Hinduism is the second largest religion in Pakistan after Islam. Pakistani Hindus are primarily concentrated in Sindh, speaking a variety of languages including Sindhi, Seraiki and Dhatki, with notable enclaves located in Umerkot District, where Hindus form 54.7 percent of the population, alongside Tharparkar District, which has the largest total Hindu population at 811,505 residents. Hindus are also found in smaller numbers in Balochistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While some Hindu youth associate themselves with ISKCON society,Taking its name from Pakistan, an acronym composed of the key letters of its constituent regions-Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan-Pakistan at first welcomed all of its new citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Non-Muslims comprised 23 percent of the total population, and non-Sunnis comprised a quarter of the Muslim population. most Pakistani Hindus, especially in rural areas, adhere to a syncretic form of Hinduism which include following the teachings of 14th-century Hindu saint Ramdevji and revering "Mother Goddess" alonside the reverence of local Sufi pīrs and Guru Nanak. One of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Pakistan is the shrine of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan, highlighted by the annual Hinglaj Yatra being the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.
Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region through the medieval ages, prior to the Muslim period in South Asia, Prior to the Partition of British India, the 1941 census detailed Hindus formed 14.6 percent of the population in West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan), numbering approximately 4 million persons. Independence and the ensuing partition in 1947 resulted in millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrating to India as refugees; as a result, the 1951 census revealed Hindus numbered 531,131 persons and constituted 1.58 percent of the total population of West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan), later falling in proportion to form 1.44 percent of the total population by the 1972 census. In the ensuing five decades, the Hindu population has risen to form 2.17 percent of the national population, with over 5.2 million Pakistanis adhering to the religion according to the 2023 Pakistani census.
Though the Constitution of Pakistan provides equal rights to all citizens and is not supposed to discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or religion, Islam remains the state religion, often meaning Muslims are afforded more privileges than Hindus or other religious minorities. There have been numerous cases of violence and discrimination against Hindus and other minorities, with periodic cases of violence and ill-treatment due to strict blasphemy laws. Notwithstanding, Sindh's significant Hindu heritage, cultural legacy, and historical influence continues to shape the landscape and identity of region into the contemporary era.
History
Though Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region a few centuries ago, its adherents presently accounted for 2.17% of Pakistan's population (approximately 5.2 million people) according to the 2023 Pakistani census, primarily due to large-scale migration and displacement of Hindus during the 1947 partition and, to a lesser extent, following the 1971 war, the liberation war of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). Prior to the partition of India, according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan) and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (contemporary Bangladesh). After British India gained independence from the British Raj, estimates detailing the migratory flows following the ensuing partition detail between 4.7 and 5.0 million Hindus and Sikhs migrated from West Pakistan to India as refugees. The following census, taken in 1951 detailed Hindus formed 1.6 percent of the total population of West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan), and 22 percent of East Pakistan.
Origins
During the Vedic period, the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the Indus River around 1500 BCE.
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 is also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Many Pakistani city names (such as Peshawar and Multan) have Sanskrit roots.
Pre-Islamic period
The Vedic period (1500–500 BCE) was characterised by an Indo-Aryan culture; during this period the Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism, were composed, and this culture later became well established in the region. Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in the Punjab, which was founded around 1000 BCE. Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire (around 519 BCE), Alexander's empire in 326 BCE and the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world.Balakrishnan Muniapan, Junaid M. Shaikh (2007), "Lessons in corporate governance from Kautilya's Arthashastra in ancient India", World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development 3 (1): The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was provided on an individualistic basis. The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE.
At its zenith, the Rai dynasty (489–632 CE) of Sindh ruled this region and the surrounding territories.
Early Muslim conquests and invasion of Sindh After the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim and the loss of Raja Dahir, Islamization in Pakistan started and the population of Hindus started declining. After that many other Islamic conquests in Indian subcontinent entered through the Pakistan's region, including that of Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Delhi Sultanate, due to which the Buddhists and Hindus were converted to Islam. In the era of Mughal Empire, the land of Pakistan became a Muslim-majority area.
Colonial era
Decadal censuses taken in British India revealed the religious composition of all administrative divisions that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan, with the Hindu population numbering 3,009,842 persons or 17.1 percent of the total population in 1901. Later, the final census conducted prior to independence in 1941 revealed Hindus numbered 3,981,565 persons or 14.6 percent of the total population.
During the independence of Pakistan in 1947, estimates detail between 4.7 and 5.0 million Hindus and Sikhs from West Pakistan migrated to India. 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. Over 1 million people perished, primarily due to large scale religious cleansing as witnessed during the Rawalpindi Massacres, Gujrat train massacre, Kamoke train massacre etc.
Post-independence period (1947–present)
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. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, stated in an address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan, "You will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the State." However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan stated:
In 1956, the government of Pakistan declared 32 castes and tribes, the majority of them Hindus, to be Scheduled Caste, including Kohlis, Meghawars, and Bheels, thus bifurcating the members of scheduled castes from Jāti (Caste) Hindus. Throughout the post-inddependance era, scheduled caste activists have argued that the members elected on the minority reserved seats are upper caste Hindus despite scheduled castes Hindus forming majority of the Hindus in Pakistan, indicating the classification of both groups under the single category of "Hindu" would benefit mostly the upper caste Hindus, by increasing the overall reported Hindu population, while their comparatively greater economic influence enables them to secure most of the minority reserved seats. Organisations like the Dalit Sujag Tehreek and the Bheel Intellectual Forum support separate identity in Census for scheduled caste Hindus and have conducted awareness campaigns. In recent years, however, some other Hindu politicians like Mangla Sharma and Ramesh Kumar Vankwani were against this categorisation as it divides the Hindu community into two.
Demography
The 1901 Census in British India taken in administrative divisions that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan indicated that Hindus comprised roughly 17.1 percent of the total population. In the final census taken prior to partition in 1941, Hindus constituted 14.6 percent of the population in West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan); amongst administrative units, the noted the largest Hindu concentrations existed in Tharparkar District (Hindus formed 42.60 percent of the total population and numbered 247,496 persons), Shakargarh Tehsil (39.98 percent or 116,553 persons), Hyderabad District (32.40 percent or 245,849 persons), Karachi District (31.18 percent or 222,597 persons), Sukkur District (28.22 percent or 195,458 persons), Nawabshah District (24.04 percent or 140,428 persons), Sialkot District (19.43 percent or 231,319 persons), Quetta–Pishin District (18.32 percent or 28,629 persons), Larkana District (17.81 percent or 91,062 persons), and Multan District (16.83 percent or 249,872 persons).
After Pakistan gained independence from Britain on 14August 1947, approximately 4.7 to 5.0 million Hindus and Sikhs migrated from West Pakistan to India. In the 1951 census, Hindus numbered 531,131 persons and constituted 1.58 percent of the total population of West Pakistan (contemporary Pakistan). In the following two decades, the Hindu population would rise to 900,206 persons by the 1972 census, despite falling in proportion to form 1.44 percent of the total population; thereafter the Hindu population has seen a marginal proportional increase in each decadal census, rising to form 2.17 percent of the total population at the time of the 2023 census.
Hinduism in Pakistan (1901–2023) Year Number Percent Increase Growth Source(s) 1901 3,009,842 17.07% - - 1911 2,766,581 14.71% -2.36% -8.08% 1921 2,957,680 15.25% +0.54% +6.9% 1931 3,298,570 14.65% -0.6% +11.52% 1941 3,981,565 14.6% -0.05% +20.7% 1951 531,131 1.58% -13.2% -86.66% 1961 621,805 1.45% -0.13% +17.7% 1972 900,206 1.44% -0.01% +44.77% 1981 1,276,116 1.51% +0.07% +41.75% 1998 2,443,614 1.85% +0.34% +91.48%Also reproduced at scribd.com 2017 4,444,870 2.14% +0.29% +81.89% 2023 5,217,216 2.17% +0.03% +17.37%
Historical census data