Most minority religious groups said they continued to face discrimination in government hiring. by Senge Sering in Baltimore Post Examiner, Feb 27, 2023 The writer is the President of Gilgit Baltistan Institute in Washington D.C. After Iran and India, Pakistan has the world's third-largest Shia community, accounting for ten percent of the total population. Victims said their attackers singled them out as vulnerable due to their religious minority identity. 0.5% Shia, and 0.3% Ahmadi. The constitution defines Muslim as a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Almighty Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Mohammed the last of the prophets, and does not believe in, or recognize as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed or claims to be a prophet after Mohammed. It also states that a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or Parsi community, a person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves Ahmadis), or a Bahai, and a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes is a non-Muslim.. Human rights and religious freedom activists and members of minority religious groups continued to report that they exercised caution and, occasionally, self-censorship when speaking in favor of religious tolerance because of a societal climate of intolerance and fear. The Sindh Hindu Marriage Act also applies to Sikh marriages. Ahmadi Muslim leaders said they had never been approached about participating in the commission and would never join a body that required them to identify as non-Muslims. Ahmadiyya community leaders said he was targeted due to his religious beliefs. The Sindh provincial government has legislation allowing couples to seek divorce and granting Hindu women the right to remarry six months after a divorce or a spouses death. Parents may send children to private schools, including religious schools, at the familys expense. In May, after the government announced that Ahmadis would be excluded from the National Commission for Minorities, Religious Affairs Minister Qadri said on a popular television show, Anyone supporting Ahmadis is not a Muslim. Ahmadiyya Muslim community representatives stated that the Urdu-language press frequently printed hate speech in news stories and editorials, some of which could be considered as inciting anti-Ahmadi violence. Civil society groups continued to state that the blasphemy laws disproportionately affected members of religious minority communities. On December 2, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom and announced a waiver of the sanctions that accompany designation as required in the important national interests of the United States. An additional six Sikh gurdwaras and seven Hindu temples were also reopened after renovation in Punjab. These attacks targeted gatherings of Shia individuals. In July 2020, Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam (protection of foundation of Islam bill) was passed by the Punjab assembly, which supported only the Sunni interpretation of Islam, provoking a huge . The rallies came after police charged Shia cleric Taqi Jaffar with blasphemy on August 30 for criticizing two companions of Mohammed during a Karachi Muharram procession. Pakistan's population is expected to surpass that of Indonesia in 2048 when it will reach 331.29 million. The court ordered police to hand over the woman to her Hindu husband and no police or court action was taken against Domki. Ahmadi representatives said the wording of the declaration students were required to sign on their applications for admission to universities continued to prevent Ahmadis from declaring themselves as Muslims. The government continued its warnings against blasphemy and other illegal content on social media through periodic print advertisements and text messages sent by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). Analysis of census data and demographic research. Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Among the targets of these attacks were Shia Muslims, particularly the predominantly Shia Hazara community. According to media reports and law enforcement sources, in the weeks leading up to and during the Islamic month of Muharram religiously significant for Shia Muslims authorities at the federal and provincial levels again restricted the movement and activities of dozens of clerics on the Ministry of Interiors Schedule 4 listing. Persecution seems to be waiting for the Shia minority, said Hamza Baloch, a founding member of Secular Shia Voices, an advocacy group. Print and broadcast media outlets continued to publish and broadcast anti-Ahmadi rhetoric. The economy will contract by 1.3 percent in the 2020 fiscal year because of the pandemic, the World Bank predicts. The gurdwara had been used as a government-run girls school since 1947. The government took some measures to protect religious minorities. Some community representatives said Christians continued to face difficulties in registering marriages with Islamabad union councils because the councils claimed they had no authority to deal with unions recorded by Christian marriage registrars (usually church authorities). Senior Department of State officials, including the Office of International Religious Freedoms Special Advisor for Religious Minorities, the Charge dAffaires, consuls general, and other embassy officers met with government officials and senior advisors to the Prime Minister, including the Minister for Human Rights, and officials from the Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, and Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony to discuss blasphemy law reform; laws concerning Ahmadi Muslims; the need to better protect members of religious minority communities; sectarian relations; and religious respect. On August 22, another teenage Christian escaped from the home of Mohamad Nakash, a Muslim who had kidnapped her in April and had been holding her since. The stronghold of Barelvism remains Punjab, the largest province of Pakistan. NGOs and legal observers also stated police often did not file charges against individuals who made false blasphemy accusations. Despite her filing a complaint, police did not open a case initially. In December 2019, the parliament passed and Modi signed the Citizenship Amendment Act, which allows for the fast-tracking of citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian. According to the 2017 Census, Muslims make up 96.2 percent of Pakistan's population, Hindus 1.6 percent, Christians 1.59 percent, Scheduled Castes 0.25 percent, Ahmadis 0.22 percent, and other minorities 0.07 percent. Major cities - population 16.459 million Karachi, 13.095 million Lahore, 3.542 million Faisalabad, 2.281 million Rawalpindi, 2.290 million Gujranwala, 1.164 million ISLAMABAD (capital) (2021) On October 13, according to local media reports, Reeta Kumari, a pregnant Dalit Hindu woman, told the Sindh High Court in Sukkur that she had been abducted by a Muslim man, Rafique Domki, in Islamkot. 2. Police arrested more than 45 JUI-F followers and clerics involved in the destruction. In July, police arrested four men for destroying a 1,700-year-old Gandharan civilization statue of Buddha in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after a video showing one of the men hammering the statue went viral on social media. The resolution stated, This House demands that if the chief of Qadianis [a derogatory term for Ahmadis] submits in writing declaring that they accept the Constitution of Pakistan and accept their status as non-Muslims, then we will have no objection to their inclusion into the Commission.. Shias account for 15-20% of the Muslim population in Pakistan. Two days later, the 21-year-old student found himself the subject of a police report, accused of violating Pakistans draconian laws on blasphemy. The situation worsened further last week when an influential Sunni religious scholar, Maulana Dr Adil Khan, was killed in an attack. According to a Punjab government official, Sarwar had no intention of signing the bill until there was a consensus that it would not harm religious minorities. Police intervened on multiple occasions to quell mob violence directed at individuals accused of blasphemy. On January 21, the center in Khairpur hosted a Religious Freedom Day event at which 25 students discussed the importance of being able to practice religion freely in Pakistan. Throughout the year, some government officials and politicians engaged in anti-Ahmadi rhetoric and attended events that Ahmadi Muslims said incited violence against members of their community. Non-Muslims may not appear before the FSC. The killings took place during protests sparked by twin suicide bombings outside two churches there. Dr Nauman Naqvi, an associate professor at Habib University in Karachi, said: Since Pakistans economic and political outlook appears increasingly troubled, the ruling power see Sunni majoritarian populism as the only option to secure stability, undercut democratic forces and distract from the grave political and economic crises that hover over Pakistan. Pakistan's blasphemy laws have come under hefty criticism, as. The event received positive coverage in local media. Shia Numbers are in the range of 320 Millions to 350 Millions and according to some estimates its in the range of 400 Millions. The CLAAS legal team filed a contempt of court application, but the Lahore High Court dismissed the plea. The constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but states, Subject to law, public order, and morality, every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice, and propagate his religion. According to the constitution, every citizen has the right to freedom of speech, subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of the glory of Islam, as stipulated in the penal code. On September 5, the HRCP expressed concern over the surge in blasphemy cases against religious minorities, particularly the Shia community, and the potential for sectarian violence. According to the provisional results of a national census conducted in 2017 (the most recent), 96 percent of the population is Sunni or Shia Muslim. On August 23, the Sindh provincial government barred 142 firebrand speakers and religious scholars from leaving their home districts for 60 days to avoid violent disturbances during Shia Muharram commemorations. In Sindh, police provided enhanced security at churches and Hindu temples, especially in Karachi, on eves of festivals such as Christmas and Diwali. Leaders in other NGOs agreed the actual number of blasphemy cases was likely higher, but uneven reporting and lack of media coverage in many areas made it difficult to identify an exact number. The Washington-based United States Institute for Peace said 3,800 Shias were murdered between 2007 and 2013, with 325 of those killings occurring in 2012. The incident was the first attack on a Hindu temple in Tharparkar in more than 30 years. NGOs, legal observers and religious minority representatives continued to raise concerns regarding the failure of lower courts to adhere to basic evidentiary standards in blasphemy cases, and the slow pace of adjudicating these cases, which led to some suspects remaining in detention for years as they waited their initial trial or appeals, and to some convicted persons spending years in prison before higher courts overturned their convictions and freed them for lack of evidence. The Kuwaiti population consists of 70% foreigners and 30% Kuwaiti. Bakhtawar Jaffri, a Shia rights activist in Punjab, said she had recently filed a police report for anti-Shia hate speech but it had been ignored. The text messages stated, Sharing of blasphemy, pornography, terrorism, and other unlawful content on social media and the internet is illegal. On June 10, police arrested Sajid Soomro, a professor at Shah Abdul Latif University, in Khairpur, Sindh, on blasphemy charges. According to government figures, the remaining 4 percent includes Ahmadi Muslims (whom national law does not recognize as Muslim); Hindus; Christians, including Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Protestants, among others; Parsis/Zoroastrians; Bahais; Sikhs; Buddhists; Kalash; and Kihals and Jains. How many Shia are in India? In February, the National Assembly introduced a draft law requiring internet and technology companies to open offices in Islamabad, locate their servers within the country, and remove objectionable internet content within a specified timeframe. Total. I am being targeted because I am from a Shia religious minority. The wafaqs operate through an umbrella group, Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Pakistan, to represent their interests to the government. Sectarian persecution of Shia Muslims has been a long-running fracture in Pakistan, exacerbated by the proxy wars fought on Pakistan soil by Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shia-majority Iran, as well as the US war on terror. On October 9, the PTA blocked the video-sharing social media application TikTok, based on what it called immoral and indecent content. In a statement, the Pakistan Hindu Council condemned the killing as well as two other July incidents of violence towards Hindu citizens in the district. Twitter and WhatsApp users circulated graphic images and video footage from the courtroom, depicting Naseem slumped over a chair and crowds of men ignoring the body and seeming to congratulate the killer. On September 10, police saved a Hindu trader from a mob that accused him of committing blasphemy and called for his death in Kashmore, Sindh. Also in September, a Karachi court issued an arrest warrant for Abdul Jabbar, a Muslim man who allegedly abducted, forcibly married, and converted a teenage Christian girl in Karachi in 2019. There were continued reports that some madrassahs taught violent extremist doctrine, which the government sought to curb through madrassah registration and curriculum reform. (Goyal, 2020) There has been an even greater decline in major cities with historically large Hindu populations. Religious minority community members also stated the government was inconsistent in safeguarding against societal discrimination and neglect, and that official discrimination against Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadi Muslims persisted to varying degrees, with Ahmadi Muslims experiencing the worst treatment. We call upon authorities to ensure the safety of all Pakistanis.. Throughout the year, Islamic organizations with varying degrees of political affiliation held conferences and rallies to support the doctrine of Khatm-e-Nabuwat. According to the SATP and media reports, antiterrorism courts convicted and sentenced several individuals affiliated with terrorist organizations and involved in past sectarian attacks and targeted killings. Shias, who make up 15 percent of Pakistan's 220 million population, commemorate the seventh-century massacre of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Husayn and his family and friends at the Battle of Karbala in Iraq for refusing . The population share of Hindus dropped a little from 22.06 per cent in 1911 to 20.48. The Hindu community in Sindh and Balochistan remained vulnerable to targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom. Students who identify themselves as Muslims must declare in writing they believe Mohammed is the final prophet. Representatives of religious minorities said a glass ceiling continued to prevent their promotion to senior government positions, but one NGO also stated that due to insufficient higher education opportunities compared to the majority religious community, few religious minorities met the qualifications to apply for these positions. The NCHR is also mandated to monitor the governments implementation of human rights and review and propose legislation. The victims, burned to death by an angry mob, were Babar Noman and Hafiz Naeem. The country is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and maintains two reservations: first, that ICCPR Article 3 regarding equal rights of men and women would be applied as to be in conformity with Personal Law of the citizens and Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 (Law of Evidence), under which the in-court testimony of men in certain civil matters pertaining to contracts and financial obligations is given greater weight than that of women; and second, that ICCPR Article 25, on the equal right for citizens to take part in public service, would be subject to articles of the constitution mandating that the President and Prime Minister be Muslims. On September 30, media reported that a 17-year-old girl from a Hindu Dalit community committed suicide after having been gang-raped a year earlier by Muslim men and subsequently blackmailed by them in Tharparkar, Sindh. On April 14, police filed a blasphemy case against Shia singer Zamin Ali in Jamshoro, Sindh. . On October 5, also in Peshawar, Ahmadi professor Naeemuddin Khattak was shot and killed while driving home from work. The hashtag infidel, infidel, Shias are infidel began trending. The law also would make desecration (including physical destruction of books or symbols, along with verbal, written, or online actions perceived to be insults) of any prophet, any of the four divine books (the Quran, Torah, Psalms of David, and Gospel of Jesus), any family and companions of the Prophet Mohammed, as well as abetting or glorifying terrorists, or promoting sectarianism in any book, punishable with a maximum of a five-year jail term and a substantial fine of up to 500,000 Pakistani rupees ($3,100). Shia Muslims 1.1 Demographics. 2022 population pyramid Dependency ratios total dependency ratio: 59.3 youth dependency ratio: 44 elderly dependency ratio: 15.3 potential support ratio: 6.5 (2021 est.) According to current population projections, Pakistan will reach its peak population in 2092 of 404.68 million people. The penal code does not explicitly criminalize apostasy, but renouncing Islam is widely considered by clerics to be a form of blasphemy, which can carry the death penalty. According to 1961 Census -- the first in the state after Partition, Muslims constituted 68.3 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir's population. Local authorities did not allow the repair or unsealing of Ahmadi mosques damaged or demolished by rioters in previous years. Users are advised to report such content on content-complaint@pta.gov.pk for action under PECA 16 (the 2016 PECA act)., In a January press release, PTA stated it was proactively playing its role in blocking/removal of unlawful content, with social media platforms being approached in this regard, and it encouraged the public to report such content directly to PTA and avoid sharing it on social media platforms and other websites.. The Shia population in Pakistan is estimated as being 11.8% of the country's population. 03 / Select Countries You can add more than one country or area. Shia Muslims mourning the death anniversary of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in Karachi on 8 October. Ahead of Christmas in Lahore, police deployed some 6,000 officers and officials at 623 churches. As a result, the maps are designed to give a general overview of where significant Shia population centers, zones of influence, and points of interest . They said Christians had difficulty finding jobs other than those involving menial labor, with some advertisements for menial jobs specifying they were open only to Christian applicants. According to Shia community estimates, There are approximate . Pakistan's current population is estimated at approximately 185 million, of whom approximately 95 percent are Muslim. Sunnis are generally believed to be 80-85 percent of the Muslim population, and Shia Muslims, including Hazara, Ismaili, and Bohra (a branch of Ismaili), are generally believed to make up 15-20 percent. Qataris are all Muslims and followers of the Sunni Salafi version of Islam. Answer (1 of 19): The country Iran has the largest population of Shia. On July 21, the government returned a 200-year-old Sikh gurdwara to the Sikh community in Quetta. Throughout the year, unidentified individuals targeted and killed Shia Muslims, including ethnic Hazaras, and Ahmadi Muslims in attacks believed to be religiously motivated. Pakistan 10 - 15 10 - 15 Palau -- --Palestinian territories <1 <1 Panama <1 <1 Papua New Guinea <1 <1 Paraguay -- --Peru <1 <1 . In the same election, ASWJ also threw its influential backing behind 70 candidates from Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which won and formed the government. Data on sectarian attacks varied because no standardized definition existed of what constituted a sectarian attack among reporting organizations. Although there were no official obstacles to the advancement of minority religious group members in the military, they said that in practice, non-Muslims rarely rose above the rank of colonel and were not assigned to senior positions. In April, some members of the Hindu community in Karachis Lyari area were denied food packages provided by a local charity, according to local sources. 3.72; Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019; US 18 Dec. 2019), or "some 17-26 million people" (Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019). In July, religious and right-wing parties criticized the governments plan to permit construction of a new Hindu temple in Islamabad. In contrast, even the baseless and fake cases from the other side are being entertained by police, she said. The law requires elected Muslim officials to swear an oath affirming their belief that Mohammed is the final prophet of Islam. An Ahmadi trader in Peshawar was shot near his business on August 12. The constitution states, All existing laws shall be brought into conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah [Islams body of traditional social and legal custom and practice]. It further states no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to Islam. The blasphemy charges against Jaffar were followed by anti-Shia rallies throughout the country and at least three rallies in Karachi by Sunni groups on September 11 and 13 attended by thousands of individuals. The constitution states, Subject to law, public order, and morality, every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice, and propagate his religion. It also states, A person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves Ahmadis) is a non-Muslim. The courts continued to enforce blasphemy laws, punishment for which ranges up to the death penalty. The plan followed a 2014 Supreme Court decision that ordered the government to take steps to ensure the rights of minorities and promote a culture of religious and social tolerance, but religious freedom activists and civil society groups said the proposal was toothless and raised concerns regarding the Religious Affairs Ministrys lack of public consultation, the limited powers of the proposed body, and the ultimate decision to exclude Ahmadis. Three suspects were arrested for the rape but were released on bail, and the girls family said they harassed and pressured the girl to withdraw the case. [see also: Population country ranks ] Nationality: is smallest province by Population. The traffickers told pastors and parents they would arrange marriages to Chinese men who had supposedly converted to Christianity, after which the women were taken to China, abused, and in some cases, sexually trafficked. In July, a teenager killed U.S. citizen Tahir Naseem in a Peshawar courtroom, where Naseem was on trial for blasphemy. The website further stated extensions could be granted for two years with two reentries per year, excluding from India. Sources vary on the precise breakdown of the Muslim population between Sunni and Shia Muslims. The constitution provides for freedom to manage religious institutions. It states every religious denomination shall have the right to establish and maintain its own institutions. However, the vehement sectarian resurgence began in 2017 when the Pakistani government began making concessions to the extremist Sunni Muslim groups. Editorial note: This project covers the period through 2019. . According to regulations, the only factors affecting admission to government schools are students grades and home provinces, although students must declare their religious affiliation on application forms. She denied her abductors claim that she had willfully married him and converted to Islam, and instead asked the court to allow her to reunite with her Hindu husband and minor son. In May 2000, the Shia Muslims based in the Gilgit district of the then Northern Areas began to agitate against the recently changed curriculum of government schools in the region. It distributes the funds through a government-run charity as stipends for poor families and students, payment for medical treatment, and support to Sunni mosques and madrassahs registered with the government. Processing and dissemination of data in the form of Census Reports. Hindu activists in Sindh reported discrimination against the Hindu community during COVID-19 food-relief efforts by private charities. Her family said she had been kidnapped and forcibly converted. On November 9, also in Peshawar, an 82-year-old retired Ahmadi government worker was killed by unknown gunmen while waiting for a bus. Government officials and politicians attended and spoke at multiple Khatm-e-Nabuwat (Finality of Prophethood) conferences held in major cities and at religious sites around the country. Both passed the recruitment test and had successful interviews but were denied appointment by the assistant manager. Shias are around 20% of the world muslim population. The Shia population is spread all over Pakistan. Since 2019, the NCHR has been without a mandate for a second four-year term and lacked newly appointed commissioners, making it effectively nonfunctional throughout the year. The province-level Sindh Hindu Marriage Act and the national-level Hindu Marriage Act (applying to federal territory and all other provinces) codify legal mechanisms to formally register and prove the legitimacy of Hindu marriages. Persons accused of blasphemy were often simultaneously charged with terrorism offenses. Representatives of the Bahai community said this policy particularly affected them because the Bahai World Center the spiritual and administrative center of the community was in Haifa, Israel. NGOs lobbying for amendments to permit divorce in a wider range of circumstances praised the Ministry of Human Rights efforts to consult with stakeholders and the ministrys overall efforts to accelerate progress on the bill. The government may use the antiterrorism courts, established as a parallel legal structure under the 1997 Antiterrorism Act, to try cases involving violent crimes, terrorist activities, and acts or speech deemed by the government to foment religious hatred, including blasphemy. Population: 233,500,636 (July 2017 est.) In Islamabad, the deputy inspector general of police said as many as 15,000 police, Rangers, and Frontier Corps personnel were involved. This requirement effectively prohibits Ahmadi Muslims from holding elected office, as they recognize a prophet subsequent to Mohammed. Updated April 2020 About the Authors. / shia surnames in pakistan. The rallies occurred days after a unanimous resolution by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly condemning anti-Islam statements and the republication in France of the Charlie Hebdo cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. Following the July killing of U.S. citizen and self-identified Ahmadi Muslim Tahir Naseem, who was standing trial for blasphemy charges, some political party leaders celebrated the killers actions. I fear they will kill me, said Kareem, his voice shaking as he spoke from his place of hiding.