The Ministry of Interior maintained multitier schedules of religiously oriented groups it judged to be extremist or terrorist that were either banned or had their activities monitored and curtailed (Schedule 1) and individuals whose activities in the public sphere could also be curtailed, including during religious holidays such as Ashura (Schedule 4). Ayaz also spoke at a seminar on interfaith harmony at the cultural center at the National Library of Pakistan in Islamabad. Lebanon - The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency - CIA On November 9, also in Peshawar, an 82-year-old retired Ahmadi government worker was killed by unknown gunmen while waiting for a bus. International and local media, as well as Christian activists, reported that young Christian women, many of them minors, were specifically targeted by Chinese human traffickers because of their poverty and vulnerability. On July 21, the government returned a 200-year-old Sikh gurdwara to the Sikh community in Quetta. An additional six Sikh gurdwaras and seven Hindu temples were also reopened after renovation in Punjab. Shia Population - Worldmapper Those wishing to be listed as Muslims must swear they believe Mohammed is the final prophet and must denounce the Ahmadiyya movements founder as a false prophet and his followers as non-Muslim. Representatives of the Kalash, an indigenous group in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, continued to report their youth were under pressure from Muslim schoolteachers and others to convert from their traditional beliefs. The government continued to permit limited non-Muslim foreign missionary activity and to allow missionaries to proselytize as long as they did not preach against Islam and they acknowledged they were not Muslim. Pakistan Population 1950-2023 | MacroTrends This issue was discussed at a Webinar on Gilgit-Baltistan or G-B on November 10. 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. According to Shia community estimates, There are approximate 320 Million to 350 Millions Shia's lives in the world. In modern times, the split has fostered battles for power and resources. On October 11, unidentified militants abducted six Shia pilgrims near the Pakistan-Iran border region of Panjgur, in Balochistan. In 2018 the Islamabad High Court issued a judgment requiring citizens to declare an affidavit of faith to join the armed forces, judiciary, and civil services and directed parliament to amend laws to ensure Ahmadis did not use Islamic terms or have names associated with Islam. Unofficial estimates vary widely with regard to the size of minority religious groups. On August 30, police charged Shia cleric Taqqi Jaffar with blasphemy for criticizing Mohammeds companions during a Karachi Muharram procession. The establishment of the UT of Ladakh was in concurrence with the age-old demand of Leh, a demand opposed by Kargil. On July 9, the Sindh High Court ordered that the girl could return to her Hindu parents. Prime Minister Imran Khan gave verbal approval to build the temple following a request from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Hindu and Christian members of the National Assembly. There were some cases in which police received custody of the accused from a court for 14 days for a senior officer to carry out an investigation. Multiple civil society groups and faith community leaders stated the government had increased efforts to provide enhanced security at religious minority places of worship, which had been frequent targets of attack in past years. It has an estimated 23 million people who adhere to Islam. Ahmadiyya leaders stated the ambiguous wording of the legal provision forbidding Ahmadis from directly or indirectly identifying themselves as Muslims enabled officials to bring charges against members of the community for using the standard Islamic greeting or for naming their children Mohammed. 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. On August 20, attackers attempted to kill Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, an Ahmadi man from the Lalamusa area of central Punjab. According to civil society and media reports, the government restricted the movement and activities of these individuals because they were known for exacerbating sectarian tensions. Wadi-e-Hussain: A graveyard for Pakistan's Shia victims The Special Adviser went on to meet with federal and provincial government officials and civil society leaders in Islamabad and Lahore. Some religious minority leaders stated the system of selecting minority parliamentarians through the internal deliberations of mainstream parties resulted in the appointment of party stalwarts or those who could afford to buy the seats, rather than legislators who genuinely represented minority communities. Hardline Sunni groups on collision course with Shiites - DW - 09/14/2020 Even Fawad Chaudhry, currently serving as the minister for science and technology in Khans government, conceded that sectarianism was an issue that was getting out of hand. 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. At least 40 cases were registered against Shias in one month The TLP and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, a banned organization under the National Counterterrorism Authoritys Schedule-I list, also held smaller rallies. 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. His ordeal began with a Facebook post in early September, where he condemned the killers of a Shia Muslim martyred centuries ago. 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. 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 Punjab provincial government adopted three anti-Ahmadi measures: in May, a resolution that Ahmadis not be permitted to join the federal governments National Commission for Minorities unless they acknowledge they are not Muslims; in June, a new curriculum law that requires school textbooks to state the finality of the Prophet Mohammed; and in July, the Protection of the Foundations of Islam bill giving the provincial government authority to censor objectionable materials and inspect any publishing house or private home for banned Ahmadi literature. There are large numbers of Shia's lives in India,Pakistan, Syria, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arab. 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 Punjab Provincial Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution in May insisting that the federal National Commission on Minorities not include a representative from the Ahmadi community until community leaders submitted in writing that they accepted their status as non-Muslims under the constitution. On January 26, for example, a local court sentenced four boys for vandalizing a Hindu temple in Sindhs Tharparkar District, the first attack on a Hindu temple in that area in more than 30 years; minority lawmakers and civil society activists reacted strongly to the attack. Ahmadiyya Muslim community leaders continued to report they were affected by discriminatory and ambiguous legislation and court judgments that denied them basic rights, including a 2018 Islamabad High Court judgment that some government agencies continued to use to deny national identification cards to Ahmadi Muslims. In July, a teenager killed U.S. citizen Tahir Naseem in a Peshawar courtroom, where Naseem was on trial for blasphemy. While they do not constitute a majority in any of Pakistan's four provinces, Shia do form a majority in the Pakistani-controlled autonomous region of Gilgit Baltistan. Getty Images. Pakistan's president gives Shias an exemption, but the sectarian confrontation becomes an important political issue in the country. 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. Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology, Office of the U.S. They complained that Dalits, who are considered to be the lowest in the traditional Hindu caste structure, were being targeted and subjected to violence and torture in Thar and other areas. Identification cards are used for voting, pension disbursement, social and financial inclusion programs, and other services. Most minority religious groups said they continued to face discrimination in government hiring. Opponents filed a petition to stop construction with the Islamabad High Court on June 29, and vandals destroyed the lands boundary wall on July 5. 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 . The high circulation daily Jang also published a lengthy editorial on the struggle to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslims in a special magazine edition. 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. 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. Between 1998 and 2017, Pakistan's average population growth rate was 2.40%. 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. 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. Lawmakers from the National Assembly, the Sindh Provincial Assembly, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly also adopted resolutions requiring the title last of the prophets to be used when referring to Mohammed. By law, decisions of the FSC may be appealed to the Supreme Courts Shariat Appellate Bench. There were continued reports that some madrassahs taught violent extremist doctrine, which the government sought to curb through madrassah registration and curriculum reform. The incident was the first attack on a Hindu temple in Tharparkar in more than 30 years. Shia Muslims Population - World Shia Muslims Population Pakistan is said to have a Shia population of at least 16 million, like India. 55-64 years: 9.62% (male 250,653/female 275,670) 65 years and over: 7.96% (male 187,001/female 248,479) (2020 est.) Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom, Actions of Foreign Forces and Nonstate Actors, Section III. Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of the Islamic Faith, after Sunni Islam, having about 15% of Muslims worldwide. Bangladesh with a 153 million Muslim population is in 4th place followed by Nigeria (10 million) in the fifth spot. The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) designates religious affiliation on passports and requires religious information in national identity card and passport applications. Although the government continued to implement elevated security measures around Hazara neighborhoods in Quetta, some Hazara community members continued to state that these measures had turned their neighborhoods into isolated ghettos. 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. The 16-year-old suspect was being tried as a juvenile; the two coconspirators were a prayer leader and a young lawyer involved in the blasphemy complaint against Naseem. 11.0%. Shias live in terror as sectarian violence increases in Pakistan Data on sectarian attacks varied because no standardized definition existed of what constituted a sectarian attack among reporting organizations. According to some estimates, the Barelvi school of . Following petitions, the court reversed its decision and declared the marriage illegal under the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act and ordered the girl placed in a shelter after she refused to return to her parents. 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. Police arrested several members of a neighboring Muslim family in connection with the incident. Instances of torture and mistreatment by some police personnel were part of broader human rights concerns about police abuses against citizens of all faiths reported by local and international human rights organizations; some police agencies took steps to curb abuses by incorporating human rights curricula in training programs. The Shia population in Pakistan is estimated as being 11.8% of the country's population. 3.72; Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019; US 18 Dec. 2019), or "some 17-26 million people" ( Encyclopaedia Britannica 4 Oct. 2019). In court proceedings, the girl retracted her video statement and said she wanted to return to her parents. If Pakistan is unwilling to protect its Shia citizens, they may look to Islamic world, countries with a traditional Islamic population These conferences were organized by groups that stated they were defending the teaching that Mohammed is the final prophet but were often characterized by both secular and Ahmadi critics as engaging in hate speech against Ahmadi Muslims. The government collects a mandatory, automatic 2.5 percent zakat (tax) from Sunni Muslims who hold savings accounts in banks. 3. You can add more than one country or area. The Shia Muslim population in Pakistan is estimated to be between five and 20 per cent which is not considerable given that over 95 per cent of Pakistan's population are Muslims . Religious community representatives estimate religious groups not identifying as Sunni, Shia, or Ahmadi Muslim constitute 3 to 5 percent of the population. Population: 233,500,636 (July 2017 est.) The provincial and federal governments have legal responsibility for certain minority religious properties abandoned during the 1947 partition of British India. Following Naseems death, there were a series of additional violent incidents targeting Ahmadis, and Ahmadiyya community members said they felt in more danger than ever before. The government requires all madrassahs to register with the Ministry of Education in addition to registration with one of the five wafaqs. As well as the 50 who have been charged in the blasphemy crackdown, five have been killed since September and many more Shia families and well-known figures have gone into hiding. Their refusal to sign the statement meant they were automatically disqualified from fulfilling the admissions requirements. In February, a crowd occupied and vandalized a 100-year-old Ahmadi mosque in Punjab. In July, 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 backlash from the Shia community. In February, a court in Jacobabad, Sindh, ruled that the marriage with Raza was illegal under the 2013 Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. According to civil society and media, armed sectarian groups connected to organizations banned by the government, including the LeJ, TTP, and the once-banned anti-Shia group SSP, continued to be responsible for violence and other abuses against religious minorities. Unofficial estimates vary widely with regard to the size of minority religious groups. In November, the government finalized its Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content Rules 2020, which sought to codify the PTAs authority to regulate content the government deemed unlawful. The rules not only enhanced the PTAs ability to compel online content platforms such as Facebook, Googles YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia to remove content but also extended the regulators purview to include local internet service providers that could also be held liable for such content. The Shia population is spread all over Pakistan. 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). Minority religious leaders stated members of their communities continued to experience discrimination in admission to colleges and universities. Embassy officers met with civil society leaders, experts, and journalists to stress the need to protect the rights of religious minorities and to continue to support measures that decrease sectarian violence. Pakistan 2020 population is estimated at 220,892,340 people at mid year according to UN data. Population of Pakistan Total Population of Provinces Wise The wafaqs operate through an umbrella group, Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Pakistan, to represent their interests to the government. NGOs expressed concern that authorities often failed to intervene in instances of societal violence against religious minorities due to fear of retaliation, inadequate staff, or apathy. Pakistan Population (2023) - Worldometer Provinces of Pakistan Population Detail Information About Provinces Wise Population Human Rights Report | Pakistan - Hindu American Foundation Ahmadiyya community representatives reported the word Ahmadi was written on their passports if they identified themselves as such. I fear for myself and my family. With the police on their way to interrogate him, and fearing the violent fate that extremist Sunni groups in Pakistan inflict on those accused of blasphemy, last month Kareem and his family chose to disappear. 1.. Pakistan Pakistani Shias live in terror as sectarian violence increases The Sunni majority is using blasphemy laws to target and murder those they call 'heretics' Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad. Police and security forces throughout the country enhanced security measures during religious holidays in consultation with religious leaders. In August and September, increased security was provided throughout the country for the Shia communitys Muharram processions. These 142 individuals included both Shia and Sunni clerics who in the past had given controversial statements leading to sectarian tensions. The government announced it would seek a review from the Council on Islamic Ideology and at the end of the year it was unclear whether it still maintained its support for the temple. The CLAAS legal team filed a contempt of court application, but the Lahore High Court dismissed the plea. Shia Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan, continued to express concern about targeted killings taking place for the last several years. Following the killing of Tahir Naseem, the Department of State issued a statement expressing outrage over the killing and noting that Naseem had been lured from his home in the United States by individuals who used blasphemy laws to entrap him. Throughout the year, unidentified individuals assaulted and killed Shia and Ahmadis in attacks sources believed to be religiously motivated. The non-Pakhtun population of Pakistan is predominantly Barelvi. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom, Section II. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a national NGO, expressed concern over a surge in blasphemy cases against religious minorities, particularly the Shia community, and the continued potential for sectarian violence. It directs the state to endeavor to secure the proper organization of Islamic tithes, religious foundations, and places of worship. Speakers at that conference repeatedly used anti-Ahmadi rhetoric. Citing a sanitation job advertisement issued by the Sindh provincial government, HRCP stated such advertisements infringed on human dignity and violated the constitutional guarantee of equality of all citizens. On December 2, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for having engaged in or tolerated 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. The Shias live in a state of relief and caution: relief at Article 370 being lifted, and caution that things won't get any better for them. 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 . Perpetrators of societal violence and abuses against religious minorities often faced no legal consequences due to a lack of follow-through by law enforcement, bribes offered by the accused, and pressure on victims to drop cases. On November 20 in a rural area of Punjab, a teenage boy killed Ahmadi doctor Tahir Ahmad and seriously wounded three of his family members. 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. On December 24, the PTA issued a legal notice to two Ahmadi U.S. citizens requiring them to remove their website, trueislam.com, or face fines, sanctions, or potential prison sentences. Religion in Pakistan - WorldAtlas At years end, he was still being held at Camp Jail, Lahore, and had not been charged. Salman Khan, the head of the Muslim family, remained at large. Parliament, church leaders, and advocates continued to debate the text of a draft law to govern Christian marriages nationwide, because the existing regulation dated from 1872. 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. Islam is the state religion in Qatar. 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. On October 7, Dr. Qibla Ayaz, then chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, inaugurated a national code of conduct to promote interreligious harmony in the face of increased sectarian violence and mistreatment of religious minorities. Shia Muslims mourning the death anniversary of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, in Karachi on 8 October. Which is largest Shia Muslim country? - Quora Ahmadiyya Muslim community representatives continued to state that Ahmadi families were unable to register their marriages with local administrative bodies, known as union councils, since those councils considered Ahmadis to be outside the authority of the Muslim Family Law of 1961. Top Countries by Muslim population | Muslim population in World 2022 Courts also penalized antiblasphemy groups. Civil society and legal sources said judges were generally hesitant to decide blasphemy cases due to fear of violent retribution. 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 . Islam in Pakistan. This requirement effectively prohibits Ahmadi Muslims from holding elected office, as they recognize a prophet subsequent to Mohammed. 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 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. Sunnis are not only dominant but also the majority sect in Pakistan. On December 15, the Lahore High Court acquitted a second Christian man, Imran Ghafur Masih, who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010. The government of Punjab, the countrys largest province, passed a series of measures against Ahmadi Muslim beliefs. . Hindus formed 28.45 per cent. The womans mother filed a police report against the abductor, who was subsequently arrested. Community leaders continued to report that the government hindered Ahmadis from obtaining legal documents and pressured community members to deny their beliefs by requiring individuals wishing to be listed as Muslim on identity cards and passports to swear Mohammed was the final prophet of Islam and the Ahmadiyya movements founder was a false prophet. Others said parliamentarians occupying reserved seats had little influence in their parties and in the National Assembly because they did not have a voting constituency. 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Pakistan, An official website of the United States Government. The government took some measures to protect religious minorities. 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.
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