The teacher survived the attack and told media the man had been following and harassing her for days. Violence against Shia Muslims continues unabated in Pakistan - ANI News Visiting U.S. government officials met with religious minority community representatives, parliamentarians, human rights activists, and members of the federal cabinet to highlight concerns regarding the treatment of religious minority communities, the application of blasphemy laws, and other forms of discrimination on the basis of religion. In its 2020 World Watch List report, the international NGO Open Doors listed Pakistan, noting that Christians face extreme persecution in every area of their lives, with converts from Islam facing the highest levels. According to Open Doors, all Christians in the country are considered second-class citizens, inferior to Muslims. The NGO stated Christians are often given jobs perceived as low, dirty and dishonorable, and can even be victims of bonded labor. The NGO also said that Christian girls in the country were increasingly at risk of abduction and rape, often forced to marry their attackers and coerced into converting to Islam.. On July 22, the Punjab Provincial Assembly passed the Protection of Foundation of Islam Bill, which prohibits the printing and publication of objectionable material in the province. I fear they will kill me, said Kareem, his voice shaking as he spoke from his place of hiding. Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board - IRB Throughout the year, unidentified individuals targeted and killed Shia Muslims, including ethnic Hazaras, and Ahmadi Muslims in attacks believed to be religiously motivated. According to technology companies and religious minority activists, the definition of objectionable content in the draft law was vague and subject to government interpretation. Shia Muslims constitute 10 to 12 percent of the citizen population and an estimated 25 to 30 percent of the Eastern Province's population. In July, religious and right-wing parties criticized the governments plan to permit construction of a new Hindu temple in Islamabad. 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. The 342-member National Assembly has 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims. Pakistan Population 1950-2023 | MacroTrends According to the governments immigration website, the Ministry of Interior could grant visas to foreign missionaries invited by organizations registered in the country. Taking into account the Ahmadi boycott of the official census, however, community sources put the number of Ahmadi Muslims at approximately 500,000 to 600,000. NGOs expressed concern about what they stated was the increasing frequency of attempts to kidnap, forcibly convert, and forcibly marry young women from religious minority communities, especially young Hindu and Christian women. At years end, she and her alleged husband had not appeared in court in Karachi, despite multiple court orders to do so. According to Ahmadiyya community leaders, authorities continued to target and harass Ahmadi Muslims for blasphemy, violations of anti-Ahmadi laws, and other crimes. The population of Shia: How many Shia are there in the world? - Islamic Web These conferences were organized by groups that stated they were defending the teaching that Mohammed is the final prophet but were often characterized by both secular and Ahmadi critics as engaging in hate speech against Ahmadi Muslims. 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. Police also deployed snipers and used closed-circuit television cameras and metal detectors to ensure the security of churches and Christmas markets. Ahead of Christmas in Lahore, police deployed some 6,000 officers and officials at 623 churches. According to media reports and law enforcement sources, in the weeks leading up to and during the Islamic month of Muharram religiously significant for Shia Muslims authorities at the federal and provincial levels again restricted the movement and activities of dozens of clerics on the Ministry of Interiors Schedule 4 listing. The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony is responsible for organizing participation in the Hajj and other Islamic religious pilgrimages. According to 2017 census total house hold in Pakistan are 32205111. . It is more accurate than the previous one. 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. The population of Pakistan in 2019 was 223,293,280, a 1.62% increase from 2018. In late December, the PTA publicly used this new authority for the first time to demand the removal of sacrilegious content. The government announced it would seek a review from the Council on Islamic Ideology and at the end of the year it was unclear whether it still maintained its support for the temple. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Office of the U.S. . The Hindu community in Sindh and Balochistan remained vulnerable to targeted killings and kidnappings for ransom. In September, several religious groups from the Deobandi and Barelvi schools of Sunni Islam organized a series of rallies in Karachi to denounce Shia defamation of revered Sunni religious figures. The Khan government, meanwhile, has been accused of both turning a blind eye to rising sectarianism from hardline Sunni groups, which reportedly enjoy patronage from state and military officials, and also using their support for political gain at a time when the government is weak and the economy is collapsing. Shia Hazaras in Quetta, Balochistan, continued to express concern about targeted killings taking place for the last several years. On October 10, 1993, the then Central government had announced elected . The establishment of the UT of Ladakh was in concurrence with the age-old demand of Leh, a demand opposed by Kargil. Shia-Sunni rift on rise in Pakistan, but Imran Khan govt's - ThePrint Other blasphemy cases continued without resolution. Embassy officers continued to engage civil society leaders, local religious leaders, religious minority representatives, and legal experts in discussing ways to combat intolerance and promote interfaith cooperation to increase religious freedom. The provincial and federal governments have legal responsibility for certain minority religious properties abandoned during the 1947 partition of British India. Pakistan's Shias Face Double Threat: Extremists and Their Own 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. On December 2, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a CPC under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom, and announced a waiver of the sanctions that accompany designation as required in the important national interests of the United States. T he most intriguing aspect of Kashmir is the dynamic between the Shia and Sunni communities in the Valley. . The statement also called on the government to immediately reform its often abused blasphemy laws and its court system, which allow such abuses to occur, and to ensure that the suspect is prosecuted to the full extent of the law., In an official tweet in November following the killing of Ahmadi physician Tahir Ahmad, the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom said the killing was the latest in a series of recent killings targeting the Ahmadiyya community. On October 6, the Lahore High Court acquitted Sawan Masih, a Christian man sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2014, but Masih continued to face death threats and had to go into hiding with his family. On August 20, attackers attempted to kill Sheikh Nasir Ahmad, an Ahmadi man from the Lalamusa area of central Punjab. While schools were required to teach Islamic studies and the Quran to Muslim students, sources reported many non-Muslim students were also required to participate because their schools did not offer parallel courses in their own religious beliefs or ethics. According to religious minority activists, provincial governments also often failed to meet quotas for hiring religious minorities into the civil service. The court ordered the chief executive officer of GEPCO to hire the two Christians, but he did not do so. The protesters said that when they opposed the illegal evictions of villagers, they were charged in fake cases by revenue officials. Shia Population Shia by Country (cont.) According to data provided by the Center for Social Justice (CSJ), authorities accused at least 199 individuals of new blasphemy offenses during the year. On January 21, the center in Khairpur hosted a Religious Freedom Day event at which 25 students discussed the importance of being able to practice religion freely in Pakistan. Population Census | Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Non-Muslims may not appear before the FSC. His ordeal began with a Facebook post in early September, where he condemned the killers of a Shia Muslim martyred centuries ago. Vali Nasr claims the Shia . Edit: August and September of 2020 has seen a renewed attack on Shia Muslims within Pakistan. 1 These two groups have been at odds for centuries. The penal code does not explicitly criminalize apostasy, but renouncing Islam is widely considered by clerics to be a form of blasphemy, which can carry the death penalty. Victims said their attackers singled them out as vulnerable due to their religious minority identity. Pakistan has the third largest Shia population after India and Iran. The proposal named a prominent Hindu business owner and ruling PTI party leader as the commissions chair, along with other Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, and Kalash members. On October 20, HRCP reported that an Ismaili Muslim mosque in Ghizer was attacked by unknown assailants, who opened fire on the building. 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 court acquitted a second Christian in December. Despite these problems some international organizations have researched and reported some statistics. The government did not permit Ahmadis to teach Islamic studies in public schools. / shia surnames in pakistan. shia surnames in pakistan. The official state religion of Iran is Shia branch of Islam. Shias account for 15-20% of the Muslim population in Pakistan. In a letter written to the Interior Minister, the LHCBA quoted the section of the constitution stating that Ahmadis are non-Muslim. The girl remained in a government shelter for several months before returning to her parents. Iran Sets Its Eyes on Afghanistan | The Washington Institute 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. According to AsiaNews, once Khan learned the family was Christian, he ordered them to leave immediately, because Christians are enemies of Islam. After harassing the family for a few days, Khan gave them a 24-hour ultimatum to leave. 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. However, violence is inevitable because the anger and anxiety on both sides seem to be mounting. The constitution states, All existing laws shall be brought into conformity with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah [Islams body of traditional social and legal custom and practice]. It further states no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to Islam. It has quasi-judicial powers and may refer cases for prosecution but does not have arrest authority. The court may suspend or increase the sentence given by a criminal court in these cases. Pakistan's Human Rights Commission reported more than 200 terrorist attacks resulted in nearly 700 Shia deaths and over 1,000 Shia injuries in 2013. the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom also reported over 600 Shias were killed for their faith between 1999 and 2003. Perpetrators of societal violence and abuses against religious minorities often faced no legal consequences due to a lack of follow-through by law enforcement, bribes offered by the accused, and pressure on victims to drop cases. Answer (1 of 19): The country Iran has the largest population of Shia. Courts also penalized antiblasphemy groups. 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. 11 Countries with Highest Shia Population - Insider Monkey After Iran and India, Pakistan has the world's third-largest Shia community, accounting for ten percent of the total population. Community leaders continued to state the government did not take adequate action to protect its poorest citizens, including religious minorities, such as Christian and Hindu Dalits, from bonded labor practices. PDF Estimated Percentage Range of Shia by Country - Pew Research Center The author of the article wrote that COVID-19 had been hidden since the 1960s to be used against Muslims.. The 104-member Senate has four reserved seats for non-Muslims, one from each province. Shias in Pakistan reputedly account for about 20 percent of the population or 42 million out of the population of 210 million making it the second largest Shia population in the world outside Iran. 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. Shia-Sunni rift on rise in Pakistan, but Imran Khan govt's silence may In January, two Christians, Kamran Sandhu and Nauman Aslam, applied for seats reserved for minorities in the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) in Punjab. India's Muslims: An Increasingly Marginalized Population Representatives of the Bahai community said this policy particularly affected them because the Bahai World Center the spiritual and administrative center of the community was in Haifa, Israel. 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. On July 27, an antiterrorism court sentenced a member of SSP to 13 years imprisonment for facilitating terrorist activities. Because of some limitations in many countries Population of Shia is not clearly known. Pakistan - United States Department of State Anti-Shia Violence: Widening Sectarian Schism in Pakistan On February 7, the district administration returned a century-old Hindu temple to the Hindu community in Zhob, Balochistan. 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.. Following the address, the Special Adviser convened an interfaith roundtable discussion at Karachi University, which included Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Parsis. The TLP and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, a banned organization under the National Counterterrorism Authoritys Schedule-I list, also held smaller rallies. In April, police arrested Ramzan Bibi, an Ahmadi Muslim woman, after a neighbor accused her of blasphemy against Mohammed a crime that carries the death penalty in an argument over Bibis charitable donation to a non-Ahmadi mosque. Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, which is represented by the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions. Phillip Smyth was a Soref Fellow at The Washington Institute from 2018-2021. This statistic was all taken from many independent sources for the year 1999. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah Imran Ismail issued a statement condemning the attacks. 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. Hardline Sunni groups on collision course with Shiites - DW - 09/14/2020 On January 26, for example, a local court sentenced four boys for vandalizing a Hindu temple in Sindhs Tharparkar District, the first attack on a Hindu temple in that area in more than 30 years; minority lawmakers and civil society activists reacted strongly to the attack. On December 2, the Secretary of State redesignated Pakistan as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, as amended, for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom and announced a waiver of the sanctions that accompany designation as required in the important national interests of the United States.
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