Hinduism in Pakistan


Hinduism is the second largest religion in Pakistan after Islam. Pakistan gained independence from Britain in 1947, and in the first census afterwards in 1951, Hindus made 1.6% of the total population of West Pakistan, and 22% of East Pakistan. However, before partition, according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14% of the Population in West Pakistan and 28% of the Population in East Pakistan. According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, Hindus made up 1.85% of Pakistan's population, although the Pakistan Hindu Council claims there are around 8 million Hindus currently living in Pakistan, comprising 4% of the Pakistani population. As of 2010, Pakistan has the fifth-largest Hindu population in the world and by 2050 may rise to the fourth-largest Hindu population in the world, reaching 5.6 million and constituting 2% of the Pakistani population. However, voluntary as well as forced religious conversions have brought down the number of Hindus in Pakistan by up to 1,000 per year.
After Pakistan gained independence from the British Raj, 4.7 million of West Pakistan's Hindus and Sikhs moved to India as refugees. Hindus in Pakistan are primarily concentrated in Sindh, where the majority of Hindu enclaves are found in Pakistan. They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Sansi, Vaghri, and Gujarati. Although small in numbers, Hindus in Pakistan are not less complex than in other parts of the world. Many Hindus, especially in the rural areas, follow the teachings of local Sufi pīrs 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. 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.
One of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Pakistan is the shrine of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan. The annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.

History

Ancient ages

The Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan on the banks of the Indus River around 1500 BCE. Various archaeological finds such as the Swastika symbol, Yogic postures, what appears to be like a "Pasupati" image that was found on the seals of the people of Mohenjo-daro, in Sindh, point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism. 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.
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 peoples, are also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Many Pakistani city names have Sanskrit roots.

During 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. However, 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".
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, over 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs from West Pakistan left for India, and 6.5 million Muslims chose to migrate to Pakistan. 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. That over 1 million 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.

Demography

After Pakistan gained independence from Britain on 14August 1947, 4.7 million of the country's Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India. In 1947, Hindus constituted 12.9% of Pakistan, which made Pakistan the second-largest Hindu-population country after India. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan had 1.3% Hindu population, while East Pakistan had 22.05%. 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. The 1998 census of Pakistan recorded 2,443,614 Hindus, which. Hindus constitute about 1.6 percent of the total population of Pakistan in 1998 and about 7.5% in the Sindh province.
In 1956, the government of Pakistan declared 32 castes and tribes, the majority of them Hindus, to be scheduled castes, including Kohlis, Meghawars, and Bheels. The Pakistan Census separates members of scheduled castes, 0.25% of the national population, from other Hindus.
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.
According to estimates in Religious Minorities in Pakistan's Elections, the Hindus have a population of 50,000 or more in 11 districts.All of these are in Sindh except one district Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab.

Hindu population by province

The percent of population of Hindus in the provinces in Pakistan, according to the 1998 census:

Hindu population by district

All districts with a Hindu population greater than 2%, according to the 1998 census. In other districts the population of Hindus is less than 1%.
Administrative UnitDistrictPercentage of Hindus
SindhUmerkot47.6%
SindhTharparkar40.5%
SindhMirpurkhas32.7%
SindhSanghar20%
SindhBadin19.9%
SindhHyderabad12%
SindhGhotki6.7%
SindhJacobabad3.5%
SindhSukkur3%
SindhKhairpur2.9%
SindhNawabshah2.8%
SindhThatta2.8%
SindhDadu2%
PunjabRahim Yar Khan2.3%

In other districts the population of Hindus is less than 1%.

Religious, social and political institutions

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. The Pakistan Hindu Council runs 13 schools across Tharparkar and also conducts mass wedding of poor Hindu couples.
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.
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. And a new ministry Ministry for National Harmony was formed for the protection of the rights of the minorities in Pakistan. But soon in 2013,the Ministry of National Harmony was merged with the Ministry of Religious Affairs despite opposition from the minorities.

Politics

The Constitution's Article 51 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 and four seats for non-Muslims in the Senate of Pakistan. 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. Although a bill for increasing minorities' seats was introduced by Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, it was not passed. Political parties Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party is against giving reserved seats for minorities.
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.
In 2006, Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla became the first Hindu woman elected to the Senate of Pakistan. Although there is reservation of seats 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.
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 in Pakistan national assembly. 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 in a provincial assembly election.

Hindu Communities

Tamil Hindus

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. The Drigh Road and Korangi also have a small Tamil Hindu population

Kalasha people

The Kalasha people practice an ancient form of Hinduism mixed with animism. They are considered as a different ethnic religion people by the Pakistan government. They reside in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Nanakpanthi

are Hindus who revere Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism along with Hindu gods. Today, a large fraction of Sindhi Hindus consider themselves Nanakpanthi.

Valmiki Hindus

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.

Community life

According to a study, the majority of the scheduled caste Hindus in Pakistan have experienced discrimination. The discrimination is higher in Southern Punjab compared to the rest of the country. The study found that majority of the respondents in Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them. The study also found that the scheduled caste Hindu women are most vulnerable to sexual abuse by Muslim men and young girls are lured into matrimony or abducted and wed through forced conversions.
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. However, in Khuzdar District and Kalat District, Hindus face discrimination.
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. 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 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
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.
The Indus river is a holy river to many Hindus, and the Government of Pakistan periodically allows small groups of Hindus from India to make pilgrimage and take part in festivities in Sindh and Punjab. Rich Pakistani Hindus go to India and release their loved ones' remains into the Ganges. Those who cannot afford the trip go to Churrio Jabal Durga Mata temple in Nagarparkar.

Education

According to the Pakistan’s National Council for Justice and Peace report the average literacy rate among Hindu is 34 percent, Hindu is 19 percent compared to the national average of 46.56 percent.

The majority of the Hindus in Pakistan are well educated and are active in trade, commerce and civil service.

Hindu marriage acts

In February 2016, the Provincial Assembly of Sindh approved the Sindh Hindu Marriage Bill for millions of Hindus living in the Sindh Province. 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. At federal level,a Hindu Marriage Bill was proposed in 2016, which was unanimously approved by the National Assembly of Pakistan in 2016 and by the Senate of Pakistan in 2017. 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. The federal law was accepted by all provinces of Pakistan exception Sindh, which has a separate legislation for Hindu marriage.Thus there are two laws in Pakistan governing Hindu marriages– one for Sindh and other for the rest of the country. The Sindh Hindu Marriage Bill was amended in 2018 to include divorce rights, remarriage rights and financial security of the wife and children after divorce.
However, many have criticised the Clause 12 of the Hindu Marriage Bill which says that "a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion". There are fears the clause would be misused for forced conversions of married women the same way young girls are being subjected to forced conversions.

Temples

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.
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. 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.
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.
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.

Reopened Temples

The Goraknath Temple which was closed in the 1947 was reopened in 2011 after a court ruling which ordered the Evacuee Trust Property Board to open it. In 2019,the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that his government will reclaim and restore 400 temples to Hindus. Following this,the 1,000-Year-Old Shivala Teja Singh temple in Sialkot and a 100-year-old Hindu temple in Balochistan was reopened.

Important pilgrimage centres in Pakistan

In 2014, a Hindu temple and a dharmashala in Larkana district in Sindh was attacked by a crowd of Muslims. In 2019,three Hindu temples were vandalised in Ghotki district in Sindh over blasphemy accusations.
In 2020, a Hindu temple in Chachro, Tharparkar district in Sindh was vandalised by miscreants.Miscreants desecrated the idols and set fire to holy scriptures.

Conversions

Some minor Hindu girls in Pakistan are kidnapped, forcibly converted and married to Muslims, although some cases of Hindu girls defying their families wishes by eloping with Muslim men have been reported as forced conversions by the girls' families. According to the Pakistan Hindu Council, forced conversions remain the foremost reason for the declining population of Hindus in Pakistan. Religious institutions and persons like Abdul Haq 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. According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council 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. According to the Amarnath Motumal, the vice chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, every month, an estimated 20 or more Hindu girls are abducted and converted, although exact figures are impossible to gather. In 2014 alone, 265 legal cases of forced conversion were reported mostly involving Hindu girls.
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 the Islamist groups and parties like the Council of Islamic Ideology and Jamaat-e-Islami.
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.
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. Korean Christian missionaries are also very active in Sindh, who have built schools from Badin to Tharparkar. Korean Christian missionaries have allegedly converted more than 1,000 Hindu families in 2012 alone. According to the Sono Kangharani, member of Pakistan Dalit Network, the Korean missionaries have been active in the area from 2011 and these missionaries don't 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.

Decline and persecution

Decline

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, some converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement, or freedom from slavery and some 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.
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, around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013. In May 2014, a member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, revealed in the National Assembly of Pakistan that around 5,000 Hindus are migrating from Pakistan to India every year.
Those Pakistani Hindus who have migrated to India allege that Hindu girls are sexually harassed in Pakistani schools and their religious practices are mocked. 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.
Many Hindus voluntarily 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 2009–11 by the Madrassa Baitul Islam, a Deobandi seminary in Matli, which pays off the debts of Hindus converting to Islam. Another example is the conversion of 250 Hindus to Islam in Chohar Jamali area in Thatta. Conversions are also carried out by Baba Deen Mohammad Shaikh mission which converted 108,000 people to Islam since 1989.

Discrimination

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. Until 1999, when former military chief Pervez Musharaf overthrew Nawaz 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.
The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, a coalition of Islamist political parties in Pakistan, calls for the increased Islamization of the government and society, specifically taking an anti-Hindu stance. The MMA leads the opposition in the national assembly, held a majority in the NWFP Provincial Assembly, and was part of the ruling coalition in Balochistan. However, some members of the MMA made efforts to eliminate their rhetoric against Hindus.
In the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, widespread retaliatory riots erupted against Hindus. Mobs attacked scores of Hindu temples across Pakistan. Shops owned by Hindus were also attacked in Sukkur, Sindh. Hindu homes and temples were also attacked in Quetta.
The rise of Taliban insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and non-Muslims 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. Between 2011 and 2012, twenty three Hindus were kidnapped for ransom and 13 Hindus were killed as a part of targeted killings of non-Muslims 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.

Pakistan Studies curriculum issues

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."
In 1975, Islamiat or Islamic studies was made compulsory, resulting that a large number of minority students being forced to study Islamic Studies. In 2015,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced Ethics as an alternative subject to Islamiat for non-Muslim schoolchildren in the province followed by Sindh in 2016.

Prominent Pakistani Hindus