Status of minorities in Pakistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pakistan is a very diverse society with various ethnic and religious minorities.
Contents |
[edit] The Mohajirs (Migrants)
At time of Partition of British India in 1947, there were reports of ill-treatment of Mohajirs by Hindus and Sikhs on their way(India) to Pakistan, (Mohajirs: Muslims who migrated to Pakistan from other parts of undivided India during the Partition of 1947).Initially they suffered due to economic hindrances and obstacles to progress later they managed well and came to hold most positions of power in the civil bureaucracy. This began to cause friction in socciety. In the 1960s with the coming of General Ayub Khan and shifting of the capital from Karachi to Islamabad, Mohajirs sensed a conspiracy to deprive them of their rights. Meanwhile, other communities already had a lingering sense of Mohajirs having far more prominence and power than their numbers deserved. This sense of deprivation and anger increased with time during the 1980s when it reached its peak with establishment of a party representing the Mohajirs namely MQM. Since then the Mohajirs have systematically gained their rights and status in Pakistan politically as well as through the democratic process and currently Mohajirs enjoy a relatively good socio-econmomic environment in Pakistan. The current president of Pakistan General Parvez Musharaf happens to be a mohajir as well as Prime Minister & Governor of Sindh.
[edit] Status of religious minorities
According to the 1973 constitution of Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya, a minor sect that broke away from Islam, have been excommunicated from Islam. Since Pervez Musharraf took power in a coup d'état and assumed the title of President of Pakistan on June 20, 2001 people belonging to the Ahmadiyya sect have been promoted in both the military and civil government at the expense of Muslims. This together with the fact that his wife is a Begum Sehba Musharraf belongs to the Ahmadiyya sect has lead some to believe that.
In August 1947, at the end of British Raj, the population percentage of Hindus in what is today Pakistan was perhaps as high as 15-20%, but would drop to its current total of less than 2 % in the years since partition.
According to the most recent (1998) census [1] conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Hindus make up 1.60% of the population and Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) 1.59%, or around 2.3 million people. Other estimates put the numbers higher. Historically, there was also a small contingent of Jews in Pakistan most of whom left in the 1960s.
The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2002 [2] estimates the Shi'a population between 10-15%, among which around 600.000 are Ismailis which is a sect of Shi'i Muslims. It also lists Christians at 2.09 million; Ahmadis at 286,000, Hindus at 2.8 million; Parsis, Buddhists and Sikhs at 20,000 each; and Baha'is at 30,000.
The numbers of those who do not profess any faith (such as Atheists and Agnostics) is not known. However, as much as expression of these views is limited, no one is forced to profess any religion or faith and religious freedom is protected by Law.
[edit] See also
[edit] External References
- Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and the Controversy
- Jews in Pakistan. An article by Prof. Adil Najam of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
