(Goyal, 2020) There has been an even greater decline in major cities with historically large Hindu populations. While the Ministry of Law and Justice was officially responsible for ensuring the legal rights of all citizens, in practice, the Ministry for Human Rights continued to assume primary responsibility for the protection of the rights of religious minorities. 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. The Katas Raj Hindu temple was reopened for Hindus after renovation in the Chakwal district of Punjab. In May, the New York Times reported the issue, which was subsequently raised by international human rights NGOs. Getty Images. On October 9, a Hindu teacher was attacked by a Muslim man with an axe on her way to her school in Mithi, Sindh. In August, a case was opened against three Ahmadi men after an official of a religious seminary approached police complaining that the men sacrificed an animal on Eid al-Adha. Among the targets of these attacks were Shia Muslims, particularly the predominantly Shia Hazara community. Christian religious freedom activists continued to report widespread discrimination against Christians in private employment. Shia Muslims also fear their religious freedom is being legislated away. Neither the National Assembly nor the Senate had acted on the 2018 judgment by years end, but Ahmadiyya community representatives said that NADRA required Ahmadis to declare in an affidavit that they are non-Muslims to obtain a national identification card, another requirement of the high court judgment. Parents may send children to private schools, including religious schools, at the familys expense. Shia-Sunni rift on rise in Pakistan, but Imran Khan govt's - ThePrint 'Every year we dig mass graves': the slaughter of Pakistan's Hazara In February, a court in Jacobabad, Sindh, ruled that the marriage with Raza was illegal under the 2013 Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. 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. They also met with representatives of other embassies, leaders of religious communities, NGOs, and legal experts working on religious freedom issues to discuss ways to increase respect among religions and to enhance dialogue. Courts issued two new death sentences for blasphemy and sentenced another individual to five years imprisonment. Observers reported that English-language media continued to cover issues facing religious minorities in an objective manner, but Urdu-language media continued to show bias in reporting on minority religious groups, including multiple instances in which media censored references to Ahmadis on talk shows, used inflammatory language, or made inappropriate references to minorities. 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. shia surnames in pakistan Pakistani Shias live in terror as sectarian violence increases Wafaqs (independent academic boards) register seminaries, regulate curricula, and issue degrees. Members of civil society reported that converts from Islam lived in varying degrees of secrecy for fear of violent retribution from family members or society at large. Shias: Heretics in a Sunni Pakistan - Modern Diplomacy 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. On January 26, a local court sentenced four young boys, who had confessed to vandalizing a Hindu temple in Sindhs Tharparkar district, to a juvenile center in Hyderabad. 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. Religious freedom activists and civil society groups said the proposal was toothless and raised concerns regarding the ministrys lack of public consultation, the limited powers of the proposed body, and the fact that Ahmadi Muslims were excluded. Shia Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan, continued to express concern about targeted killings taking place for the last several years. The proposal named a prominent Hindu business owner and ruling PTI party leader as the commissions chair, along with other Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, and Kalash members. More than 23,000 Shia Muslims in Pakistan killed since 1963, according Hindus formed 28.45 per cent. The constitution also grants the FSC revisional jurisdiction (the power to review of its own accord) over criminal cases in the lower courts relating to certain crimes under the Hudood Ordinance, including rape and those linked to Islamic morality, such as extramarital sex, alcohol use, and gambling. The five wafaqs each represent major streams of Islamic thought in the country: Barelvi, Deobandi, Shia, Ahle Hadith, and the Jamaat-i-Islami, which is considered ultraconservative. Police stated they believed he was targeted because of his religious beliefs. The Shia population is spread all over Pakistan. On October 5, also in Peshawar, Ahmadi professor Naeemuddin Khattak was shot and killed while driving home from work. 4,465,000. On August 20, attackers attempted to kill Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, an Ahmadi man from the Lalamusa area of central Punjab. Both passed the recruitment test and had successful interviews but were denied appointment by the assistant manager. rate of urbanization: 2.1% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) (July 2020 est.) NGOs and legal observers also stated police often did not file charges against individuals who made false blasphemy accusations. Sources vary on the precise breakdown of the Muslim population between Sunni and Shia Muslims. Unknown assailants shot a Peshawar trader, also an Ahmadiyya community member, near his business on August 12. At least 40 cases were registered against Shias in one month On October 9, the PTA blocked the video-sharing social media application TikTok, based on what it called immoral and indecent content. 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. It has an estimated 23 million people who adhere to Islam. Political parties elected by the general electorate choose the minority individuals who hold these seats; they are not elected directly by the minority constituencies they represent. A June 2020 online survey by the Netherlands-based Gamaan Group found 37% of Iranians identifying as Muslims of which 32% are Shia Islam, 5% Sunni Islam and 3% Shia . Shia Muslims constitute 10 to 12 percent of the citizen population and an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the Eastern Province's population. Sunnis represent approximately 75 percent of this population and Shias 20 . India with 21 million is in second place closely followed by Pakistan (20 million). Members of religious minority communities stated public schools gave Muslim students bonus grade points for memorizing the Quran, but there were no analogous opportunities for extra academic credit available for religious minority students. A New Era of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan | Crisis Group Pakistan - United States Department of State 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.. 2,724,000. Sunni Muslims who want to distribute zakat themselves may request an exemption, and Shia Muslims are exempted by filling out a declaration of faith form. On August 12, armed gunmen attacked the house of Ahmadi Muslim Syed Naeem Ahmad Bashir in the Sahiwal District of Punjab, firing into the courtyard at night, where they reportedly expected the family to be sleeping. Anti-Shia Violence: Widening Sectarian Schism in Pakistan 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. Pakistan Population (2023) - Worldometer By Rafiq A. Tschannen on October 11, 2020 ( 1 Comment) Shia-Sunni rift on rise in Pakistan, but Imran Khan govt's silence may be strategic . The government continued to implement the National Action Plan against terrorism, including countering sectarian hate speech and extremism as well as conducting military and law enforcement operations against violent groups. Human rights activists reported numerous instances of societal violence related to allegations of blasphemy; of efforts by individuals to coerce religious minorities to convert to Islam; and of societal harassment, discrimination, and threats of violence directed at members of religious minority communities. It is more accurate than the previous one. Pakistan Demographics Profile - IndexMundi The situation worsened further last week when an influential Sunni religious scholar, Maulana Dr Adil Khan, was killed in an attack. A constitutional amendment devolves responsibility for minorities affairs, including religious minorities, to the provinces. Hindu community representatives welcomed the decision to return the temple to the community after 70 years. UAE: Arbitrary Targeting of Pakistani Shia Residents Mr Haider is one of 140 Pakistani Shias to have "disappeared" over the past two years, according to community activists. Sunni groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba,. The Sindh provincial cabinet adopted regulations to implement the Sindh Hindu Marriage Act in December 2019, which provided more specific rules for implementation. On July 31, Hindu business owner and member of the Khairpur Chamber of Commerce and Industries Raja Kishan Chand was killed by unknown gunmen in that city. You can add more than one country or area. He is one of over 50 Shia Muslims in Sunni-majority Pakistan, who have been booked under blasphemy and antiterrorist charges over the last month. In April 2021, Human Rights Watch spoke to one Pakistani Shia man who spent nearly a month in UAE detention and was released and deported in late December 2020. Now theyre coming up with legislation to eliminate the Shia minority.. By law, madrassahs are prohibited from teaching or encouraging sectarian or religious hatred or violence. According to the penal code, the punishments for persons convicted of blasphemy include the death penalty for defiling the Prophet Mohammed, life imprisonment for defiling, damaging, or desecrating the Quran, and up to 10 years imprisonment for insulting anothers religious feelings. Speech or action intended to incite religious hatred is punishable by up to seven years imprisonment. 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 . Projections 0 100,000,000 200,000,000 300,000,000 400,000,000 Population 235,824,862 The CLAAS legal team filed a contempt of court application, but the Lahore High Court dismissed the plea. World Shia Muslims Population - Home According to police, the content they posted on Facebook insulted the companions of Mohammed, which, they said, infuriated Sunni Muslims. 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. The embassy highlighted the principles of religious freedom and examples of interfaith dialogue in the United States on its social media platforms throughout the year. Several historians argue that the Indian Shia elite played a. Their families believe they were taken into custody by the intelligence. In December, using expanded authorities granted by the government in November, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority publicly demanded the removal of sacrilegious content from the Google Play Store and Wikipedia. The court ordered the chief executive officer of GEPCO to hire the two Christians, but he did not do so. 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. It also states that no religious denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of its denomination in an educational institution maintained by the denomination. 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. Updated: September 04, 2020 06:14 AM GMT. The Shia population is around 20 per cent of the total population of Pakistan. For example, in March, media reported that a woman from Meghwar committed suicide after being repeatedly raped by a man of an upper-caste Hindu clan in Deeplo, Sindh. The six, all from Karachi, were returning from a pilgrimage in Iran; they remained missing at years end. The victims, burned to death by an angry mob, were Babar Noman and Hafiz Naeem. Ahmadiyya community members said they were surprised by this instance of a senior government official condemning anti-Ahmadi violence, but added that they do not expect it to become the new norm. The official state religion of Iran is Shia branch of Islam. In a September editorial, the largest Urdu daily, Nawa-i-Waqt, described the 1974 legislation declaring Ahmadis officially non-Muslim as a historic day in the countrys history. Indonesia is the country with the Largest Muslim population in the world. In September, unidentified gunmen killed two prominent members of the local Shia community in the Kohat District of that province. The Changing Landscape of Anti-Shia Politics in Pakistan The present Christian population in Pakistan is ranged between 2-3 million as per as recent (2020-21) year estimation by various institution and NGOs of Pakistan. In late December, the PTA publicly used this new authority for the first time to demand the removal of sacrilegious content. Last week, in Punjab, police beat up and arrested 22 Shia Muslims, including seven women, who were taking part in a ceremony to mark a Shia martyr. A media report said four people, including two Shia Muslims, one Ahmadi sect member and a US citizen who renounced the Ahmadi sect, were gunned down in September 2020. In all these cases, judges repeatedly delayed hearings, adjourned hearings without hearing arguments, or sent appeals to other judicial benches. Groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and other governments, such as ISIS, also committed violent acts. 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.) It threatens to plunge the country into anarchy.. The constitution states no person shall be compelled to pay any special tax for the propagation or maintenance of a religion other than the persons own. According to her parents, the girl had been abducted and raped after being forcibly converted to Islam in Karachi. Timeline: Modern Sunni-Shia Tensions - Council on Foreign Relations The teacher survived the attack and told media the man had been following and harassing her for days. These observers said the general refusal of lower courts to hold timely hearings or acquit those accused persisted due to fear of reprisal and vigilantism. The constitution requires the government to amend the law as directed by the court. 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 government has never executed anyone specifically for blasphemy. Islam is the state religion in Qatar. The family was in another location, however, and survived. On July 19, members of the Hindu community staged a sit-in in Khuzdar, Balochistan, to protest the July 18 killing of local Hindu trader Nanak Ram by unidentified assailants in the Wadh area of Khuzdar District. Although sectarian data is difficult to pin down in Afghanistan, an estimated 15 to 29 percent of the population is Shia (mostly the Twelver sect that dominates the Islamic Republic, but also some Ismaili Shia). Police intervened on multiple occasions to quell mob violence directed at individuals accused of blasphemy. In a recent study conducted by the Law and Society Alliance, a New Delhi-based think tank headed by N.C. Bipindra, the population of G-B is now approximately 1.5 million, with around 39 per cent Shia, 27 per cent Sunni, 18 per cent Ismaili and 16 per cent Nurbakhshi. Although the Sindh Hindu Marriage Act covers registration of Sikh marriages in that province, members of the Sikh community reportedly continued to seek a separate Sikh law so as not to be considered as Hindus for the purposes of the law. Shiites are estimated to be 21-35 percent of the Muslim population in South East Asia. While the law requires a senior police official to investigate any blasphemy charge before a complaint may be filed, a requirement that NGOs and legal observers stated helped contribute to an objective investigation and the dismissal of many blasphemy cases, some NGOs said police did not uniformly follow this procedure. 3.72; Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019; US 18 Dec. 2019), or "some 17-26 million people" (Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019). The court may suspend or increase the sentence given by a criminal court in these cases. Police and security forces throughout the country enhanced security measures during religious holidays in consultation with religious leaders. On August 30, police charged Shia cleric Taqqi Jaffar with blasphemy for criticizing Mohammeds companions during a Karachi Muharram procession. If Pakistan is unwilling to protect its Shia citizens, they may look to Doha. 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. 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. The constitution establishes a Council of Islamic Ideology to make recommendations, at the request of the parliament and provincial assemblies, as to the ways and means of enabling and encouraging Muslims to order their lives in accordance with the principles of Islam. The constitution further empowers the council to advise the legislative and executive branches when they choose to refer a question to the council as to whether a proposed law is or is not repugnant to the injunctions of Islam..