shia population in pakistan 2020

The Changing Landscape of Anti-Shia Politics in Pakistan The present Christian population in Pakistan is ranged between 2-3 million as per as recent (2020-21) year estimation by various institution and NGOs of Pakistan. According to Shia community estimates, There are approximate . Sunnis represent approximately 75 percent of this population and Shias 20 . 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. At least 40 cases were registered against Shias in one month Many have observed that outrage against Shia. Iran Sets Its Eyes on Afghanistan | The Washington Institute The incident was the first attack on a Hindu temple in Tharparkar in more than 30 years. Sunni Muslims made up 5 percent of all accused blasphemers, followed by Christians at 3.5 percent, and Hindus at 1 percent. The U.S. government estimates the total population at 234.4 million (midyear 2020 estimate). In January, after going missing, a 15-year-old Hindu girl appeared in a video with Ali Raza, a Muslim man, in which the two claimed they had willingly married and she had converted to Islam. Human rights activists reported numerous instances of societal violence related to allegations of blasphemy; of efforts by individuals to coerce religious minorities to convert to Islam; and of societal harassment, discrimination, and threats of violence directed at members of religious minority communities. Pakistan is said to have a Shia population of at least 16 million, like India. According to an unofficial and unverified estimate, between 700 and 5,000 Pakistan Shias from Karachi, Parachinar, and Gilgit-Baltistan, recruited by Iran, went to Syria to fight against the. The family was in another location, however, and survived. Pakistan Population 1950-2023 | MacroTrends There is no provision in the law for atheists. In August and September, increased security was provided throughout the country for the Shia communitys Muharram processions. Despite these problems some international organizations have researched and reported some statistics. note: provisional results of Pakistan's 2017 national census estimate the country's total population to be 207,774,000. country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data): 5. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom, Actions of Foreign Forces and Nonstate Actors, Section III. Pakistan's blasphemy laws have come under hefty criticism, as. Page 2 of 41 Preface. The Sindh Hindu Marriage Act also applies to Sikh marriages. Ayaz also spoke at a seminar on interfaith harmony at the cultural center at the National Library of Pakistan in Islamabad. The court may suspend or increase the sentence given by a criminal court in these cases. Pakistan Population (2023) - Worldometer 0.5% Shia, and 0.3% Ahmadi. Shia (Shi'a) Muslim Countries - WorldAtlas 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). Inflammatory anti-Ahmadi rhetoric continued to exist on social media and was at times spread by senior members of mainstream political parties. 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. According to the provisional results of a national census conducted in 2017 (the most recent), 96 percent of the population is Sunni or Shia Muslim. Pakistan's Perpetual Shia Shame - Globalpoliticsnews On June 10, police arrested Sajid Soomro, a professor at Shah Abdul Latif University, in Khairpur, Sindh, on blasphemy charges. Sunni coalition to demand arrest of Shia clerics in Pakistan 2.4.1 The Shia Muslim population is estimated to be between 20 and 40 million (in . We call upon authorities to ensure the safety of all Pakistanis.. 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. Minority rights activists criticized these advertisements as discriminatory and insulting. According to the constitution, there shall be no discrimination on the basis of religion in appointing individuals to government service, provided they are otherwise qualified. At years end, she and her alleged husband had not appeared in court in Karachi, despite multiple court orders to do so. 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. "No one knew where I was for 21 . 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. 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. Wadi-e-Hussain: A graveyard for Pakistan's Shia victims 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. 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. 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. According to Ahmadiyya community leaders, authorities continued to target and harass Ahmadi Muslims for blasphemy, violations of anti-Ahmadi laws, and other crimes. On October 9, a Hindu teacher was attacked by a Muslim man with an axe on her way to her school in Mithi, Sindh. 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. According to the CSJ, 2020 saw the highest number of blasphemy cases in a single year in the countrys history. Leaders in other NGOs agreed the actual number of blasphemy cases was likely higher, but uneven reporting and lack of media coverage in many areas made it difficult to identify an exact number. victims of Takfiri terrorism and govt apathy - Tehran Times Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of the Islamic Faith, after Sunni Islam, having about 15% of Muslims worldwide. 2020, in July, 2020, Pakistani police arrested three LeJ operatives who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack in . His ordeal began with a Facebook post in early September, where he condemned the killers of a Shia Muslim martyred centuries ago. Download Historical Data Save as Image From: To: Zoom: Current Historical U.N. 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. Methodology for Sunni-Shia Estimates Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life / Mapping the Global Muslim Population 11.0%. According to Ahmadiyya leaders, the government effectively disenfranchised their community by requiring voters to swear an oath affirming the finality of the Prophethood of Mohammed, something that they stated was against Ahmadi belief, in order to register as Muslims. At the same time, NGOs reported that sometimes lower-ranking police would file charges of blasphemy, rather than a senior police superintendent who had more authority to dismiss baseless claims, or that police would not carry out a thorough investigation. Indonesia is the country with the Largest Muslim population in the world. The government continued to implement the National Action Plan against terrorism, including countering sectarian hate speech and extremism as well as conducting military and law enforcement operations against violent groups. With Article 370 gone, Shias in Kashmir are in a state of - ThePrint Shias: Heretics in a Sunni Pakistan - Modern Diplomacy Pakistan's Perpetual Shia Shame - SOUTH ASIAN TRIBUNE The large-scale presence of these constitution-phobic groups is a clear and present threat to civil and constitutional rule in Pakistan, added Naqvi. Members of parliament and officials of the Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Law and Justice held consultations with church leaders from prominent Christian denominations and with NGO representatives, but the denominations, church leaders, and NGO representatives had not agreed on elements of the draft law pertaining to divorce and interfaith marriage by years end. According to religious minority activists, provincial governments also often failed to meet quotas for hiring religious minorities into the civil service. The charges carry up to three years imprisonment and a fine. In October, members of a State Youth Parliament team in Gujranwala defaced a public portrait of the countrys first Nobel laureate, physicist Dr. Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi. The victims, burned to death by an angry mob, were Babar Noman and Hafiz Naeem. The constitution prohibits discriminatory admission based on religious affiliation to any governmental educational institution. Ahmadis continued to report widespread societal harassment and discrimination against community members, including physical attacks, destruction of homes and personal property, and threats intended to force Ahmadis to abandon their jobs or towns. In May, the Cabinet approved a Religious Affairs Ministry proposal establishing a National Commission for Minorities housed within the ministry. According to eyewitnesses, police officials in at least four police vans cordoned off the area and arrested Soomro, who initially resisted. The resolution stated, This House demands that if the chief of Qadianis [a derogatory term for Ahmadis] submits in writing declaring that they accept the Constitution of Pakistan and accept their status as non-Muslims, then we will have no objection to their inclusion into the Commission.. Other NGOs corroborated that 2020 had seen an increase in blasphemy cases. Human Rights Report | Pakistan - Hindu American Foundation The anti-Shia Muslim campaign first began gathering pace on social media in September, demanding that Shia Muslims were declared heretics. The directorate would be empowered to inspect printing presses, bookstores, and publishing houses and confiscate books before or after they are printed if they are judged to contain objectionable content. Iran's Approach to Embattled Shiites in Pakistan is Different Than in The FSCs review power applies whether the cases involve Muslims or non-Muslims. The girls family said they feared she had been forced to convert and marry a Muslim. The population share of Hindus dropped a little from 22.06 per cent in 1911 to 20.48. Pakistan Population 2023 (Live) - worldpopulationreview.com It is important to remember that Shia have a high birth rate since their religion allows adultery (Mut'a). The constitution states that no person attending any educational institution shall be required to attend religious instruction or take part in any religious ceremony relating to a religion other than the persons own. Government officials and politicians attended and spoke at multiple Khatm-e-Nabuwat (Finality of Prophethood) conferences held in major cities and at religious sites around the country. The wafaqs operate through an umbrella group, Ittehad-e-Tanzeemat-e-Madaris Pakistan, to represent their interests to the government. Some politicians acknowledged privately the bill was intended to ensure textbooks identify Mohammed as the final prophet, thereby excluding Ahmadis from the definition of Islam taught in public schools. Pakistan's president gives Shias an exemption, but the sectarian confrontation becomes an important political issue in the country. Neither the National Assembly nor the Senate had acted on the 2018 judgment by years end, but Ahmadiyya community representatives said that NADRA required Ahmadis to declare in an affidavit that they are non-Muslims to obtain a national identification card, another requirement of the high court judgment. For 40-year-old Tehseen, Kashif was her whole world. To prevent a slide back into violence, Islamabad should ensure those inciting or perpetrating violent acts are prosecuted while denying hardliners the civic space to propagate their hatred. These terrorist outfits have committed horrendous crimes in this mountainous region . Islam in Pakistan. NGOs, legal observers and religious minority representatives continued to raise concerns regarding the failure of lower courts to adhere to basic evidentiary standards in blasphemy cases, and the slow pace of adjudicating these cases, which led to some suspects remaining in detention for years as they waited their initial trial or appeals, and to some convicted persons spending years in prison before higher courts overturned their convictions and freed them for lack of evidence. The accused were mostly Shia (70 percent of cases) and Ahmadi Muslims (20 percent of cases). Authorities provided enhanced security for Shia Muslim, Christian, and Hindu places of worship at various times throughout the year, including around particular religious holidays or in response to specific threats. 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.