Pakistan has notoriously committed various atrocities against its minorities ever since its inception. The dastardly attack at the Guru Nanak Sahib further highlighted the situation of minorities in Pakistan. The revanchist state has systematically eliminated the country’s minorities and successive governments have brazened it out. So much is the bias that two years after conducting its population census in 2017, Pakistan has failed to release the data pertaining to minority communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Christians etc.
According to the data available on the website of its official census conducting body – Pakistan Bureau of Statistics – the total population of the country has been pegged at 20.77 crores. However, the religion-wise data hasn’t been revealed yet. The Indian Express reports that the deadline for publishing the data was March 2018. The only official data available on Pakistan’s population dates back to 1998 when the country conducted its census. The census data puts the Muslim population at 12.74 crores (96.28 per cent), Christians at 21.04 Lakh (1.59 per cent) and Hindus at 21.17 Lakh (1.60 per cent). Other groups included 0.22 per cent Qadiani [Ahmadis] (2.91 lakh), 0.25 per cent Scheduled Castes (3.30 lakh) and 0.07 per cent Others (92,646). The Pakistan government since the 1998 census has not provided separate data for the Sikh community.
Dr Ramesh Vankwani, member National Assembly in Pak from Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and also patron-in-chief of Pakistan Hindu Council, said, “Pakistan’s latest population census was conducted in 2017 but data for minority count is still awaited. We are also waiting.” Asked for the reason behind such prolonged delay, he said, “We are also unaware of the reason”. Mangla Sharma, member provincial assembly (MPA) from Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), had moved a resolution in Sindh assembly demanding that minority data of 2017 census be published at the earliest. He said: “As per the 2017 census data, we have been given unofficially, the Hindu population in Pakistan has declined by 0.19 per cent since 1998. But till official numbers are not released, we are clueless.”
The refusal to reveal the data proves that Pakistan is deliberately hiding its minority data so that they keep their anti-India propaganda alive and the recent cases of minority atrocities and the hiding of data only further expose Pakistan.
Last week, a Muslim mob laid siege of the Gurudwara Janam Asthan and also indulged in vandalism and stone pelting at the holiest of Sikh shrines. A couple of days later, a 25-year-old Sikh man, identified as Ravinder Singh, has been murdered in Peshawar, Pakistan. The Sikh youth’s dead body was found in the Chamkani Police Station area in Peshawar. He lived in Malaysia, and had travelled to Pakistan for his wedding and was in Peshawar for shopping. The attack on Nankana Sahib followed by the cold-blooded murder of the Sikh youth shows how the Islamist forces in Pakistan are going on a rampage with sheer impunity. In fact, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan seems to have institutionalised the persecution of its minorities. In fact, the issue of persecution of the Sikh community in Pakistan is nothing new. Even last year, a 19-year-old Sikh girl was forcibly converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man in Pak. The victim, Jagjit Kaur was renamed as ‘Ayesha’ after conversion to Islam. This incident took place in Nankana Sahib, Punjab and the father of the victim is a Sikh Granthi in a local Gurudwara.
In May last year, 51 members of the European Parliament have expressed their concern over the persecution of religious minorities, saying that it should be stopped immediately. The European Parliament has sought an assurance from the PM of Pakistan on safety to be provided to the religious minorities in the country. The letter is vehemently opposing the situation of Pak and warned Imran Khan that if he doesn’t take proper steps, in this case, the European Commission would cancel all the subsidy benefits, which are presently being provided to Pakistan.
Pakistan would be well-advised to first clean up their house before criticising India. Its Prime Minister continues to spread anti-India propaganda on Twitter over the CAA and was recently caught spreading fake news and later was forced to delete it. Ever since Imran Khan assumed the reigns of Pakistan, the nation is increasingly adopting a hardline stance and it unlikely that the Khan and his government would take any actions to prevent the persecution of its minorities.
