. Shia Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan, continued to express concern about targeted killings taking place for the last several years. Although there continued to be no official restriction on the construction of Ahmadiyya places of worship, according to Ahmadiyya Muslim community leaders, local authorities regularly denied requisite construction permits, and Ahmadis remained forbidden to call them mosques. A constitutional amendment devolves responsibility for minorities affairs, including religious minorities, to the provinces. 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. 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 For example, in March, media reported that a woman from Meghwar committed suicide after being repeatedly raped by a man of an upper-caste Hindu clan in Deeplo, Sindh. 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. The NCHR was also mandated to conduct investigations of allegations of human rights abuses, but legal sources said the commission had little power to enforce its requests. Sunni groups held three large rallies in Karachi in September, with speakers warning Shia Muslims of dire consequences, including beheadings, if they continued to blaspheme against the Prophet Mohammeds companions. Qatar. The requirement that Muslim elected officials swear an oath affirming their belief that Mohammed is the final prophet of Islam continued to discourage Ahmadi Muslims from seeking public office. Civil society representatives said the bill targets Ahmadis, who do not have representation on the ulema board and who are barred by the constitution and the penal code from identifying as Muslims. On October 5, also in Peshawar, Professor Naeemuddin Khattak, a member of the Ahmadiyya community, died after being shot while driving home from work. 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. Legal observers also reported judges and magistrates often delayed or continued trials indefinitely to avoid confrontation with, or violence from, groups provoking protests. 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. We call upon authorities to ensure the safety of all Pakistanis.. However, violence is inevitable because the anger and anxiety on both sides seem to be mounting. The constitution mandates that the government take steps to enable Muslims, individually and collectively, to order their lives in accordance with the fundamental principles and basic concepts of Islam and to promote the observance of Islamic moral standards. According to the NGOs Center for Legal Aid, Assistance, and Settlement (CLAAS) and the Pakistan Center for Law and Justice, there were also reports of religious minority women being physically attacked by men. The population density in Pakistan is 287 per Km 2 (742 people per mi 2 ). 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. 2020, in July, 2020, Pakistani police arrested three LeJ operatives who were allegedly planning to carry out an attack in . Pakistan's population is expected to surpass that of Indonesia in 2048 when it will reach 331.29 million. 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. . According to the penal code, the punishments for persons convicted of blasphemy include the death penalty for defiling the Prophet Mohammed, life imprisonment for defiling, damaging, or desecrating the Quran, and up to 10 years imprisonment for insulting anothers religious feelings. Speech or action intended to incite religious hatred is punishable by up to seven years imprisonment. 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. The court may suspend or increase the sentence given by a criminal court in these cases. 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. On September 10, police saved a Hindu trader from a mob that accused him of committing blasphemy and called for his death in Kashmore, Sindh. Victims said their attackers singled them out as vulnerable due to their religious minority identity. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions. 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. Under the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony is responsible for reviewing internet traffic and reporting blasphemous or offensive content to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority for possible removal or to the Federal Investigative Agency for possible criminal prosecution. Among the restrictions outlined in the bill, publishers, editors, and translators would be barred from printing or publishing any book and material containing statements or anything deemed to be of a blasphemous nature. Shias in Pakistan are geographically spread across the. Sunnis are generally believed to be 80-85 percent of the Muslim population, and Shia Muslims, including Hazara, Ismaili, and Bohra (a branch of Ismaili), are generally believed to make up 15-20 percent. There is no option to state no religion. National identity cards are required for all citizens upon reaching the age of 18. Members of civil society reported that converts from Islam lived in varying degrees of secrecy for fear of violent retribution from family members or society at large. An additional six Sikh gurdwaras and seven Hindu temples were also reopened after renovation in Punjab. 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. A media report said four people, including two Shia Muslims, one Ahmadi sect member and a US citizen who renounced the Ahmadi sect, were gunned down in September 2020. 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. Shia Muslims 1.1 Demographics According to sources, the Shia population of Pakistan is estimated to be between 10 and 15 percent (Australia 20 Feb. 2019, para. Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom, Actions of Foreign Forces and Nonstate Actors, Section III. [6] As much as 90% of the population follows Sunni Islam. In August and September, increased security was provided throughout the country for the Shia communitys Muharram processions. The event received positive coverage in local media. This declaration is also required for private educational institutions, including universities. 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. On October 5, also in Peshawar, Ahmadi professor Naeemuddin Khattak was shot and killed while driving home from work. T he most intriguing aspect of Kashmir is the dynamic between the Shia and Sunni communities in the Valley. According to the SATP and media reports, antiterrorism courts convicted and sentenced several individuals affiliated with terrorist organizations and involved in past sectarian attacks and targeted killings. The Hindu community in Sindh and Balochistan remained vulnerable to targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom. 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. Minority lawmakers and civil society activists reacted strongly to the attack, stating the boys had been instigated by local Muslim clerics. Police stated they believed he was targeted because of his religious beliefs. Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of the Islamic Faith, after Sunni Islam, having about 15% of Muslims worldwide. The five wafaqs each represent major streams of Islamic thought in the country: Barelvi, Deobandi, Shia, Ahle Hadith, and the Jamaat-i-Islami, which is considered ultraconservative. On February 22, a Christian woman from Lahore fled to a shelter after a Muslim factory worker forced her to convert to Islam and marry him. Syed Kareem* has been in hiding for weeks. When he and his sons returned to the house, they shot and wounded two of the Christian family members. During his February visit to Karachi, the Department of State Special Adviser for Religious Minorities told students and faculty at Karachi Universitys Department of Islamic Studies, An inclusive society creates more space for trade and prosperity. The audience applauded his comments about the protection of religious freedom for Muslims in the United States. Edit: August and September of 2020 has seen a renewed attack on Shia Muslims within Pakistan. The non-Pakhtun population of Pakistan is predominantly Barelvi. 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. In February, the National Assembly introduced a draft law requiring internet and technology companies to open offices in Islamabad, locate their servers within the country, and remove objectionable internet content within a specified timeframe. While the law requires a senior police official to investigate any blasphemy charge before a complaint may be filed, a requirement that NGOs and legal observers stated helped contribute to an objective investigation and the dismissal of many blasphemy cases, some NGOs said police did not uniformly follow this procedure. The court also barred her alleged husband and his family from meeting her and ordered police to arrest those who facilitated the marriage. According to the nonprofit Middle East Media Research Institute, the December edition of the Urdu language TTP magazine Journal of The Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan blamed the Jews and their puppets for the COVID-19 pandemic and for harassing Muslims during the pandemic. According to civil society reports, there were many individuals imprisoned on blasphemy charges, at least 35 of whom had received death sentences, as compared with 82 individuals imprisoned on blasphemy charges and 29 who received death sentences in 2019. According to sources, the Shia population of Pakistan is estimated to be between 10 and 15 percent (Australia 20 Feb. 2019, para. Also in September, according to law enforcement reports, Peshawar police rescued an Ahmadi family after a large mob gathered outside their home, accusing the family of preaching Ahmadi beliefs. According to police, the content they posted on Facebook insulted the companions of Mohammed, which, they said, infuriated Sunni Muslims. 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. Video footage from a National Assembly session in July showed opposition lawmakers immediately criticizing Prime Minister Khan when he failed to use the phrase after speaking the name of the Prophet Mohammed in an address to parliament. The constant tension between Shia and Sunni has led to the creation of Shia-Specific organizations. Hindu activists in Sindh reported discrimination against the Hindu community during COVID-19 food-relief efforts by private charities. The Sunni majority is using blasphemy laws to target and murder those they call heretics. Sunnis represent approximately 75 percent of this population and Shias 20 . The official state religion of Iran is Shia branch of Islam. Islam is the largest and the state religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The hashtag infidel, infidel, Shias are infidel began trending. 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.) The Religious Affairs Ministry later issued a statement saying Ahmadis would not be included on the commission, given the religious and historical sensitivity of including Ahmadis in government institutions. In a letter written to the Interior Minister, the LHCBA quoted the section of the constitution stating that Ahmadis are non-Muslim. July 2021 . Minority rights activists said most government employment advertisements for janitorial staff continued to list being non-Muslim as a requirement. The Sindh provincial government has legislation allowing couples to seek divorce and granting Hindu women the right to remarry six months after a divorce or a spouses death. Speaker of the Punjab Provincial Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) party leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi made numerous statements denouncing Ahmadis and any effort to undermine the status of Mohammed as Islams final prophet. Despite these problems some international organizations have researched and reported some statistics. These attacks targeted gatherings of Shia individuals. Religious freedom activists and civil society groups said the proposal was toothless and raised concerns regarding the ministrys lack of public consultation, the limited powers of the proposed body, and the fact that Ahmadi Muslims were excluded. Courts also penalized antiblasphemy groups. In July, religious and right-wing parties criticized the governments plan to permit construction of a new Hindu temple in Islamabad. 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. 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. That same day, a Punjab Provincial Assembly lawmaker from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Mohammed Ilyas Chinyoti, participated in an international Khatm-e-Nabuwat conference in the Chanab Nagar area of Punjab near the Ahmadiyya Muslim communitys headquarters. Median age total: 33.7 years male: 33.1 years Users are advised to report such content on content-complaint@pta.gov.pk for action under PECA 16 (the 2016 PECA act)., In a January press release, PTA stated it was proactively playing its role in blocking/removal of unlawful content, with social media platforms being approached in this regard, and it encouraged the public to report such content directly to PTA and avoid sharing it on social media platforms and other websites.. The establishment of the UT of Ladakh was in concurrence with the age-old demand of Leh, a demand opposed by Kargil. There were reported cases of government intervention and assistance from courts and law enforcement in situations of attempted kidnapping and forced conversion, although enforcement action against alleged perpetrators was rare. February 27, 2023 . The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), an independent government-funded agency that reports to parliament, is required to receive petitions, conduct investigations, and request remediation of human rights abuses. At the conference, JUI-F national leader Fazl ur Rehman praised the lawyers who were defending the teenager accused of killing U.S. citizen Tahir Naseem, a self-proclaimed Ahmadi, in Peshawar and blamed Western nations for supporting Ahmadi Muslims. Local authorities did not allow the repair or unsealing of Ahmadi mosques damaged or demolished by rioters in previous years. The constitution defines Muslim as a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Almighty Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Mohammed the last of the prophets, and does not believe in, or recognize as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed or claims to be a prophet after Mohammed. It also states that a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or Parsi community, a person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves Ahmadis), or a Bahai, and a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes is a non-Muslim.. He fears if he is seen on the streets of Karachi, the Pakistan city he calls home, he will be a dead man walking. Civil society groups continued to state that the blasphemy laws disproportionately affected members of religious minority communities. Some activists reported receiving death threats because of their work. Police and security forces throughout the country enhanced security measures during religious holidays in consultation with religious leaders. 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. Members of this religious group have suffered persecution specifically from Mughal Emperors. NGOs and legal observers also stated police often did not file charges against individuals who made false blasphemy accusations. Mr Haider is one of 140 Pakistani Shias to have "disappeared" over the past two years, according to community activists. On October 9, a Hindu teacher was attacked by a Muslim man with an axe on her way to her school in Mithi, Sindh. At least one individual was accused of spreading blasphemous content through social media under PECA. By law, madrassahs are prohibited from teaching or encouraging sectarian or religious hatred or violence. As one senior security official speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged: We cant ignore the role of regional and international powers in sectarianism in Pakistan Iran supports the Shia militia here.. 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. The events were often covered by English and local-language media and featured anti-Ahmadiyya rhetoric which Ahmadiyya community representatives said could incite violence against Ahmadis. On July 9, the Sindh High Court ordered that the girl could return to her Hindu parents. 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. India with 21 million is in second place closely followed by Pakistan (20 million). 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. 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.
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