Hinduism is the indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent including Pakistan. However subsequent to the creation of Pakistan in 1947 as a Muslim majority nation Hindus have had a much smaller numerical presence here. Nonetheless Hindus have played a major role in the history, culture and politics of the country.
In terms of population, Pakistan now has thefifth largest population of Hindus which is quickly declining.
In August 1947, at the end of British Raj, the population percentage of Hindus in what is today in Pakistan was perhaps as high as 15-20%, but would drop to its current total of less than 2% in the years since independence. According to the 1998 Pakistan Census, caste Hindus constitute about 1.6 percent of the total population of Pakistan and about 6.6% in province of Sindh. The Pakistan Census separates Schedule Castes from the main body of Hindus who make up a further 0.25% of national population.
PAKISTAN POPULATION 132,352,000
HINDU POPULATION 2,443,614
HINDU POPULATION PERCENTAGE 1.846%
The increasing Islamisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India, a nation with a Hindu majority, has been an influential factor in the persecution of religious minorities, among those minorities, Hindus. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalisation of Hindus and other minorities. Following the Babri Mosque riots in India, riots and attacks on Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations. It remains the hope of many that a permanent peace between the two nations will go a long way in making life better for the roughly 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan. The 1998 census recorded 2,443,614 Hindus in Pakistan.
Also, Hindu minorities, under Taliban rule in Swat, were forced to wear Red headgear such as turbans as a symbol of dhimmi.
In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindus in Karachi were attacked and ethnically cleansed following an incident when a Hindu youth drank from a water tap near an Islamic mosque.
List of Hindu temples in Pakistan
Sources: Various
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