Haq's Musings: Pakistani Hindu Population Among Fastest Growing in the World
Contrary to the sensational media headlines about
declining Hindu population in Pakistan, the fact is that Hindu birth rate is significantly higher than the country's national average. Although Hindus make up only 1.9% of Pakistan's population, it is among the worlds fastest growing Hindu communities today, growing faster than the Hindu populations in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Hindu Population in West Pakistan Source: Census Data
`Pakistan Census data. For 1931 and 1941, the figures are for West Pakistan in undivided India. For 1951 and 1961, the figures are for West Pakistan in undivided Pakistan. Data for 1971 could not be accessed.
Hindu population of the areas that now constitute Pakistan was 15% in 1931 India Census. It declined to 14% in 1941 India Census. Then first
Pakistan Census in 1951 showed it was 1.3% after the massive cross-border migration of both Hindus and Muslims in 1947. Since 1951, the Hindu population of what is now Pakistan has grown from 1.3% to 1.9% now.
Top Countries With Hindu Populations Source: Pew Research Center
Fastest Growing Religions By Countries
Sindhi Hindu Woman
Hindu fertility rate (TFR) of
3.2 children per woman in Pakistan is much higher than national
fertility rate of 2.86. With 3.33 million Hindus, Pakistan is currently home to the world's 5th largest Hindu population. By 2050, Pakistan will rank 4th with 5.6 million Hindus, surpassing Indonesia which is currently ranked 4th largest Hindu country, according to
Pew Research.
While it is true that some Pakistani Hindus have been targets of
religious bigotry and intolerance by some in the majority Muslim community, there are also many many examples of mutual tolerance and respect between Hindus and Muslims in the country. In the city of
Mithi in Sindh's Tharparkar district, for example, Muslims do not slaughter cows out of respect for their fellow citizens of Hindu faith, and Hindus, out of respect for Muslim rites do not have marriage celebrations during the month of Muharram. Hassan Raza, a student journalist,
quoted a resident of a village near Mithi as saying:
"In our village, Hindus and Muslims have been living together for decades and there has not been a single day, when I have seen a religious conflict. No loud speaker is used for Azaan at the time when Hindus are worshiping in their temple, and no bells are rung when it is time for namaz. Nobody eats in public when it is Ramazan and Holi is played by every member of the village."
Another example is Rohiri in Sindh where a
visiting Canadian-Indian Hindu diplomatsaw a thriving Hindu community. Here's an except of how he describes his visit to Rohiri:
"One of the most interesting elements of the trip was visiting my father’s town, Rohiri, his birthplace. I found there was still a sizeable Hindu community there. That totally took me by surprise. We still think there was a massive religious cleansing in Pakistan and there were no Hindus left. Then I came across this family of shopkeepers who said, “Don’t worry about anything. Stay with us.” They gave me lunch and dinner and put me on the night train to Lahore. Talking to this family in the neighbourhood where my father grew up and was married was fascinating. The question that came to mind was why did my father’s family leave Pakistan and why are these people still here? Official figures suggest 14 million people were displaced after partition and that half a million to a million people were killed. And yet 60 years later these Hindu people in Rohiri are still there. They felt connected to the place where they were born. In the three towns I passed through I kept meeting Hindus — traders, professionals. Their numbers were small, 300 or 400 families in each of these towns. They have their own places of worship. I dared to ask: “Are you happy here?” and they said, “Yes, this is the land where we were born.”"
Pakistani Fashion Designer Deepak Perwani in Karachi
A successful Karachi-based Hindu Pakistani fashion designer Deepak Perwani said the following while talking to
Indian mediain 2012:
"People keep asking me, 'Oh you guys didn't migrate?', 'How are you treated there?' and so on. The questions show a lack of awareness." Perwani is part of Karachi's flourishing Hindu community, which is small but visible and influential even today. One lakh of Karachi's 1.3 crore population is Hindu.
As Perwani puts it, a lot of what people say about Pakistani Hindus shows "a lack of awareness".
Related Links:
Haq's Musings
Pakistani Textbooks Acknowledge Minorities' Contributions
Rising Tide of Intolerance Threatens Pakistan
Akhand Bharat Part of Indian Textbooks
Hindutva Distortions in Indian Textbooks
Fighting Agents of Intolerance in Pakistan
Muslim Scholars Must Fight Hate in Pakistan
South Asian Christians Celebrate Christmas in Fear
Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's Vision
Pakistan Must Defeat Agents of Intolerance
Celebrating Quaid-e-Azam M.A. Jinnah's Birthday
Haq's Musings: Pakistani Hindu Population Among Fastest Growing in the World
