947, the majority of Sindhi Hindus migrated to India, and settled primarily in neighboring Gujarat and the city of Mumbai, where their population is estimated to be 3 million. There are also sizable Sindhi Hindu communities elsewhere in the world, sometimes termed, the 'Sindhi diaspora'.
Human rights in Pakistan
In Pakistan, 1.5% of the population are Christian. Pakistani law mandates that any "blasphemies" of the Quran are to be met with punishment. On July 28, 1994, Amnesty International urged Pakistan's Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto to change the law because it was being used to terrorize religious minorities. She tried, but was unsuccessful. However, she modified the laws to make them more moderate. Her changes were reversed by the Nawaz Sharif administration which was backed by religious political parties.
Religion in Pakistan
The state religion in Pakistan is Islam, which is practiced by 96% of the population. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Pakistan constitution. The Pakistani constitution established a fundamental right in which all Pakistani citizens irrespective of Religions have equal rights. The remaining 4% practice Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and other religions.
Islam in Pakistan
About 97% of Pakistanis are Muslims. Pakistan has the second largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. The majority are Sunni (75–95%) while Shias make up between 5–15% and Ahmadis (considered by the constitution of Pakistan to be non-Muslims) are 1%.
Human rights in Pakistan
Pakistan's citizens have had serious Shia-Sunni discord. An estimated 75–95% of Pakistan's Muslim population is Sunni, while an estimated 5–20% is Shia, but this Shia minority forms the second largest Shia population of any country, larger than the Shia majority in Iraq. Although relations between Shia and Sunni were once cordial, some see a precursor of Pakistani Shia–Sunni strife in the April 1979 execution of deposed President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on questionable charges by Islamic fundamentalist General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who subsequently took over as dictator of Pakistan. Zia ul-Haq was a Sunni.
Islam in Pakistan
According to the CIA World Factbook and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 95-97% of the total population of Pakistan is Muslim.
The majority of the Pakistani Muslims belong to the Sunni Hanafi Madhhab (school of jurisprudence). Estimates on the Sunni population in Pakistan range from 75% to 95%.
Punjabis
The Punjabi-speaking people make 2.8% of India's population as of 2001. The total number of Indian Punjabis is unknown due to the fact that ethnicity is not recorded in the Census of India. The Sikhs are largely concentrated in the modern-day state of Punjab forming 57.7% of the population with Hindus forming 38.5%. Ethnic Punjabis are believed to account for at least 35% of Delhi's total population and are predominantly Hindi-speaking Punjabi Hindus. In Chandigarh, 80.78% people of the population are Hindus, 13.11% are Sikhs, 4.87% are Muslims and minorities are Christians, Buddhists and Jains.
Punjab, India
The undivided Punjab, of which Pakistani Punjab forms a major region today, was home to a large minority population of Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs until 1947, apart from the Muslim majority.
Shia Islam in Pakistan
The Shia population in Pakistan is estimated as being 5-20% of the country's total population. Pakistan is said to have a Shia population of at least 16 million, like India. However, Vali Nasr claims the Shia population to be as high as 30 million. A PEW survey in 2012 found that 6% of those who responded to its survey in Pakistan declared themselves as Shia.
Demographics of Pakistan
Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school, although there are some Hanbalis and Ahlul Hadeeth. The majority of Shia Muslims belong to the Ithnā‘Ashariyyah branch, while a smaller number practice Ismailism. There are small non-Muslim religious groups, including Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Bahá'ís and Zoroastrians (Parsis).
Hinduism in Pakistan
District with 2% or more Hindus per 1998 census,
Demographics of Punjab, India
According to the 2011 Census of India, Punjab has a population of around 27.7 million. Sikhism is the most practiced faith in Punjab, practiced by 16 million people representing 57.69% of the population of Punjab population. Around 10.67 million of the population i.e 38.49% practices Hinduism. Other faiths include Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Jainism.
Punjabi Muslims
Punjabi Muslims ( ; also spelled "Panjabi") are a linguistic, geographic and religious ethnic group living in the region of Punjab, primarily in eastern Pakistan. Forming the majority of the Punjabi ethnicity, Punjabi Muslims are those who profess Islam and speak the Punjabi language. With a population of more than 90 million they are the largest ethnic group in Pakistan and the third largest Muslim ethnicity, after Arabs and Bengalis. The majority of Punjabi Muslims are adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam. A minority adheres to Shia and other sects, including the Ahmadiyya community which originated in Punjab.
Religion in Pakistan
Hinduism is the second largest religion in Pakistan after Islam, according to the 1998 Census. , Pakistan had the fifth largest Hindu population in the world and PEW predicts that by 2050 Pakistan will have the fourth largest Hindu population in the world. In the 1998 Census the Hindu (jati) population was found to be 2,111,271 while the Hindu (scheduled castes) numbered an additional 332,343. Data on religion from the 2017 Census has not been released (2018). Hindus are found in all provinces of Pakistan but are mostly concentrated in Sindh. According to the last census held in 1998, 93% of Hindus live in Sindh, 5% in Punjab and nearly 2% in Balochistan. They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Sansi, Vaghri and Gujarati.
National Congress (Pakistan, Bangladesh)
While partition riots and mass migration had significantly reduced the Hindu and Sikh population in West Pakistan, Hindus still constituted twenty percent of the population of East Bengal (also East Pakistan). Consequently, the PNC's base and organisation were concentrated in that province of Pakistan. In the 1954 elections held for the East Bengal Legislative Assembly, the Pakistan National Congress won 28 seats.
Pakistan Hindu Council
Pakistan Hindu council is the representative body of all Hindus of Pakistan.
Demographics of Pakistan
According to the CIA World Factbook, Library of Congress, Oxford University, over 97% of the population of Pakistan is Muslim and the remaining 3% is Christian, Hindu and others. Majority of the Muslims practice Sunni with a significant minority of Shi'as.
Pakistan
At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'hostage theory' gained currency. 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. However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the second Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: Some Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to migrate to India. Pakistani Hindus faced riots after the Babri Masjid demolition, endured a massacre (in 2005) by security forces in Balochistan, and have experienced other attacks, forced conversions, and abductions.
Ahmadiyya in Pakistan
Between 0.22% and 2.2% of Pakistan's population is Ahmadi. Hence Pakistan is the home to the largest population of Ahmadis in the world. The city of Rabwah in Punjab, Pakistan used to be the global headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Community before they were moved to England. The Ahmadiyya population in Pakistan has often come under persecution and discrimination by the Sunni majority.
Sikhism in India
As per the latest figures of 2011 census, India has Sikh Population of 2.08 crores (20.8 million), which is only 1.72% of the country's total population. Out of the total Sikhs in India, 77% are concentrated in state of Punjab. Sikhism is the dominant religion in Punjab, where it is followed by 58% of the population, the only Indian state where Sikhism is the majority faith.
Hinduism in Pakistan
In February 2016, the Sindh Assembly approved the Hindu Marriage Bill for millions of Hindus living in Sindh. The bill paves the way for regulations on registration of marriages and divorce for Hindus and fixes the minimum marrying age for males and females at 18 years-old. In September 2016, the National Assembly of Pakistan also unanimously approved the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016. The Senate of Pakistan unanimously passed the bill in February 2017. In March 2017, the Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain passed the Hindu Marriage Bill thereby making it a law. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also mentioned that the marriage registrars will be established in areas where Hindus stay.
Hinduism in Pakistan
Although small in numbers, Hinduism in Pakistan is not less complex than in other parts of the world. 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 is located in the Sindhi city of Thando Allah Yar. A growing number of urban Hindu youths in Pakistan associate themselves with ISKCON society. Other communities worship manifold Mother Goddesses as their clan or family patrons. 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.
Persecution
Persecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus. Hindus have been historically persecuted during the Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during Portuguese rule of Goa. In modern times, Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh have also suffered persecution. Most recently, thousands of Hindus from Sindh province in Pakistan have been fleeing to India voicing fear for their safety. After the Partition of India in 1947, there were 8.8 million Hindus in Pakistan (excluding Bangladesh) in 1951. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22% of the Pakistani population (including present-day Bangladesh which formed part of Pakistan). Today, the Hindu minority amounts to 1.7 percent of Pakistan's population.
The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. While estimates of the number of casualties was 3,000,000, it is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan. An article in "Time" magazine dated 2 August 1971, stated "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred." Senator Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that was part of United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations testimony dated 1 November 1971, "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked "H". All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad". In the same report, Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as UNESCO and World Health Organization the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million. In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored", Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sydney Schanberg wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972. "Other reminders were the yellow "H"s the Pakistanis had painted on the homes of Hindus, particular targets of the Muslim army" (by "Muslim army", meaning the Pakistan Army, which had targeted Bengali Muslims as well), (Newsday, 29 April 1994).
In Bangladesh, on 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Vice President of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for the war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked the Hindus in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire. The violence included the looting of Hindu properties and businesses, the burning of Hindu homes, the rape of Hindu women, and the desecration and destruction of, according to community leaders, more than 50 Hindu temples; 1,500 Hindu homes were destroyed in 20 districts. While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on the minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. The minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed the law enforcement to start "suo motu" investigation into the attacks. US Ambassador to Bangladesh express concern about attack of Jamaat on Bengali Hindu community.
Hinduism in Pakistan
Hindus are allotted separate electorates to vote and seats in the provincial assemblies, National Assembly and the Senate. The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, Pakistan Hindu Council 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. There are minority commissions and for a while, a Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Government of Pakistan looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities.
Demographics of Pakistan
Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, the "lingua franca" chosen to facilitate communication between the country's diverse linguistic populations. Although only about 7.5% of Pakistanis speak it as their first language, it is spoken as a second and often third language by nearly all Pakistanis.
Sindhis in India
After the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, the majority of the minority Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan migrated to India while the Muslim migrants from India settled down in Pakistan. Approximately 6 million Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India while nearly an equal number of Muslims migrated to Pakistan from India. Hindu Sindhis were expected to stay in Sindh following the independence, as there were good relations between Hindu and Muslim Sindhis. At the time of independence there were 1,400,000 Hindu Sindhis, though most were concentrated in cities such as Hyderabad, Karachi, Shikarpur, and Sukkur. However, because of insecurity in Pakistan, and most of all, a sudden influx of Muslim refugees who escaped from communal riots in Bombay State, United Provinces, Bihar, Central Provinces, Hyderabad State, Rajputana and other parts of India, many Sindhi Hindus decided to leave Pakistan.