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. It threatens to plunge the country into anarchy.. Print and broadcast media outlets continued to publish and broadcast anti-Ahmadi rhetoric. 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. It is important to remember that Shia have a high birth rate since their religion allows adultery (Mut'a). 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. The man was later arrested by police after the Sindh education secretary intervened in the case. Between 1998 and 2017, Pakistan's average population growth rate was 2.40%. 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). Wafaqs (independent academic boards) register seminaries, regulate curricula, and issue degrees. In May, the Cabinet approved a proposal creating a National Commission for Minorities within the Ministry of Religious Affairs. It has quasi-judicial powers and may refer cases for prosecution but does not have arrest authority. victims of Takfiri terrorism and govt apathy - Tehran Times (Goyal, 2020) There has been an even greater decline in major cities with historically large Hindu populations. Groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and other governments, such as ISIS, also committed violent acts. The government said Ahmadis could qualify for admission if they did not claim to be Muslims. The Special Adviser went on to meet with federal and provincial government officials and civil society leaders in Islamabad and Lahore. Civil society members reported authorities took no action to prevent attacks on Ahmadi mosques or punish assailants who demolished, damaged, forcibly occupied, or set fire to Ahmadi mosques. The temple had also been part of a government-run school. Minority religious leaders stated members of their communities continued to experience discrimination in admission to colleges and universities. The CLAAS legal team filed a contempt of court application, but the Lahore High Court dismissed the plea. The Sunnis, on the other hand, nurse the fear that they have decisively lost power and things . 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. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah Imran Ismail issued a statement condemning the attacks. On April 14, police filed a blasphemy case against Shia singer Zamin Ali in Jamshoro, Sindh. Saudi Arabia - United States Department of State Pakistan Demographics Profile - IndexMundi 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. extremist, and militant groups have come together to harass the Shia population right in the eyesight of the country's security apparatus. The hashtag infidel, infidel, Shias are infidel began trending. Civil society groups continued to state that the blasphemy laws disproportionately affected members of religious minority communities. Population of males is 106018220 and females is 101344632. The provincial and federal governments have legal responsibility for certain minority religious properties abandoned during the 1947 partition of British India. On October 20, HRCP reported that an Ismaili Muslim mosque in Ghizer was attacked by unknown assailants, who opened fire on the building. Among the targets of these attacks were Shia Muslims, particularly the predominantly Shia Hazara community. In its 2020 World Watch List report, the international NGO Open Doors listed Pakistan, noting that Christians face extreme persecution in every area of their lives, with converts from Islam facing the highest levels. According to Open Doors, all Christians in the country are considered second-class citizens, inferior to Muslims. The NGO stated Christians are often given jobs perceived as low, dirty and dishonorable, and can even be victims of bonded labor. The NGO also said that Christian girls in the country were increasingly at risk of abduction and rape, often forced to marry their attackers and coerced into converting to Islam.. 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. By law, decisions of the FSC may be appealed to the Supreme Courts Shariat Appellate Bench. 2020, in July, 2020, Pakistani police arrested three LeJ operatives who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack in . According to legal advocacy groups, some lower courts continued to conduct proceedings in an intimidating atmosphere, with members of antiblasphemy groups, such as the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), often threatening the defendants attorneys, family members, and supporters. If represented by a Muslim lawyer, however, non-Muslims may consult the FSC in other matters, such as questions of sharia or Islamic practice that affect them or violate their rights. Armed sectarian groups, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the once-banned anti-Shia group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), which is connected to other organizations banned by the government as extremist, and groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and other governments, continued to stage attacks targeting Shia Muslims, including the predominantly Shia Hazara community. Their families believe they were taken into custody by the intelligence. The information in the following paragraph was provided in a country report on Pakistan by the . The population share of Hindus dropped a little from 22.06 per cent in 1911 to 20.48. Qataris are all Muslims and followers of the Sunni Salafi version of Islam. 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. There is a small myth that Christianity has been existent in Pakistan ever since a few decades after the crucifixion of Jesus . 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. On October 5, also in Peshawar, Ahmadi professor Naeemuddin Khattak was shot and killed while driving home from work. The four men were charged with defacing antiquities. 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. 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 population of Shia: How many Shia are there in the world? - Islamic Web 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. This is probably an attempt to contain any outbreak of violence, because Shias in Pakistan are a sizeable minority. 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. Vali Nasr claims the Shia . 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. In July, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) demanded that the federal interior ministry prevent the Ahmadi community from sacrificing animals on Eid al-Adha. According to eyewitnesses, police officials in at least four police vans cordoned off the area and arrested Soomro, who initially resisted. The special assistant to the Prime Minister for religious harmony, Tahir Ashrafi, said it was the responsibility of the government and court to punish the perpetrator in a televised interview. On October 5, also in Peshawar, Professor Naeemuddin Khattak, a member of the Ahmadiyya community, died after being shot while driving home from work. 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. Version 3.0 . Islamist political parties and Punjab Provincial Assembly speaker Chaudhry Elahi (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI party) criticized the decision before written approval was issued, however, declaring new temples should never be built in an Islamic country. The government has never executed anyone specifically for blasphemy. Parents may send children to private schools, including religious schools, at the familys expense. Data on sectarian attacks varied because no standardized definition existed of what constituted a sectarian attack among reporting organizations. op-ed - Churn in Ladakh: Hot political winds in a cold desert Christian religious freedom activists continued to report widespread discrimination against Christians in private employment. 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. The main functions of Population Census Wing are as under: 1. 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. The Sunni majority is using blasphemy laws to target and murder those they call heretics. Shia-Sunni rift on rise in Pakistan, but Imran Khan govt's silence may Sunnis represent approximately 75 percent of this population and Shias 20 . In the absence of specific language in the law authorizing civil or common law marriage, marriage certificates are signed by religious authorities and registered with the local marriage registrar. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions. 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. 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. 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. The statement also called on the government to immediately reform its often abused blasphemy laws and its court system, which allow such abuses to occur, and to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted to the full extent of the law., In an official tweet in November following the killing of Ahmadi physician Tahir Ahmad, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom said the killing was the latest in a series of recent killings targeting the Ahmadiyya community. Population of Pakistan (2020) View live population, charts & trends: Population of Pakistan Pakistan Population 220,892,340 see live Yearly Change + 2.00 % Global Share 2.81 % Global Rank 5 Fertility in Pakistan On October 9, a Hindu teacher was attacked by a Muslim man with an axe on her way to her school in Mithi, Sindh. 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. 1 These two groups have been at odds for centuries. Students who identify themselves as Muslims must declare in writing they believe Mohammed is the final prophet. 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. 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.) Islamic and minority religious leaders endorsed the code. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. 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. The commission also included two Sunni Muslim clerics and senior civil servants from the Ministries of Interior, Law and Justice, Human Rights, Federal Education and Professional Training, Religious Affairs, and the Council of Islamic Ideology. Pakistan ranks number 5 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. 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. 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. More than 23,000 Shia Muslims in Pakistan killed since 1963, according 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. 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. 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. In contrast, even the baseless and fake cases from the other side are being entertained by police, she said. On November 21, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari posted a tweet calling for the government to protect all its citizens. The wafaqs operate through an umbrella group, Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Pakistan, to represent their interests to the government. Following the killing of U.S. citizen Tahir Naseem in July, JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah celebrated the accused killer for his act of justice. Some political figures, including the ruling PTI Partys Sindh provincial president Haleem Adil Sheikh, who is also a member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly, changed their social media profile pictures to that of Naseems killer. Pakistan 10 - 15 10 - 15 Palau -- --Palestinian territories <1 <1 Panama <1 <1 Papua New Guinea <1 <1 Paraguay -- --Peru <1 <1 . The population of Pakistan in 2020 was 227,196,741, a 1.75% increase from 2019. Pakistan population is equivalent to 2.83% of the total world population. World Shia Muslims Population - Home Department of State programs, including outreach activities such as speakers and workshops, helped to promote peacebuilding among religious and community leaders. Targeted killings of Shia and Ahmadi Muslims and violence and discrimination against Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadi Muslims continued to occur. Ayaz also spoke at a seminar on interfaith harmony at the cultural center at the National Library of Pakistan in Islamabad. Barelvi Islam - GlobalSecurity.org On January 30, police arrested two Shia men in Tando Mohammed Khan, southern Sindh, and charged them with blasphemy. Shia (Shi'a) Muslim Countries - WorldAtlas The 104-member Senate has four reserved seats for non-Muslims, one from each province. Members of religious minorities, particularly lower-caste Hindus, complained of forceful evictions from their homes and villages by individuals desiring their land with assistance from government officials. 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. The law prohibits publishing any criticism of Islam or its prophets or insults to others religious beliefs. If Pakistan is unwilling to protect its Shia citizens, they may look to Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of the Islamic Faith, after Sunni Islam, having about 15% of Muslims worldwide. She said Domki had taken her to Balochistan two months earlier and held her there until police rescued her. Unofficial estimates vary widely with regard to the size of minority religious groups. 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) Civil society activists and media reported young Christian and Hindu women being abducted and raped by Muslim men. There is a 5 percent minimum quota for hiring religious minorities (primarily Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Kalash, and Parsis but excluding Shia and Ahmadi Muslims) at the federal and provincial levels of government.