Tag: hindu minorities

  • How many registered religious minority voters are in Pakistan?

    How many registered religious minority voters are in Pakistan?

    As per the recent province-wise religion report of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), there are 30 lac, 78 thousand, 3 hundred and 6 voters from religious minorities in Pakistan.

    Out of 40 thousand 781 minority voters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3516 are Bahai, 220 Buddist, 28080 Christian, 4209 Hindu, 723 Parsi, 1149 Ahmadi, and 2884 Sikh.

    In former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) there are 3539 religious minority voters out of which 400 are Bahai, 41 Buddist, 1446 Christian, 669 Hindu, 16 Parsi, 23 Ahmadi, and 944 Sikh.

    For 12 lac 59 thousand 303 minority voters in Punjab, 18102 are Bahai, 786 Buddist, 1057071 Christian, 73456 Hindu, 262 Parsi, 108538 Ahmadi, and 1088 Sikh.

    In Sindh, there are 16 lac 80 thousand 582 minority voters, out of which 7269 are Bahai, 495 Buddist, 228552 Christian, 1423276 Hindu, 2787 Parsi, 16668 Ahmadi, and 1535 Sikh.

    Balochistan has 44 thousand 930 minority voters, out of which 1387 are Bahai, 1387 Buddist, 18702 Christian, 18702 Hindu, 265 Parsi, 549 Ahmadi, and 272 Sikh.

    In the Federal Capital, there are 44 thousand 783 minority voters, out of which 242 are Bahai, 41 Buddist, 40518 Christian, 276 Hindu, 16 Parsi, 3677 Ahmadi, and 13 Sikh.

    Although elections are not happening in Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in February 2024, ECP did share detailed data of these areas too.

    Out of 653 minority voters in Gilgit Baltistan, 472 are Bahai, 5 Buddist, 147 Christian, 8 Hindu, 16 Ahmadi, 5 Sikh, and none from the Parsi community.

    Azad Jammu and Kashmir has 3735 minority voters out of which 1083 are Bahai, 23 Buddist, 987 Christian, 45 Hindu, 13 Parsi, 1580 Ahmadi, and 4 Sikh.

    As Pakistan gears up for nationwide parliamentary elections in February 2024, a significant portion of the population, the Ahmadiyya community, faces disenfranchisement due to discriminatory provisions in the electoral law.

    Current electoral regulations in Pakistan effectively exclude Ahmadis from the voting process based on their religious beliefs.

    To register as voters, members of the Ahmadiyya community are compelled to either renounce their faith or accept placement in a distinct electoral list categorizing them as “non-Muslim.”

    However, self-identification as Muslim is a fundamental tenet of Ahmadiyya religious belief.

    This exclusionary practice has resulted in the denial of voting rights for Ahmadis, who comprise over 500,000 individuals in Pakistan.

    Despite their significant numbers, Ahmadis find themselves unable to participate in local, provincial, and national elections.

    It is noteworthy that in 2002, Pakistan discontinued an electoral system that segregated Muslims and non-Muslims into separate categories for registration and voting.

    However, discriminatory measures persist, particularly affecting the Ahmadiyya community’s ability to exercise their

    The government also created a separate category for Ahmadis. Since then, all Pakistani citizens have voted according to a single electoral list except the Ahmadis, who vote on a separate list.

  • ‘Don’t slander someone else’s religion’: Hareem Shah’s distasteful video slammed by users

    ‘Don’t slander someone else’s religion’: Hareem Shah’s distasteful video slammed by users

    Social media personality Hareem Shah was trolled by Twitter users yesterday after she uploaded a video where she can be seen visiting a Hindu temple.

    In the caption she had written:

    “Ek dafa Mandir gayi thi , bilkul bhi maza nahin aaya. Pata nahin ye log patthar ko kaise Khuda man lete hain.”

    Social media users criticised the Tiktok star for targeting the beliefs of a religious minority in Pakistan where non-Muslim communities have been subjected to attacks, pointing out that even in Islam, it is an insult to mock other religions and their practices.

    Religious minorities in Pakistan have been subjected to verbal and physical attacks, including the recent Jaranwala riots where a Christian neighborhood was set on fire by a mob over blasphemy allegations.

    READ MORE: Caretaker Prime Minister condemns attack on Christian Community in Jaranwala

    In January, human rights experts at the United Nations called to attention the rise of forced conversions, abductions and marriages of women from minority communities, urging the government to put an end to such practices.

    “We are deeply troubled to hear that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam,” the experts said in a statement as reported by Al-Jazeera.

    “Why can’t people just respect each other’s religion and live in peace? Disgusting behaviour!” a user wrote.

    “Why do we Muslims feel entitled to belittle other religions? Imagine if a Hindu or a Christian had made a similar video in a mosque? How would we have felt? How is it fair to mock other religions? This is so disgusting I can’t even!