View source for Hinduism in Pakistan

{{Short description|none}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox religious group
|group=Pakistani Hindus<br />پاکستانی ہندو
|image=Hawan at Hinglaj Mata (Rani ki Mandir) During Yanglaj Yatra 2017 Photo by Aliraza Khatri.jpg
|image_caption=Hawan at [[Shri Hinglaj Mata temple]] during Hinglaj Yatra in [[Lasbela District|Lasbela]], [[Balochistan]]
|population= {{increase}} '''5.2 million''' ([[2023 Pakistani census|2023 census]])<br /> {{increase}} (2.17%) of Pakistan's population)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religious Demographics of Pakistan 2023 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf |access-date=21 July 2024 |archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829194924/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
|region1=[[Sindh]]
|pop1= ([[Hinduism in Sindh Province|4,901,107]]) (8.81%)
|region2=[[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]
|pop2= ([[Hinduism in Punjab, Pakistan|249,716]]) (0.2%)
|region3=[[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]
|pop3= ([[Hinduism in Balochistan|59,107]]) (0.41%)
|region4=[[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan|Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
|pop4= ([[Hinduism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|6,104]]) (0.02%)
|languages=[[Sanskrit]] (holy)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Nyla Ali |title=The Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-92304-4 |language=en |quote=Prior to the partition of India in 1947 into two separate nation-states, a group of Western-educated Indian Muslims who constituted the Muslim League, the pivotal Muslim political organization in undivided India, ardently advocated the logical of creating a separate homeland for Indian Muslims. There were also debates between the [[Sanskrit]] believers [[Hindus]] and [[Arabic]] believers [[Muslims]].}}</ref><br />
[[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] (majority), [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Brahui language|Brahui]], [[Balochi language|Baluchi]], [[Urdu]], [[Pashto language|Pashto]] and others {{small|(including Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Tamil, and Vaghri)}}
|religions=[[Hinduism]] of all sects|scriptures=[[Vedas]], [[Upanishads]], [[Puranas]], [[Ramayana]], and [[Bhagavad Gita]]
}}<!--Do NOT add citations to the lead, except for material likely to be challenged, per [[MOS:LEADCITE]] ([[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section#Citations)]]. Move unneeded citations to the body.-->{{Hinduism by country}}
[[Hinduism]] is the second largest [[religion in Pakistan]] after [[Islam]]. Pakistani Hindus are mainly concerned in the eastern [[Sindh]] province with the [[Umerkot District]] containing the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 54.7% while [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar District]] has the most Hindus in absolute numbers around 810,000. Hindus are scantly found in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], and [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].

Though Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region a few centuries back,<ref>{{cite book |last=Maclean |first=Derryl N. |title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind |publisher=Brill |year=1989 |isbn=90-04-08551-3 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stubbs |first1=John H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Architectural Conservation in Asia: National Experiences and Practice |last2=Thomson |first2=Robert G. |date=2016-11-10 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-40619-8 |pages=427 |language=en |quote=Perhaps best known as home to Asia's earliest cities, the Harappan sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, Pakistan's rich history includes contributions from prominent Buddhist, Hindu, Hellenistic, Jain and Zoroastrian civilizations, as well as those connected to its Islamic heritage. |access-date=23 December 2022 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220201/https://books.google.com/books?id=zCQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Iftikhar Haider |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQTABKAGaVgC&pg=PA47 |title=Culture and Customs of Pakistan |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33126-8 |pages=47 |language=en |access-date=23 December 2022 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220200/https://books.google.com/books?id=GQTABKAGaVgC&pg=PA47 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="yearbook20112">{{cite web |title=Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbook2011/Population/16-16.pdf |access-date=26 December 2016 |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123023943/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbook2011/Population/16-16.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> its adherents accounted for just 2.17% of Pakistan's population (approximately 5.2 million people) according to the [[2023 Pakistani census]].<ref name="PHC2">{{cite web |title=Population Census 2023 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315003754/http://pakistanhinducouncil.org.pk/?page_id=1592 |archive-date=15 March 2018 |access-date=2019-03-18 |publisher=Pakistan Hindu Council |language=en-US}}</ref> Prior to the [[partition of India]], according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in [[West Pakistan]] (contemporary Pakistan){{efn|name=Pakistan1941}} and 28% of the population in [[East Pakistan]] (contemporary Bangladesh).<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2|last=Ranganathan|first=Anand|website=Newslaundry|date=9 January 2015 |language=en|access-date=2020-05-11|archive-date=16 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516163558/https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bobbs-Merrill Reprint">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlTDnyLAm0EC |title=The Bobbs-Merrill Reprint Series in Geography |publisher=Bobbs-Merrill Company}}</ref><ref name="The 1947 Partition of India" /> After Pakistan gained [[Independence of Pakistan|independence]] from the [[British Raj]], 5 million (based on 1941 &1951 Census) of West Pakistan's [[Hindus]] and [[Sikhs]] moved to India as refugees.<ref name="ECM">{{cite book |last1=Hasan |first1=Arif |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7imPH4KVJUC&pg=PA12 |title=Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan |last2=Raza |first2=Mansoor |publisher=IIED |year=2009 |isbn=9781843697343 |page=12 |quote=When the British Indian Empire was partitioned in 1847, 4.7 million Sikhs and Hindus left what is today Pakistan for India, and 6.5 million Muslims left India and moved to Pakistan.}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2025}} And in the first census afterward (1951), Hindus made up 1.6% of the total population of West Pakistan, and 22% of East Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chakraborty|first=Chandrima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcaWDwAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+hindu+population+1951+1.6%25&pg=PT115|title=Mapping South Asian Masculinities: Men and Political Crises|date=2 October 2017|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-49462-1|language=en|quote=Most of the Hindu population was in East Pakistan, where they constituted 22% of the population in 1951 and 18.4% in 1961. In West Pakistan, they represented only 1.6% (1951 and 1961) of the population.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Humayun|first=Syed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUnjAAAAMAAJ&q=pakistan+hindu+population+1951+1.6%25|title=Sheikh Mujib's 6-point Formula: An Analytical Study of the Breakup of Pakistan|date=1995|publisher=Royal Book Company|isbn=978-969-407-176-3|language=en|quote=Interestingly, Hindus, who were the single largest minority, constituted 22% of East Wing population and only 1.6% of West Pakistan}}</ref>

Hindus in Pakistan are primarily concentrated in [[Sindh]], where the majority of Hindu enclaves are found.<ref name="Dawn17Aug17">{{cite news|last1=Ali|first1=Naziha Syed|title=The truth about forced conversions in Thar|date=17 August 2017|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1345304|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=2 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200902192152/https://www.dawn.com/news/1345304|url-status=live}}</ref> They speak a variety of languages such as [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]], [[Seraiki language|Seraiki]], [[Aer language|Aer]], [[Dhatki]], [[Gera language|Gera]], [[Goaria]], [[Gurgula]], [[Jandavra]], [[Kabutra]], [[Parkari Koli language|Koli]], [[Loarki]], [[Marwari language|Marwari]], [[Narikurava|Vaghri]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/PK/languages|title=Pakistan|website=Ethnologue|access-date=28 November 2016|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226143903/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/PK/languages|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]].<ref name=":722">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/57104-with-a-handful-of-subberstwo-newspapers-barely-keeping-gujarati-alive-in-karachi|title=With a handful of subbers, two newspapers barely keeping Gujarati alive in Karachi|last=Rehman|first=Zia Ur|date=18 August 2015|work=The News International|quote=In Pakistan, the majority of Gujarati-speaking communities are in Karachi including Dawoodi Bohras, Ismaili Khojas, Memons, Kathiawaris, Katchhis, Parsis (Zoroastrians) and Hindus, said Gul Hasan Kalmati, a researcher who authored ''Karachi, Sindh Jee Marvi'', a book discussing the city and its indigenous communities. Although there are no official statistics available, community leaders claim that there are three million Gujarati-speakers in Karachi – roughly around 15 percent of the city's entire population.|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=23 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423104451/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/57104-with-a-handful-of-subberstwo-newspapers-barely-keeping-gujarati-alive-in-karachi|url-status=live}}</ref> Many Hindus, especially in the rural areas, follow the teachings of local Sufi ''pīrs'' ([[Urdu]]: ''spiritual guide'') or adhere to the 14th-century saint [[Ramdevji]], whose main temple [[Ramapir Temple Tando Allahyar|Shri Ramdev Pir temple]] is located in [[Tando Allahyar]]. A growing number of urban Hindu youth in Pakistan associate themselves with [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|ISKCON]] society.<ref>{{Cite web|date=18 July 2020|first=Samiya|last=Latief|title=Explained: Pakistan's Krishna Temple and the controversy over its construction|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/explained-pakistans-krishna-temple-and-the-controversy-over-its-construction/articleshow/77041577.cms|access-date=2021-02-06|website=[[The Times of India]]|language=en|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122003559/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/explained-pakistans-krishna-temple-and-the-controversy-over-its-construction/articleshow/77041577.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> Other communities worship manifold "Mother Goddesses" as their clan or family patrons.{{Refn|<ref>{{harvnb|Avari|2013|pp=219–220}}</ref><ref name="Poli">{{cite book|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QxhuAAAAMAAJ&q=pakistani+hindu+worship+culture 16]|last=Abbasi|first=Muhammad Yusuf|title=Pakistani Culture|year=1992|isbn=9-789-694-15023-9|oclc=218233296|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QxhuAAAAMAAJ|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|location=[[Oxford University]]}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ispahani|2017|pp=56–61}}</ref><ref name="gulfnews" />}} A different branch, the [[Nanakpanthi|Nanakpanth]], follows the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, also known as the holy book of the Sikhs. This diversity, especially in rural Sindh, often thwarts classical definitions between Hinduism, [[Sikhism in Pakistan|Sikhism]] and [[Islam in Pakistan|Islam]].<ref>Taking its name from [[Pakistan]], an acronym composed of the key letters of its constituent regions-[[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Afghania]], [[Kashmir]], [[Sindh]], and [[Balochistan|Baluchistan]]-Pakistan at first welcomed all of its new citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Non-Muslims comprised 23 percent of the total population, and non-[[Sunnis]] comprised a quarter of the Muslim population. {{Harvard citation|Ispahani|2017|p=1}}</ref> Despite being a predominantly Muslim nation, Pakistan's Sindh province boasts a remarkable Hindu heritage and cultural legacy. However, discrimination is increasingly prevalent throughout Pakistan, including in Sindh. Nevertheless, the profound Hindu influence continues to shape the landscape and identity of Sindh.<ref>{{Cite news |title=In Pakistan, Hindu culture perseveres despite discrimination |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2022/1107/In-Pakistan-Hindu-culture-perseveres-despite-discrimination |access-date=17 July 2023 |issn=0882-7729 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717121341/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2022/1107/In-Pakistan-Hindu-culture-perseveres-despite-discrimination |url-status=live }}</ref>

Though the [[Constitution of Pakistan]] provides equal rights to all citizens and is not supposed to discriminate between anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion, [[Islam]] remains the [[state religion]], often meaning [[Muslims]] are afforded more privileges than [[Hindus]] or other religious minorities.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2007-03-02|title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan|language=en-GB|work=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|access-date=2021-02-07|archive-date=14 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814193916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> There have been numerous cases of violence and discrimination against [[Hindus]], along with other minorities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rehman|first=Javaid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHRMEoS7-YQC|title=The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Minority Rights|date=13 April 2000|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=978-90-411-1350-4|language=en}}</ref> There have also been cases of violence and ill-treatment of [[Hindus]], due to strict [[Blasphemy in Pakistan|blasphemy laws]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Haq|first=Farhat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlSXDwAAQBAJ|title=Sharia and the State in Pakistan: Blasphemy Politics|date=10 May 2019|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-61999-1|location=|pages=124–136|language=en}}</ref>

One of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Pakistan is the shrine of [[Shri Hinglaj Mata temple]] in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schaflechner|first=Jürgen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=khBADwAAQBAJ|title=Hinglaj Devi: identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|isbn=9780190850555|location=New York |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=khBADwAAQBAJ&q=hindus+of+pakistan+worship+mata+(goddess) 66]|oclc=1008771979|quote=The worship of the ''Hinglaj Mata'' in Balochistan has been one of the most important tourist and religious pilgrimage for the Hindus of Pakistan and the trends has place in history from Medieval India. The origin of the pilgrimage was practised under the rule of Rajput king, Rao Shekha.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |publisher=Being in the World Productions |title=OnBecoming Gods |location=Pakistan |date=2011 |time=44 min |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITXfacoagbA&t=160s  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/ITXfacoagbA |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=7 August 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The annual [[Hinglaj Mata mandir|Hinglaj Yatra]] is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/01/muslim-majority-country-hindu-goddess-lives-pakistan-pictures/|title=In a Muslim-majority country, a Hindu goddess lives on|date=10 January 2019|website=Culture & History|access-date=18 April 2019|archive-date=1 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401002703/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/01/muslim-majority-country-hindu-goddess-lives-pakistan-pictures/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|History of Hinduism|Indus Valley Civilisation|Vedic civilisation}}Though Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region a few centuries ago,<ref>{{cite book |last=Maclean |first=Derryl N. |title=Religion and Society in Arab Sind |publisher=Brill |year=1989 |isbn=90-04-08551-3 |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stubbs |first1=John H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |title=Architectural Conservation in Asia: National Experiences and Practice |last2=Thomson |first2=Robert G. |date=2016-11-10 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-40619-8 |pages=427 |language=en |quote=Perhaps best known as home to Asia's earliest cities, the Harappan sites of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, Pakistan's rich history includes contributions from prominent Buddhist, Hindu, Hellenistic, Jain and Zoroastrian civilizations, as well as those connected to its Islamic heritage. |access-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220201/https://books.google.com/books?id=zCQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Iftikhar Haider |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GQTABKAGaVgC&pg=PA47 |title=Culture and Customs of Pakistan |date=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33126-8 |pages=47 |language=en |access-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220200/https://books.google.com/books?id=GQTABKAGaVgC&pg=PA47 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> its adherents presently accounted for 2.17% of Pakistan's population (approximately 5.2 million people) according to the [[2023 Pakistani census]], primarily due to large-scale migration and displacement of Hindus during the 1947 [[Partition of India|partition]] and, to a lesser extent, following the [[Indo-Pakistani war of 1971|1971]] war, the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|liberation war of Bangladesh]] (then [[East Pakistan]]). Prior to the [[partition of India]], according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in [[West Pakistan]] (contemporary Pakistan){{efn|name=Pakistan1941}} and 28% of the population in [[East Pakistan]] (contemporary Bangladesh).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranganathan |first=Anand |date=9 January 2015 |title=The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study |url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516163558/https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |access-date=2020-05-11 |website=Newslaundry |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Bobbs-Merrill Reprint" /><ref name="The 1947 Partition of India">{{cite report |url=http://paa2004.princeton.edu/papers/41274 |title=A Demographic Case Study of Forced Migration: The 1947 Partition of India |last1=Hill |first1=Kenneth H. |last2=Seltzer |first2=William |last3=Leaning |first3=Jennifer |last4=Malik |first4=Saira J. |last5=Russell |first5=Sharon Stanton |last6=Makinson |first6=C |date=2004 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018041142/https://paa2004.princeton.edu/papers/41274 |archive-date=18 October 2022 |url-status=live}}<br />{{cite report |url=https://paa2004.princeton.edu/sessions/44 |title=Session 44: Understanding the Forced Migration of Trafficked Persons and Refugees |access-date=14 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614172025/https://paa2004.princeton.edu/sessions/44 |archive-date=14 June 2020 |url-status=dead |work=Population Association of America 2004 Annual Meeting Program}}</ref> After [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]] gained [[Independence of Pakistan|independence]] from the [[British Raj]], 5 million (based on 1941 &1951 Census) of West Pakistan's [[Hindus]] and [[Sikhs]] moved to India as refugees during [[Partition of India|the Partition]].<ref name="ECM">{{cite book |last1=Hasan |first1=Arif |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7imPH4KVJUC&pg=PA12 |title=Migration and Small Towns in Pakistan |last2=Raza |first2=Mansoor |publisher=IIED |year=2009 |isbn=9781843697343 |page=12 |quote=When the British Indian Empire was partitioned in 1847, 4.7 million Sikhs and Hindus left what is today Pakistan for India, and 6.5 million Muslims left India and moved to Pakistan.}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2025}} And in the first census afterward (1951), Hindus made up 1.6% of the total population of West Pakistan, and 22% of East Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chakraborty |first=Chandrima |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcaWDwAAQBAJ&q=pakistan+hindu+population+1951+1.6%25&pg=PT115 |title=Mapping South Asian Masculinities: Men and Political Crises |date=2 October 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-49462-1 |language=en |quote=Most of the Hindu population was in East Pakistan, where they constituted 22% of the population in 1951 and 18.4% in 1961. In West Pakistan, they represented only 1.6% (1951 and 1961) of the population.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Humayun |first=Syed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bUnjAAAAMAAJ&q=pakistan+hindu+population+1951+1.6%25 |title=Sheikh Mujib's 6-point Formula: An Analytical Study of the Breakup of Pakistan |date=1995 |publisher=Royal Book Company |isbn=978-969-407-176-3 |language=en |quote=Interestingly, Hindus, who were the single largest minority, constituted 22% of East Wing population and only 1.6% of West Pakistan}}</ref>

=== Prior to the 1947 Partition of India ===
[[File:Hinglaj Mata Mandir Cave entrance, Pakistan - panoramio.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Hinglaj Mata Mandir]] Cave entrance]][[File:IVC-major-sites-2.jpg|thumbnail|Extent of the Indus Valley Civilization sites]]

====Origins====
[[File:Shiva Pashupati.jpg|thumb|166x166px|The [[Pashupati seal|Pashupati]] seal ]]
Pakistan was the fulcrum of [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Indus Valley Civilization]], one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is assumed that the [[Pashupati seal|Pashupati]] image of [[Mohenjo-daro]] evolved to be worshipped as [[Shiva]] and the Mother Goddess as [[Shaktism|Shakti]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sakti - Mother Goddess 1|url=http://www.the-south-asian.com/dec2001/sakti%20-%20mother%20goddess.htm|access-date=2021-08-05|website=www.the-south-asian.com|archive-date=5 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805131423/http://www.the-south-asian.com/dec2001/sakti%20-%20mother%20goddess.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Various archaeological finds such as the [[Swastika]] symbol and [[Yogic]] postures from Indus Valley Civilization also point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism.{{Sfn|Avari|2013|pp=65–67}} The religious beliefs and folklore of the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus valley]] people have become a major part of the Hindu faith that evolved in this part of the [[South Asia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reeves|first=B. O. K.|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16t17|title=Crowsnest Pass Archaeological Project: 1972 Salvage Excavations and Survey Paper No. 1: Preliminary Report|date=1974|publisher=University of Ottawa Press|isbn=978-1-77282-019-5|pages=59–67|doi=10.2307/j.ctv16t17.17|jstor=j.ctv16t17|access-date=23 February 2021|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308112058/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16t17|url-status=live}}</ref>

Later, during the [[Vedic period]], the [[Rig Veda]], the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the [[Punjab|Punjab region]] of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the [[Indus River]] around 1500&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Rigveda {{!}} Hindu literature|newspaper=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/503627/Rigveda|access-date=2017-01-13|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502212350/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/503627/Rigveda|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Sindh kingdom and its rulers play an important role in the Indian epic story of the [[Mahabharata]]. In addition, a Hindu legend states that the Pakistani city of [[Lahore]] was first founded by [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]], while [[Kasur]] was founded by his twin [[Kusha (Ramayana)|Kusha]], both of whom were the sons of [[Lord Rama]] of the [[Ramayana]]. The [[Gandhara]] kingdom of the northwest, and the legendary Gandhara people, are also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the [[Mahabharata]]. Many Pakistani city names (such as [[Peshawar]] and [[Multan]]) have [[Sanskrit]] roots.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=A. D. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xllmBAAAQBAJ&q=Jarred+Scarboro.+Ultimate+Handbook+Guide+to+Multan+:+(Pakistan)+Travel+Guide.|title=India's Rise as an Asian Power: Nation, Neighborhood, and Region|last2=Gordon|first2=Sandy|date=2014-08-05|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-62616-074-3|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xllmBAAAQBAJ&q=Jarred+Scarboro.+Ultimate+Handbook+Guide+to+Multan+:+(Pakistan)+Travel+Guide.+p.+7. 7]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Roy|first=Kumkum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOgbXu_o4uwC|title=Historical Dictionary of Ancient India|date=2008-12-04|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-1-4616-5917-4|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pOgbXu_o4uwC 52]|language=en}}</ref>

==== Pre-Islamic period ====
[[File:Brahma mirpur khas.jpg|thumb|upright|Excavation of a [[Brahma]] bronze from [[Mirpur Khas]]]]
The [[Vedic period]] (1500–500 BCE) was characterised by an [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] culture; during this period the [[Vedas]], the oldest scriptures associated with [[Hinduism]], were composed, and this culture later became well established in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rengel|first=Marian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WJMlW-zDE14C|title=Pakistan: A Primary Source Cultural Guide|date=15 December 2003|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|isbn=978-0-8239-4001-1|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=WJMlW-zDE14C 58]|language=en}}</ref> [[Multan]] was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient [[Gandhara|Gandhāran]] city of Takṣaśilā, now [[Taxila]] in the Punjab, which was founded around 1000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Sarina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zn8I4qEew9oC|title=Pakistan & the Karakoram Highway|date=2008|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-542-0|pages=376–377|language=en|access-date=23 February 2021|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412063047/https://books.google.com/books?id=zn8I4qEew9oC|url-status=live}}</ref> Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]] (around 519 BCE), [[Alexander the Great|Alexander's]] empire in 326&nbsp;BCE and the [[Maurya Empire]], founded by [[Chandragupta Maurya]] and extended by [[Ashoka the Great]], until 185 BCE. The [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] founded by [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius of Bactria]] (180–165 BCE) included [[Gandhara]] and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under [[Menander I|Menander]] (165–150 BCE), prospering the [[Greco-Buddhism|Greco-Buddhist]] culture in the region.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Singh|first=Vipul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wsiXwh_tIGkC|title=The Pearson Indian History Manual for the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination|publisher=Pearson Education India|year=2008|isbn=978-81-317-1753-0|pages=152–162|language=en}}</ref> Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in 6th century BCE.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was provided on an individualistic basis. The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE.<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research | url=http://www.inderscience.com/offer.php?id=12130 | access-date=23 February 2021 |journal=World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development | date=January 2007 | volume=3 | issue=1 | pages=50–61 | doi=10.1504/wremsd.2007.012130 | last1=Muniapan | first1=Balakrishnan | last2=Shaikh | first2=Junaid M. | archive-date=28 February 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228190504/http://www.inderscience.com/offer.php?id=12130 | url-status=live | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

At its zenith, the [[Rai dynasty]] (489–632 CE) of [[Sindh]] ruled this region and the surrounding territories.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wink|first=André|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75FlxDhZWpwC&q=Al+Hind+the+Making+of+the+Indo+Islamic+World|title=Al-Hind the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest : 11Th-13th Centuries|date=1991|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-10236-1|pages=152|language=en|orig-year=1996}}</ref> The [[Pala Empire|Pala dynasty]] was the last Buddhist empire, which, under [[Dharmapala (emperor)|Dharmapala]] and [[Devapala (Pala dynasty)|Devapala]], stretched across South Asia from what is now [[Bangladesh]] through [[Northern India]] to Pakistan.

==== Early Muslim conquests and invasion of Sindh ====
After the conquest of [[Sindh]] by [[Muhammad bin Qasim]] and the loss of [[Raja Dahir]], [[Islamization in Pakistan]] started and the population of [[Hindus]] started declining.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paracha|first=Nadeem F.|title=Why some in Pakistan want to replace Jinnah as the founder of the country with an 8th century Arab|url=http://scroll.in/article/721012/why-some-in-pakistan-want-to-replace-jinnah-as-the-founder-of-the-country-with-an-8th-century-arab|access-date=2021-02-28|website=Scroll.in|date=22 June 2015 |language=en-US|archive-date=4 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304224852/https://scroll.in/article/721012/why-some-in-pakistan-want-to-replace-jinnah-as-the-founder-of-the-country-with-an-8th-century-arab|url-status=live}}</ref> After that many other [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Islamic conquests in Indian subcontinent]] entered through the Pakistan's region, including that of [[Ghaznavids]], [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] and [[Delhi Sultanate]], due to which the [[Buddhism in Pakistan|Buddhists]] and [[Hindus]] were converted to [[Islam]].<ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Avari|2013|pp=8–9}}</ref> In the era of [[Mughal Empire]], the land of [[Pakistan]] became a Muslim-majority area.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chandra|first=Satish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC|title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals Part II|publisher=Har Anand Publications|year=2005|isbn=978-81-241-1066-9|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Rm9MC4DDrcC&pg=PA365 365]|author-link=Satish Chandra (historian)}}</ref>

=== Post-independence period (1947–present) ===
{{see also|Pakistan Movement|Sindhis in India|Freedom of religion in Pakistan}}
[[File:SWAMI NARAYAN TEMPLE HADDID UDDIN - panoramio - Haddid Uddin (1).jpg|thumb|The [[Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Karachi|Swaminarayan Temple]] in [[Karachi]] was a departure point for those migrating to India after independence.]]

At the time of Pakistan’s creation, the “hostage theory” had been espoused. According to this theory the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC&pg=PA72|title=The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories|last=Zamindar|first=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780231138475|pages=72|quote=The logic of the ''hostage theory'' tied the treatment of Muslim minorities in India to the treatment meted out to Hindus in Pakistan.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|title=Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India|last=Dhulipala|first=Venkat|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|isbn=9781316258385|pages=19|quote=Within the subcontinent, ML propaganda claimed that besides liberating the 'majority provinces' Muslims it would guarantee protection for Muslims who would be left behind in Hindu India. In this regard, it repeatedly stressed the hostage population theory that held that 'hostage' Hindu and Sikh minorities inside Pakistan would guarantee Hindu India's good behaviour towards its own Muslim minority.|access-date=19 March 2020|archive-date=16 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116113239/https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]], the founder of Pakistan, stated in an address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan, "You will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the State."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The inter-religious dialogue|url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/29/the-inter-religious-dialogue/|access-date=2018-07-18|archive-date=1 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101004426/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/12/29/the-inter-religious-dialogue/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, [[Khawaja Nazimuddin]], the [[List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan|2nd]] [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] stated: {{Sort|zh|"I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be".}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7u2BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA149|title=The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan|last=Qasmi|first=Ali Usman|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2015|isbn=9781783084258|pages=149|quote=Nazim-ud-Din favored an Islamic state not just out of political expediency but also because of his deep religious belief in its efficacy and practicality...Nazim-ud-Din commented:'I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be'.}}</ref>

After the [[Partition of India|independence]] of [[Pakistan]] in 1947, over more than 5 million (5.5 m, Noted in 1941 Census of British India Province [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|NWFP]], [[Sindh]], [[West Punjab]] and 0.5 Noted 1951 census of Pakistan) Hindus and Sikhs from West Pakistan left for India, and 6.5 million Muslims chose to migrate to Pakistan.<ref name="ECM"/>{{Better source needed|date=May 2025}} The reasons for this exodus were the heavily charged communal atmosphere in [[British Raj]], deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zamindar|first=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC|title=The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories|date=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13847-5|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=n5c9ta97GeoC&pg=PA40 40]|language=en|quote=Second, it was feared that if an exchange of populations was agreed to in principle in Punjab, ' there was likelihood of trouble breaking out in other parts of the subcontinent to force Muslims in the Indian Dominion to move to Pakistan. If that happened, we would find ourselves with inadequate land and other resources to support the influx.' Punjab could set a very dangerous precedent for the rest of the subcontinent. Given that Muslims in the rest of India, some 42 million, formed a population larger than the entire population of West Pakistan at the time, economic rationality eschewed such a forced migration. However, in divided Punjab, millions of people were already on the move, and the two governments had to respond to this mass movement. Thus, despite these important reservations, the establishment of the MEO led to an acceptance of a 'transfer of populations' in divided Punjab, too, 'to give a sense of security' to ravaged communities on both sides. A statement of the Indian government's position of such a transfer across divided Punjab was made in the legislature by Neogy on November 18, 1947. He stated that although the Indian government's policy was 'to discourage mass migration from one province to another.' Punjab was to be an exception. In the rest of the subcontinent migrations were not to be on a planned basis, but a matter of individual choice. This exceptional character of movements across divided Punjab needs to be emphasized, for the agreed and 'planned evacuations' by the two governments formed the context of those displacements.}}</ref> That over 1&nbsp;million people lost their lives in the bloody violence of 1947 should attest to the fear and hate that filled the hearts of millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who left ancestral homes hastily after independence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gilmartin|first=David|date=1998|title=Partition, Pakistan, and South Asian History: In Search of a Narrative|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=57|issue=4|pages=1068–1095|doi=10.2307/2659304|jstor=2659304|s2cid=153491691|issn=0021-9118|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Demographics==

{{Historical populations
|title       = Hindu population in Pakistan
|type        = 
|footnote    = {{small|Including Hindu (Jati) and Scheduled Castes.}}
|align       = right
|width       = 
|state       = 
|shading     = 
|pop_name    =
|percentages = pagr
|source      ={{efn|name=Pakistan1901}}{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}}{{efn|name=Pakistan1921}}{{efn|name=Pakistan1931}}{{efn|name=Pakistan1941}}<ref name="Pakistan1951A"/><ref name="Pakistan1951B"/><ref name="Pakistan1961A"/><ref name="Pakistan1961B"/><ref name="Pakistan1972"/><ref name="Pakistan1981A"/><ref name="Pakistan1981B"/><ref name="Dr Iftikhar H. Malik">{{cite web|title=Religious Minorities in Pakistan|url=https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2002/en/46104|author=Dr Iftikhar H. Malik|format=PDF|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201143205/https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/469cbfc30.pdf%26ved%3D2ahUKEwjdnbSQwLTuAhV97XMBHX65D38QFjATegQIEBAB%26usg%3DAOvVaw1Uqem-Qrs9BEylljAYl6hm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=PopByReligion1998Census/><ref name=Census2017/><ref name="2017 Census2"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hindugenocide.com/islamic-jihad/4million-hindus-persecuted-west-pakistan-partition-plight-hindus-remained|title=4 Million Hindus persecuted in partition of the West Pakistan|access-date=28 February 2021|website=[[Vishva Hindu Parishad|World Hindu Council]]|date=24 March 2019|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227093624/https://hindugenocide.com/islamic-jihad/4million-hindus-persecuted-west-pakistan-partition-plight-hindus-remained/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The 1947 Partition of India"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=10 February 2020|title=Has Pak's Hindu population dropped sharply|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/has-paks-hindu-population-dropped-sharply/articleshow/72686351.cms|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109231255/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/has-paks-hindu-population-dropped-sharply/articleshow/72686351.cms|archive-date=2021-01-09|access-date=2021-02-06|website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2020/may/31/hindu-temple-in-pakistan-a-source-of-livelihood-for-muslim-youths-2150438.html |title=As per as Pakistan government official estimation, there are 75 lakhs Hindus living in Pakistan in the year of 2021 |website=News Indian Express |access-date=30 April 2021 |archive-date=30 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430080406/https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2020/may/31/hindu-temple-in-pakistan-a-source-of-livelihood-for-muslim-youths-2150438.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
|1901 | 3,009,842
|1911 | 2,766,581
|1921 | 2,957,680
|1931 | 3,298,570
|1941 | 3,981,565
|1951 | 531,131
|1961 | 621,805
|1972 | 900,206
|1981 | 1,276,116
|1998 | 2,443,614
|2017 | 4,444,870
|2023 | 5,217,216
}}
[[File:Churio Jabal Temple.jpg|thumb|[[Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple]], Tharparkar]]

Decadal censuses taken in [[British Raj|British India]] revealed the religious composition of all [[administrative division]]s that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan. The 1901 [[Census in British India]] taken in [[administrative division]]s that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan indicated that Hindus numbered approximately 3,009,842 persons and comprised roughly 17.1 percent of the total population,{{efn|name=Pakistan1901}} followed by a decline to around 2,766,581 persons or to 14.7 percent in 1911.{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}} The Hindu population would rise to approximately 2,957,680 persons in 1921 with the share of the total population rising to 15.3 percent,{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}} prior to declining back to 14.7 percent in 1931, despite the total Hindu population growing to roughly 3,298,570 persons.{{efn|name=Pakistan1931}}<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/has-paks-hindu-population-dropped-sharply/articleshow/72686351.cms | title=Has Pak's Hindu population dropped sharply? | newspaper=The Times of India | access-date=6 February 2021 | archive-date=9 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109231255/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/has-paks-hindu-population-dropped-sharply/articleshow/72686351.cms | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2 | title=The Vanishing Hindus of Pakistan – a Demographic Study | date=9 January 2015 | access-date=11 May 2020 | archive-date=16 May 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516163558/https://www.newslaundry.com/2015/01/09/the-vanishing-hindus-of-pakistan-a-demographic-study-2 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pakistan-bangladesh-non-muslim-population-citizenship-amendment-bill-bjp-1627678-2019-12-12 | title=No, Pakistan's non-Muslim population didn't decline from 23% to 3.7% as BJP claims | date=12 December 2019 | access-date=16 December 2019 | archive-date=9 September 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909175637/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pakistan-bangladesh-non-muslim-population-citizenship-amendment-bill-bjp-1627678-2019-12-12 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://theprint.in/world/exiled-analysts-rue-decline-of-hinduism-in-pakistans-punjab-province/891684/ | title=Exiled analysts rue decline of Hinduism in Pakistan's Punjab province | website=[[ThePrint]] | date=28 March 2022 | access-date=18 March 2023 | archive-date=18 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318100349/https://theprint.in/world/exiled-analysts-rue-decline-of-hinduism-in-pakistans-punjab-province/891684/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/pakistans-shrinking-minority-space/article6268754.ece | title=Pakistan's shrinking minority space | newspaper=The Hindu | date=31 July 2014 | access-date=18 March 2023 | archive-date=18 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318100358/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/pakistans-shrinking-minority-space/article6268754.ece | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1121936/our-vanishing-hindus | title=Our vanishing Hindus | date=13 June 2016 | access-date=18 March 2023 | archive-date=5 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205131808/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1121936/our-vanishing-hindus | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/F4r3Tmf51k8Sm6DGjPRaEN/Slow-genocide-of-minorities-in-Pakistan-Farahnaz-Ispahani.html | title=Slow genocide of minorities in Pakistan: Farahnaz Ispahani | work=mint | date=19 January 2016 | access-date=18 March 2023 | archive-date=20 December 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220210119/https://www.livemint.com/Politics/F4r3Tmf51k8Sm6DGjPRaEN/Slow-genocide-of-minorities-in-Pakistan-Farahnaz-Ispahani.html | url-status=live | last1=Roche | first1=Elizabeth }}</ref>

In the final census taken prior to partition in 1941, Hindus constituted 14.6% of the population in West Pakistan (currently Pakistan){{efn|name=Pakistan1941}} and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh).<ref name="Bobbs-Merrill Reprint"/><ref name="The 1947 Partition of India"/> After Pakistan gained [[Partition of India|independence]] from [[British Raj|Britain]] on 14{{nbsp}}August 1947, 4.7 million of the country's [[Hindu]]s and [[Sikh]]s migrated to India.<ref name="ECM"/>

In the 1951 census, [[West Pakistan]] (contemporary [[Pakistan]]) had 1.58% Hindu population, while [[East Pakistan]] (contemporary [[Bangladesh]]) had 22.03%.<ref name="D'Costa2011">{{cite book |last=D'Costa|first=Bina|title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivzKjY5LncIC&pg=PA100|year=2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-56566-0|page=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031217071856/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/area_pop/area_pop.html|url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/area_pop/area_pop.html |archive-date=17 December 2003 |work=Statistics Division, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Statistics, Government of Pakistan |title=Area, Population, Density and Urban/Rural Proportion by Administrative Units}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm |title=Census of Bangladesh |publisher=Banbeis.gov.bd |access-date=2013-06-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706132048/http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/bd_pro.htm |archive-date=6 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> During the same census, Hindus constituted approximately 12.9% of the total population of Pakistan (composing contemporary Pakistan and [[Bangladesh]]) which represented the second-largest Hindu-population country after India.<ref name=HAF-2013Survey>{{Cite book|url=https://hafsite.org/media/pr/human-rights-report-2013|title=Hindus in South Asia & the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Rights, 2013|date=2013|publisher=Hindu American Foundation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126010155/https://www.scribd.com/doc/225515727/Hindus-in-South-Asia-the-Diaspora-A-Survey-of-Human-Rights-2013 |archive-date=26 January 2016}}</ref>

In 1956, the government of Pakistan declared 32 castes and tribes, the majority of them Hindus, to be [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]], including Kohlis, Meghawars, and Bheels.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1244684/caste-and-captivity-dalit-suffering-in-sindh |title=Caste and captivity: Dalit suffering in Sindh |date=13 March 2016 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |first1=Amar |last1=Guriro |first2=Aslam |last2=Khwaja |first3=Mansoor |last3=Raza |first4=Hasan |last4=Mansoor |access-date=24 July 2019 |archive-date=24 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724151518/https://www.dawn.com/news/1244684/caste-and-captivity-dalit-suffering-in-sindh |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="idsn.org">{{cite web |url=https://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf/Old_files/asia/pdf/RR_Pakistan.pdf |title=Long behind Schedule: a Study on the plight of Scheduled Caste Hindus in Pakistan |publisher=Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi |date=2008 |access-date=24 July 2019 |archive-date=12 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212020630/https://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf/Old_files/asia/pdf/RR_Pakistan.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> After 1971, Bangladesh separated from Pakistan and the population of Hindus and other Non-Muslims declined in Pakistan as Bangladesh population was no longer part of the census conducted in Pakistan.<ref name="IndiaToday">{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pakistan-bangladesh-non-muslim-population-citizenship-amendment-bill-bjp-1627678-2019-12-12|title=No, Pakistan's non-Muslim population didn't decline|last=Rawat|first=Mukesh|work=[[India Today]]|language=en|date=12 December 2019|access-date=16 December 2019|archive-date=9 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200909175637/https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pakistan-bangladesh-non-muslim-population-citizenship-amendment-bill-bjp-1627678-2019-12-12|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1998 [[census of Pakistan]] recorded 2,443,614 Hindus, which (includes 332,343 [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]]  Hindus), which constitutes to 1.85 percentage of the total population of Pakistan.<ref name="yearbook2011">{{cite web |title=Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbook2011/Population/16-16.pdf |access-date=26 December 2016 |publisher=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123023943/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/other/yearbook2011/Population/16-16.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=PopByReligion1998Census/> and about 7.5% in the Sindh province.

The 2017 census recorded 4,444,870 Hindus (includes 849,614 [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] Hindus) which constituting 2.14% of the total population of Pakistan.<ref name=Census2017/><ref name="2017 Census2"/>

The Pakistan census separates the members of scheduled castes from Hindus and has assessed that they form 0.41% of the national population in 2017 census (up from 0.25% in 1998 census).<ref name="2017 Census2"/><ref name=PopByReligion1998Census>{{cite web |url=http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf |archive-date=7 August 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030807000413/http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf |title=Population by Religion |work=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics }}<br />
{{cite web |title=Population by religion |url=http://www.census.gov.pk/Religion.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402081116/http://www.census.gov.pk/Religion.htm |archive-date=2 April 2014 |work=Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan }}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf |title=Population by Religion |work=Pakistan Bureau of Statistics |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329204115/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf |url-status=dead }}<br />
Also reproduced at [https://www.scribd.com/document/400843609/Pakisatn-Bearu-of-Statistics-Population-by-Religion-pdf scribd.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107023143/https://www.scribd.com/document/400843609/Pakisatn-Bearu-of-Statistics-Population-by-Religion-pdf |date=7 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name=HAF-2013Survey/>
However, the actual population of [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]]  Hindus is expected to be much higher, as the Scheduled Caste Hindus categorise themselves as Hindus in the census rather than as [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] .<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/197657-Scheduled-castes-have-a-separate-box-for-them-but-only-if-anybody-knew|title=Scheduled castes have a separate box for them, but only if anybody knew|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=25 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125125937/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/197657-Scheduled-castes-have-a-separate-box-for-them-but-only-if-anybody-knew|url-status=live}}</ref>

As per the data from the Election Commission of Pakistan, as of 2018 there were a total of 1.77 million [[Hindus|Hindu]] voters. Hindu voters were 49% of the total in Umerkot and 46% in Tharparkar.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1410442 |title=Number of non-Muslim voters in Pakistan shows rise of over 30pc |first=Iftikhar A. |last=Khan |date=28 May 2018 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=4 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604024431/https://www.dawn.com/news/1410442 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-general-election-non-muslim-voters-increase-by-30-percent-in-5-years-hindus-most-numerically-significant-minority-4485473.html|title=Pakistan General Election: Non-Muslim voters increase by 30 percent in 5 years, Hindus most numerically significant minority|date=22 July 2018|work=Firstpost|access-date=12 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612030227/https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-general-election-non-muslim-voters-increase-by-30-percent-in-5-years-hindus-most-numerically-significant-minority-4485473.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="gulfnews7772">{{cite news |date=18 December 2019 |title=Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi's offer of citizenship |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/hindus-of-pakistan-reject-caa-do-not-want-indian-prime-minister-modis-offer-of-citizenship-1.68552370 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218133117/https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/hindus-of-pakistan-reject-caa-do-not-want-indian-prime-minister-modis-offer-of-citizenship-1.68552370 |archive-date=18 December 2019 |access-date=19 December 2019 |work=Gulf News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 March 2015 |title=Mithi: Where a Hindu fasts and a Muslim does not slaughter cows |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1167315 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612164040/https://www.dawn.com/news/1167315 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref> According to estimates in religious minorities in Pakistan's elections, Hindus have a population of 50,000 or more in 11 districts. All of these are in Sindh except the [[Rahim Yar Khan District]] in Punjab.<ref name=Herald01Jul18/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan (1901–2023)
! rowspan="1" | Year
! rowspan="1" | Number
! rowspan="1" | Percent
! rowspan="1" | Increase
! rowspan="1" | Growth
! rowspan="1" | Source(s)
|-
! 1901
! 3,009,842
! 17.07%
! -
! -
!{{efn|name=Pakistan1901}}
|-
! 1911
! 2,766,581
! 14.71%
! style="background: red" | -2.36%
! style="background: red" | -8.08%
!{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}}
|-
! 1921
! 2,957,680
! 15.25%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +0.54%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +6.9%
!{{efn|name=Pakistan1921}}
|-
! 1931
! 3,298,570
! 14.65%
! style="background: red" | -0.6%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +11.52%
!{{efn|name=Pakistan1931}}
|-
! 1941
! 3,981,565
! 14.6%
! style="background: red" | -0.05%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +20.7%
!{{efn|name=Pakistan1941}}
|-
! 1951
! 531,131
! 1.58%
! style="background: red" | -13.2%
! style="background: red" | -86.66%
!<ref name="Pakistan1951A">{{cite web|url=http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7452/1/1422_1951_POP.pdf|title=CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 1951 POPULATION ACCORDING TO RELIGION TABLE 6|access-date=17 November 2024|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032054/http://lsi.gov.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/7452/1/1422_1951_POP.pdf|url-status=live|pages=12–21}}</ref><ref name="Pakistan1951B">{{cite web |title=Census of Pakistan, 1951 Population According to Religion Table 6 CensusIndgov site |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31311 |access-date=17 November 2024 |website=Census Digital Library}}</ref>
|-
! 1961
! 621,805
! 1.45%
! style="background: red" | -0.13%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +17.7%
!<ref name="Pakistan1961A">{{cite web|url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31526|title=Population, Vol-3, Pakistan - Census 1961 TABLE 5-POPULATION BY RELIGIOUS GROUPS, 1951 AND 1961 |website=Census Digital Library|pages=224|access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref><ref name="Pakistan1961B">{{cite web|url=https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/31526|title=Population, Vol-3, Pakistan - Census 1961 TABLE 7-POPULATION BY RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND SEX |website=Census Digital Library|pages=280|access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
! 1972
! 900,206
! 1.44%
! style="background: red" | -0.01%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +44.77%
!<ref name="Pakistan1972">{{cite web|url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/handle/123456789/15709|title=Statistical Report of Pakistan 1972 |author=Population Census Organization Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan Islamabad|date=1972 |pages=20|access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
! 1981
! 1,276,116
! 1.51%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +0.07%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +41.75%
!<ref name="Pakistan1981A">{{cite book|url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/handle/123456789/14529|title=1981 Census Report of Pakistan |author=Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad|date=December 1984 |pages=68|publisher=© Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad |access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref><ref name="Pakistan1981B">{{cite book|url=https://repository.lahoreschool.edu.pk/xmlui/handle/123456789/14539|title=Handbook of Population Census Data, 1981 |author=Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad|date=December 1985 |pages=13|publisher=© Population Census Organisation Statistics Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad |access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref>
|-
! 1998
! 2,443,614
! 1.85%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +0.34%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +91.48%
!<ref name=PopByReligion1998Census/>
|-
! 2017
! 4,444,870
! 2.14%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +0.29%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +81.89%
!<ref name=Census2017/><ref name="2017 Census2">{{cite news |author1=Riazul Haq |author2=Shahbaz Rana |date=27 May 2018 |title=Headcount finalised sans third-party audit |url=https://www.tribune.com.pk/story/1719994/headcount-finalised-sans-third-party-audit%3famp=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406004222/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1719994/headcount-finalised-sans-third-party-audit?amp=1 |archive-date=6 April 2023 |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref>
|-
! 2023
! 5,217,216
! 2.17%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +0.03%
! style="background: lightgreen" | +17.37%
!
|}

=== 1901 census ===
==== Population by province ====
{{further|West Punjab#Religion|North-West Frontier Province#Religion|Baluchistan Agency#Religion|Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)#Religion}}
According to the 1901 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.01 million persons or 17.1 percent of the total population.{{efn|name=Pakistan1901}} With the exception of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], all [[administrative division]]s in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 17,633,258, for an overall response rate of 99.6 percent out of the total population of 17,708,014, as detailed in the table below.{{efn|name=Pakistan1901}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division{{efn|name=Pakistan1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[administrative division]]s that compose the region of contemporary Pakistan, including [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]],<ref name="punjab1901"/>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1901}} [[Sindh]],<ref name="sindh1901"/>{{efn|name=Sindh1901}} [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]],<ref name="NWFP1901"/> [[Balochistan]],<ref name="baluchistan1901"/> [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref name="JammuKashmir1901"/>{{efn|name=AJK1901}} and [[Gilgit–Baltistan]].<ref name="JammuKashmir1901"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1901}}}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="4" |[[1901 Census of India|1901 census]]
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Responses
!Total Population
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]<ref name="punjab1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25363739 |jstor=saoa.crl.25363739 |access-date=10 March 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. |year=1901 |pages=34}}</ref><ref name="Shakargarh1901">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.105602 |access-date=10 March 2024 |title=Punjab District Gazetteers Gurdaspur District Vol.21 Statistical Tables |year=1913 |pages=62}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]] (inscribed as the ''[[Punjab Canal Colonies#Chenab Colony|Chenab Colony]]'' on the 1901 census), [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1901 census data here:<ref name="punjab1901" /><br>Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is [[Punjab, Pakistan]].}}
| 1,944,363
| {{Percentage | 1944363 | 10427765 | 2 }}
| 10,427,765
| 10,427,765
|-
| [[Sindh]]<ref name="sindh1901">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25366895 |jstor=saoa.crl.25366895 |access-date=12 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. Vols. 9-11, Bombay. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1901 |volume=9}}</ref>{{efn|name=Sindh1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi]], [[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]], [[Shikarpur District|Shikarpur]], [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar]], [[Upper Sind Frontier District|Upper Sind Frontier]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]]), in Sindh Province, British India. See 1901 census data here:<ref name="sindh1901"/>}}
| 787,683
| {{Percentage | 787683 | 3410223 | 2 }}
| 3,410,223
| 3,410,223
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<ref name="NWFP1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25363739 |jstor=saoa.crl.25363739 |access-date=25 February 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. [Vol. 17A]. Imperial tables, I-VIII, X-XV, XVII and XVIII for the Punjab, with the native states under the political control of the Punjab Government, and for the North-west Frontier Province. |year=1901 |pages=34–36}}</ref>
| 129,306
| {{Percentage | 129306 | 2050724 | 2 }}
| 2,050,724{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
| 2,125,480{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
|-
| [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|AJK]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1901">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25366883 |jstor=saoa.crl.25366883 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. Vol. 23A, Kashmir. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1901 |pages=20}}</ref>{{efn|name=AJK1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of two [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Bhimber District|Bhimber]] and [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]) and one [[Jagir]] ([[Poonch jagir|Poonch]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary self-administrative territory of [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]. See 1901 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1901"/>}}
| 108,331
| {{Percentage | 108331 | 872915 | 2 }}
| 872,915
| 872,915
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref name="baluchistan1901">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25352844 |jstor=saoa.crl.25352844 |access-date=9 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1901. Vol. 5A, Baluchistan. Pt. 2, Imperial tables. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1901 |volume=5A |pages=5}}</ref>
| 38,158
| {{Percentage | 38158 | 810746 | 2 }}
| 810,746
| 810,746
|-
| [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1901"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1901|1901 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] using the total population of [[Gilgit District]] in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary administrative territory of [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]. See 1901 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1901"/>}}
| 2,001
| {{Percentage | 2001 | 60885 | 2 }}
| 60,885
| 60,885
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 3,009,842
! {{Percentage | 3009842 | 17633258 | 2 }}
! 17,633,258
! 17,708,014
|}

=== 1911 census ===
==== Population by province ====
{{further|West Punjab#Religion|North-West Frontier Province#Religion|Baluchistan Agency#Religion|Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)#Religion}}
According to the 1911 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 2.77 million persons or 14.7 percent of the total population.{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}} With the exception of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], all [[administrative division]]s in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 18,806,379, for an overall response rate of 92.1 percent out of the total population of 20,428,473, as detailed in the table below.{{efn|name=Pakistan1911}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division{{efn|name=Pakistan1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[administrative division]]s that compose the region of contemporary Pakistan, including [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]],<ref name="punjab1911"/>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1911}} [[Sindh]],<ref name="sindh1911"/>{{efn|name=Sindh1911}} [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]],<ref name="NWFP1911"/> [[Balochistan]],<ref name="baluchistan1911"/> [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref name="JammuKashmir1911"/>{{efn|name=AJK1911}} and [[Gilgit–Baltistan]].<ref name="JammuKashmir1911"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1911}}}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="4" |[[1911 Census of India|1911 census]]
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Responses
!Total Population
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]<ref name="punjab1911">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393788 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393788 |access-date=3 March 2024 |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1911 |pages=27}}</ref><ref name="punjab1911B">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62718 |access-date=3 March 2024 |title=Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II |year=1911 |author=Kaul, Harikishan |pages=27}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1911 census data here:<ref name="punjab1911"/><ref name="punjab1911B"/><br>Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is [[Punjab, Pakistan]].}}
| 1,645,758
| {{Percentage | 1645758 | 11104585 | 2 }}
| 11,104,585
| 11,104,585
|-
| [[Sindh]]<ref name="sindh1911">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393770 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393770 |access-date=12 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 7, Bombay. Pt. 2, Imperial tables. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1911 |volume=7}}</ref>{{efn|name=Sindh1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]], [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi]], [[Larkana District|Larkana]], [[Sukkur District|Sukkur]], [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar]], [[Upper Sind Frontier District|Upper Sind Frontier]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]]), in Sindh Province, British India. See 1911 census data here:<ref name="sindh1911"/>}}
| 877,313
| {{Percentage | 877313 | 3737223 | 2 }}
| 3,737,223
| 3,737,223
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<ref name="NWFP1911">{{cite web|url=http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/ideologie/data/CensusIndia/CensusIndia1911/1911%20-%20North%20West%20Frontier%20Province%20-%20Vol%20I%20and%20II.pdf|title=Census of India, 1911 Volume XII North-West Frontier Province|access-date=21 August 2022 |pages=307–308}}</ref>
| 119,942
| {{Percentage | 119942 | 2196933 | 2 }}
| 2,196,933{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
| 3,819,027{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
|-
| [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|AJK]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1911">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25394111 |jstor=saoa.crl.25394111 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 20, Kashmir. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1911 |pages=17}}</ref>{{efn|name=AJK1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of two [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Mirpur District|Mirpur]] and [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]) and one [[Jagir]] ([[Poonch jagir|Poonch]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary self-administrative territory of [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]. See 1911 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1911"/>}}
| 84,130
| {{Percentage | 84130 | 854531 | 2 }}
| 854,531
| 854,531
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref name="baluchistan1911">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25393764 |jstor=saoa.crl.25393764 |access-date=9 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1911. Vol. 4, Baluchistan : pt. 1, Report; pt. 2, Tables. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1911 |volume=4 |pages=9–13}}</ref>
| 38,326
| {{Percentage | 38326 | 834703 | 2 }}
| 834,703
| 834,703
|-
| [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1911"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1911|1911 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of [[Gilgit District]] and the ''Frontier Ilaqas'' in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary administrative territory of [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]. See 1911 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1911"/>}}
| 1,112
| {{Percentage | 1112 | 78404 | 2 }}
| 78,404
| 78,404
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 2,766,581
! {{Percentage | 2766581 | 18806379 | 2 }}
! 18,806,379
! 20,428,473
|}

=== 1921 census ===
==== Population by province ====
{{further|West Punjab#Religion|North-West Frontier Province#Religion|Baluchistan Agency#Religion|Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)#Religion}}
According to the 1921 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 2.96 million persons or 15.3 percent of the total population.{{efn|name=Pakistan1921}} With the exception of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], all [[administrative division]]s in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 19,389,016, for an overall response rate of 87.3 percent out of the total population of 22,214,152, as detailed in the table below.{{efn|name=Pakistan1921}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division{{efn|name=Pakistan1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[administrative division]]s that compose the region of contemporary Pakistan, including [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]],<ref name="punjab1921"/>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1921}} [[Sindh]],<ref name="sindh1921"/>{{efn|name=Sindh1921}} [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]],<ref name="NWFP1921"/> [[Balochistan]],<ref name="baluchistan1921"/> [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref name="JammuKashmir1921"/>{{efn|name=AJK1921}} and [[Gilgit–Baltistan]].<ref name="JammuKashmir1921"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1921}}}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="4" |[[1921 Census of India|1921 census]]
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Responses
!Total Population
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]<ref name="punjab1921">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25430165 |jstor=saoa.crl.25430165 |access-date=17 February 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1921 |pages=29}}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1921 census data here:<ref name="punjab1921"/><br>Immediately following the partition of India in 1947, these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is [[Punjab, Pakistan]].}}
| 1,797,141
| {{Percentage | 1797141 | 11888985 | 2 }}
| 11,888,985
| 11,888,985
|-
| [[Sindh]]<ref name="sindh1921">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25394131 |jstor=saoa.crl.25394131 |access-date=6 May 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 8, Bombay Presidency. Pt. 2, Tables : imperial and provincial. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1921 |volume=8}}</ref>{{efn|name=Sindh1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]], [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi]], [[Larkana District|Larkana]], [[Nawabshah District|Nawabshah]], [[Sukkur District|Sukkur]], [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar]], [[Upper Sind Frontier District|Upper Sind Frontier]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]]), in Sindh Province, British India. See 1921 census data here:<ref name="sindh1921"/>}}
| 876,629
| {{Percentage | 876629 | 3472508 | 2 }}
| 3,472,508
| 3,472,508
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<ref name="NWFP1921">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25430163|jstor=saoa.crl.25430163 |access-date=13 February 2023|title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 14, North-west Frontier Province : Part I, Report; part II, Tables |year=1922 |pages=345–346}}</ref>
| 149,881
| {{Percentage | 149881 | 2251340 | 2 }}
| 2,251,340{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
| 5,076,476{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
|-
| [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|AJK]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1921">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25430177 |jstor=saoa.crl.25430177 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 22, Kashmir. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1921 |pages=15}}</ref>{{efn|name=AJK1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of two [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Mirpur District|Mirpur]] and [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]) and one [[Jagir]] ([[Poonch jagir|Poonch]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary self-administrative territory of [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]. See 1921 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1921"/>}}
| 81,733
| {{Percentage | 81733 | 886861 | 2 }}
| 886,861
| 886,861
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref name="baluchistan1921">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25394124 |jstor=saoa.crl.25394124 |access-date=9 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1921. Vol. 4, Baluchistan : part I, Report; part II, Tables. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1921 |volume=4 |pages=47–52}}</ref>
| 51,348
| {{Percentage | 51348 | 799625 | 2 }}
| 799,625
| 799,625
|-
| [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1921"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1921|1921 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of [[Gilgit District]] and the ''Frontier Ilaqas'' in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary administrative territory of [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]. See 1921 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1921"/>}}
| 948
| {{Percentage | 948 | 89697 | 2 }}
| 89,697
| 89,697
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 2,957,680
! {{Percentage | 2957680 | 19389016 | 2 }}
! 19,389,016
! 22,214,152
|}

=== 1931 census ===
==== Population by province ====
{{further|West Punjab#Religion|North-West Frontier Province#Religion|Baluchistan Agency#Religion|Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)#Religion}}
According to the 1931 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.30 million persons or 14.7 percent of the total population.{{efn|name=Pakistan1931}} With the exception of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], all [[administrative division]]s in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 22,514,768, for an overall response rate of 90.9 percent out of the total population of 24,774,056, as detailed in the table below.{{efn|name=Pakistan1931}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division{{efn|name=Pakistan1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[administrative division]]s that compose the region of contemporary Pakistan, including [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]],<ref name="punjab1931"/>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1931}} [[Sindh]],<ref name="sindh1931"/>{{efn|name=Sindh1931}} [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]],<ref name="NWFP1931"/> [[Balochistan]],<ref name="Baluchistan1931"/> [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref name="JammuKashmir1931"/>{{efn|name=AJK1941}} and [[Gilgit–Baltistan]].<ref name="JammuKashmir1931"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1931}}}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="4" |[[1931 Census of India|1931 census]]
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Responses
!Total Population
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]<ref name="punjab1931">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793242 |jstor=saoa.crl.25793242 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. |year=1931 |pages=277 |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031110212/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793242 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|name=WestPunjab1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1931 census data here:<ref name="punjab1931"/><br>Immediately following the [[Partition of India|partition of India in 1947]], these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is [[Punjab, Pakistan]].}}
| 1,957,878
| {{Percentage | 1957878 | 14040798 | 2 }}
| 14,040,798
| 14,040,798
|-
| [[Sindh]]<ref name="sindh1931">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25797128 |jstor=saoa.crl.25797128 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 8, Bombay. Pt. 2, Statistical tables. |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1931 |volume=8 |archive-date=6 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240506002440/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25797128 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|name=Sindh1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]], [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi]], [[Larkana District|Larkana]], [[Nawabshah District|Nawabshah]], [[Sukkur District|Sukkur]], [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar]], [[Upper Sind Frontier District|Upper Sind Frontier]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]]), in Sindh Province, British India. See 1931 census data here:<ref name="sindh1931"/>}}
| 1,055,119
| {{Percentage | 1055119 | 4114253 | 2 }}
| 4,114,253
| 4,114,253
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<ref name="NWFP1931">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793233 |jstor=saoa.crl.25793233 |access-date=4 November 2024 |title=Census of India, 1931, vol. XV. North-west frontier province. Part I-Report. Part II-Tables |last1=Mallam |first1=G. L. |last2=Dundas |first2=A. D. F. |year=1933 |publisher=Peshawar, Printed by the manager, Government stationery and printing, 1933. |pages=373–375 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208000202/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25793233 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 142,977
| {{Percentage | 142977 | 2425076 | 2 }}
| 2,425,076{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
| 4,684,364{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
|-
| [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|AJK]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1931">{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25797120 |jstor=saoa.crl.25797120 |access-date=3 November 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 24, Jammu & Kashmir State. Pt. 2, Imperial & state tables. |year=1931 |pages=267}}</ref>{{efn|name=AJK1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of two [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Mirpur District|Mirpur]] and [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]) and one [[Jagir]] ([[Poonch jagir|Poonch]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary self-administrative territory of [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]. See 1931 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1931"/>}}
| 87,554
| {{Percentage | 87554 | 969578 | 2 }}
| 969,578
| 969,578
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref name="Baluchistan1931">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25797115 |jstor=saoa.crl.25797115 |access-date=8 September 2024 |title=Census of India 1931. Vol. 4, Baluchistan. Pts. 1 & 2, Report [and] Imperial and provincial tables. |year=1931 |pages=390 |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007090941/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.25797115 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| 53,681
| {{Percentage | 53681 | 868617 | 2 }}
| 868,617
| 868,617
|-
| [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1931"/>{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1931|1931 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of [[Gilgit District]] and the ''Frontier Ilaqas'' in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary administrative territory of [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]. See 1931 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1931"/>}}
| 1,361
| {{Percentage | 1361 | 96446 | 2 }}
| 96,446
| 96,446
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 3,298,570
! {{Percentage | 3298570 | 22514768 | 2 }}
! 22,514,768
! 24,774,056
|}

=== 1941 census ===
==== Population by province ====
{{further|West Punjab#Religion|North-West Frontier Province#Religion|Baluchistan Agency#Religion|Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)#Religion}}
According to the 1941 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised roughly 3.98 million persons or 14.6 percent of the total population.{{efn|name=Pakistan1941}} With the exception of the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]], all [[administrative division]]s in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan collected religious data, with a combined population of 27,266,001, for an overall response rate of 92.0 percent out of the total population of 29,643,600, as detailed in the table below.{{efn|name=Pakistan1941}}

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division{{efn|name=Pakistan1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[administrative division]]s that compose the region of contemporary Pakistan, including [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]],<ref name="punjab1941"/>{{rp|42}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1941}} [[Sindh]],<ref name="sindh1941"/>{{rp|28}}{{efn|name=Sindh1941}} [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]],<ref name="NWFP1941"/>{{rp|22}} [[Balochistan]],<ref name="baluchistan1941"/>{{rp|13–18}} [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]],<ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>{{rp|337–352}}{{efn|name=AJK1941}} and [[Gilgit–Baltistan]].<ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>{{rp|337–352}}{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1941}}}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="4" |[[1941 Census of India|1941 census]]
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Responses
!Total Population
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]<ref name="punjab1941">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215541 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215541 |access-date=30 January 2023 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1941 |volume=6 |archive-date=2 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002225000/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215541 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|42}}{{efn|name=WestPunjab1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Lahore District|Lahore]], [[Sialkot District|Sialkot]], [[Gujranwala District|Gujranwala]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura]], [[Gujrat District|Gujrat]], [[Shahpur District|Shahpur]], [[Jhelum District|Jhelum]], [[Rawalpindi District|Rawalpindi]], [[Attock District|Attock]], [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]], [[Montgomery District|Montgomery]], [[Lyallpur District|Lyallpur]], [[Jhang District|Jhang]], [[Multan District|Multan]], [[Muzaffargarh District|Muzaffargargh]], [[Dera Ghazi Khan District|Dera Ghazi Khan]]), one [[tehsil]] ([[Shakargarh Tehsil|Shakargarh]] – then part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]]), one [[princely state]] ([[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]), and one tract (Biloch Trans–Frontier) in Punjab Province, British India that ultimately fell on the western side of the [[Radcliffe Line]]. See 1941 census data here:<ref name="punjab1941"/>{{rp|42}}<br />Immediately following the [[Partition of India|partition of India in 1947]], these districts and tract would ultimately make up the subdivision of West Punjab, which also later included [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]]. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is [[Punjab, Pakistan]].}}
| 2,373,466
| {{Percentage | 2373466 | 17350103 | 2 }}
| 17,350,103
| 17,350,103
|-
| [[Sindh]]<ref name="sindh1941">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215545 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215545 |access-date=30 January 2023 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 12, Sind |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1941 |volume=12 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064845/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215545 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|28}}{{efn|name=Sindh1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of all [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Dadu District|Dadu]], [[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]], [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi]], [[Larkana District|Larkana]], [[Nawabshah District|Nawabshah]], [[Sukkur District|Sukkur]], [[Tharparkar district|Tharparkar]], [[Upper Sind Frontier District|Upper Sind Frontier]]), and one [[princely state]] ([[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]]), in Sindh Province, British India. See 1941 census data here:<ref name="sindh1941"/>}}
| 1,279,530
| {{Percentage | 1279530 | 4840795 | 2 }}
| 4,840,795
| 4,840,795
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]<ref name="NWFP1941">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215543 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215543 |access-date=30 January 2023 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 10, North-West Frontier Province |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1941 |volume=10 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064219/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215543 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|22}}
| 180,321
| {{Percentage | 180321 | 3038067 | 2 }}
| 3,038,067{{efn|name=KPKPop|Religious data only collected in [[North-West Frontier Province|North West Frontier Province]], and not in the [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]]. Total responses to religion includes North West Frontier Province ([[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]), and total population includes both North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, both [[administrative division]]s which later amalgamated to become [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]].}}
| 5,415,666{{efn|name=KPKPop}}
|-
| [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir|AJK]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1941">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215644 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215644 |access-date=30 January 2023 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 22, Jammu & Kashmir |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1941 |volume=22 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129070759/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215644 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|337–352}}{{efn|name=AJK1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of two [[Districts of British India|districts]] ([[Mirpur District|Mirpur]] and [[Muzaffarabad District|Muzaffarabad]]) and one [[Jagir]] ([[Poonch jagir|Poonch]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary self-administrative territory of [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir]]. See 1941 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>{{rp|337–352}}}}
| 93,559
| {{Percentage | 93559 | 1073154 | 2 }}
| 1,073,154
| 1,073,154
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]<ref name="baluchistan1941">{{cite web |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215993 |jstor=saoa.crl.28215993 |access-date=30 January 2023 |title=Census of India, 1941. Vol. 14, Baluchistan |author1=India Census Commissioner |year=1942 |volume=14 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129064900/https://www.jstor.org/stable/saoa.crl.28215993 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|13–18}}
| 54,394
| {{Percentage | 54394 | 857835 | 2 }}
| 857,835
| 857,835
|-
| [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]<ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>{{rp|337–352}}{{efn|name=GilgitBaltistan1941|1941 figure taken from [[Census in British India|census data]] by combining the total population of one [[Districts of British India|district]] ([[Astore District|Astore]]) and one agency ([[Gilgit Agency|Gilgit]]) in the [[Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir]] that ultimately would be administered by Pakistan, in the contemporary administrative territory of [[Gilgit–Baltistan]]. See 1941 census data here:<ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>{{rp|337–352}}}}
| 295
| {{Percentage | 295 | 116047 | 2 }}
| 116,047
| 116,047
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 3,981,565
! {{Percentage | 3981565 | 27266001 | 2 }}
! 27,266,001
! 29,643,600
|}

==== Population by administrative unit ====
At the administrative unit level in the region that composes contemporary Pakistan, as per the 1941 census, the largest Hindu concentrations existed in [[Tharparkar District]] (Hindus formed 42.60 percent of the total population and numbered 247,496 persons), [[Shakargarh Tehsil]]{{efn|name="Shakargarh1947"}} (39.98 percent or 116,553 persons), [[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad District]] (32.40 percent or 245,849 persons), [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi District]] (31.18 percent or 222,597 persons), [[Sukkur District]] (28.22 percent or 195,458 persons), [[Nawabshah District]] (24.04 percent or 140,428 persons), [[Sialkot District]] (19.43 percent or 231,319 persons), [[Quetta District|Quetta]]–[[Pishin District]] (18.32 percent or 28,629 persons), [[Larkana District]] (17.81 percent or 91,062 persons), [[Multan District]] (16.83 percent or 249,872 persons), [[Lahore District]] (16.79 percent or 284,689 persons), [[Mirpur District]] (16.44 percent or 63,576 persons), [[Khairpur State]] (16.22 percent or 49,604 persons), [[Montgomery District]] (15.87 percent or 210,966 persons), and [[Bolan District]] (15.81 percent or 950 persons).<ref name="punjab1941"/><ref name="sindh1941"/><ref name="NWFP1941"/><ref name="baluchistan1941"/><ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hindus in the administrative units that compose the contemporary Pakistan region
! rowspan="2" |Administrative Unit
! rowspan="2" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative division]]
! colspan="3" |1941 census<ref name="punjab1941"/><ref name="sindh1941"/><ref name="NWFP1941"/><ref name="baluchistan1941"/><ref name="JammuKashmir1941"/>
|-
!Hindu Population
!Hindu Percentage
!Total Population
|-
| [[Lahore District]]
| Punjab
| 284,689
| {{Percentage | 284689 | 1695375 | 2 }}
| 1,695,375
|-
| [[Multan District]]
| Punjab
| 249,872
| {{Percentage | 249872 | 1484333 | 2 }}
| 1,484,333
|-
| [[Tharparkar District]]
| Sindh
| 247,496
| {{Percentage | 247496 | 581004 | 2 }}
| 581,004
|-
| [[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad District]]
| Sindh
| 245,849
| {{Percentage | 245849 | 758748 | 2 }}
| 758,748
|-
| [[Sialkot District]]
| Punjab
| 231,319
| {{Percentage | 231319 | 1190497 | 2 }}
| 1,190,497
|-
| [[Karachi District (Sind)|Karachi District]]
| Sindh
| 222,597
| {{Percentage | 222597 | 713900 | 2 }}
| 713,900
|-
| [[Montgomery District]]
| Punjab
| 210,966
| {{Percentage | 210966 | 1329103 | 2 }}
| 1,329,103
|-
| [[Lyallpur District]]{{efn|name="Lyallpur"|District formerly inscribed as the ''[[Punjab Canal Colonies#Chenab Colony|Chenab Colony]]'' on the 1901 census, later renamed to [[Lyallpur District]], created between [[Jhang District]], [[Gujranwala District]], [[Lahore District]], [[Montgomery District]], and [[Multan District]] to account for the large population increase in the region, primarily due to the [[Punjab Canal Colonies#Chenab Colony|Chenab Canal Colony]].}}
| Punjab
| 204,059
| {{Percentage | 204059 | 1396305 | 2 }}
| 1,396,305
|-
| [[Sukkur District]]
| Sindh
| 195,458
| {{Percentage | 195458 | 692556 | 2 }}
| 692,556
|-
| [[Bahawalpur State]]
| Punjab
| 174,408
| {{Percentage | 174408 | 1341209 | 2 }}
| 1,341,209
|-
| [[Nawabshah District]]
| Sindh
| 140,428
| {{Percentage | 140428 | 584178 | 2 }}
| 584,178
|-
| [[Jhang District]]
| Punjab
| 129,889
| {{Percentage | 129889 | 821631 | 2 }}
| 821,631
|-
| [[Shakargarh Tehsil]]{{efn|name="Shakargarh1947"|Part of [[Gurdaspur district|Gurdaspur District]] which was awarded to Pakistan as part of the [[Radcliffe Line]].}}
| Punjab
| 116,553
| {{Percentage | 116553 | 291505 | 2 }}
| 291,505
|-
| [[Gujranwala District]]
| Punjab
| 108,115
| {{Percentage | 108115 | 912234 | 2 }}
| 912,234
|-
| [[Shahpur District]]
| Punjab
| 102,172
| {{Percentage | 102172 | 998921 | 2 }}
| 998,921
|-
| [[Larkana District]]
| Sindh
| 91,062
| {{Percentage | 91062 | 511208 | 2 }}
| 511,208
|-
| [[Muzaffargarh District]]
| Punjab
| 90,643
| {{Percentage | 90643 | 712849 | 2 }}
| 712,849
|-
| [[Sheikhupura District]]{{efn|name="Sheikhupura"|District created between [[Gujranwala District]], [[Sialkot District]], [[Amritsar district|Amritsar District]], [[Lahore District]], [[Montgomery District]], and [[Lyallpur District]] in 1920 to account for the large population increase in the region, primarily due to the [[Punjab Canal Colonies#Chenab Colony|Chenab Canal Colony]].}}
| Punjab
| 89,182
| {{Percentage | 89182 | 852508 | 2 }}
| 852,508
|-
| [[Gujrat District]]
| Punjab
| 84,643
| {{Percentage | 84643 | 1104952 | 2 }}
| 1,104,952
|-
| [[Rawalpindi District]]
| Punjab
| 82,478
| {{Percentage | 82478 | 785231 | 2 }}
| 785,231
|-
| [[Dera Ghazi Khan District]]
| Punjab
| 67,407
| {{Percentage | 67407 | 581350 | 2 }}
| 581,350
|-
| [[Mirpur District]]
| AJK
| 63,576
| {{Percentage | 63576 | 386655 | 2 }}
| 386,655
|-
| [[Mianwali District]]
| Punjab
| 62,814
| {{Percentage | 62814 | 506321 | 2 }}
| 506,321
|-
| [[Dadu District]]
| Sindh
| 58,372
| {{Percentage | 58372 | 389380 | 2 }}
| 389,380
|-
| [[Peshawar District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 51,212
| {{Percentage | 51212 | 851833 | 2 }}
| 851,833
|-
| [[Khairpur State]]
| Sindh
| 49,604
| {{Percentage | 49604 | 305787 | 2 }}
| 305,787
|-
| [[Attock District]]{{efn|name="Attock"|District created in 1904 by taking [[Talagang Tehsil]] from [[Jhelum District]] and [[Pindi Gheb Tehsil|Pindi Gheb]], [[Fateh Jang Tehsil|Fateh Jang]] and [[Attock Tehsil]]s from [[Rawalpindi District]].}}
| Punjab
| 43,209
| {{Percentage | 43209 | 675875 | 2 }}
| 675,875
|-
| [[Jhelum District]]
| Punjab
| 40,888
| {{Percentage | 40888 | 629658 | 2 }}
| 629,658
|-
| [[Dera Ismail Khan District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 39,167
| {{Percentage | 39167 | 298131 | 2 }}
| 298,131
|-
| [[Bannu District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 31,471
| {{Percentage | 31471 | 295930 | 2 }}
| 295,930
|-
| [[Hazara District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 30,267
| {{Percentage | 30267 | 796230 | 2 }}
| 796,230
|-
| [[Upper Sind Frontier District]]
| Sindh
| 28,664
| {{Percentage | 28664 | 304034 | 2 }}
| 304,034
|-
| [[Quetta District|Quetta]]–[[Pishin District|Pishin]] District
| Balochistan
| 28,629
| {{Percentage | 28629 | 156289 | 2 }}
| 156,289
|-
| [[Poonch jagir]]
| AJK
| 24,137
| {{Percentage | 24137 | 421828 | 2 }}
| 421,828
|-
| [[Kohat District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 17,527
| {{Percentage | 17527 | 289404 | 2 }}
| 289,404
|-
| [[Mardan District]]
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
| 10,677
| {{Percentage | 10677 | 506539 | 2 }}
| 506,539
|-
| [[Kalat State]]
| Balochistan
| 7,971
| {{Percentage | 7971 | 253305 | 2 }}
| 253,305
|-
| [[Sibi District]]
| Balochistan
| 6,425
| {{Percentage | 6425 | 164899 | 2 }}
| 164,899
|-
| [[Muzaffarabad District]]
| AJK
| 5,846
| {{Percentage | 5846 | 264671 | 2 }}
| 264,671
|-
| [[Zhob District]]
| Balochistan
| 4,286
| {{Percentage | 4286 | 61499 | 2 }}
| 61,499
|-
| [[Loralai District]]
| Balochistan
| 3,129
| {{Percentage | 3129 | 83685 | 2 }}
| 83,685
|-
| [[Las Bela State]]
| Balochistan
| 1,701
| {{Percentage | 1701 | 69067 | 2 }}
| 69,067
|-
| [[Chagai District|Chaghai District]]
| Balochistan
| 1,204
| {{Percentage | 1204 | 29950 | 2 }}
| 29,950
|-
| [[Bolan District]]
| Balochistan
| 950
| {{Percentage | 950 | 6009 | 2 }}
| 6,009
|-
| Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract
| Punjab
| 160
| {{Percentage | 160 | 40246 | 2 }}
| 40,246
|-
| [[Astore District]]
| Gilgit–Baltistan
| 113
| {{Percentage | 113 | 17026 | 2 }}
| 17,026
|-
| Gilgit Leased Area
| Gilgit–Baltistan
| 108
| {{Percentage | 108 | 22495 | 2 }}
| 22,495
|-
| [[Kharan State]]
| Balochistan
| 99
| {{Percentage | 99 | 33832 | 2 }}
| 33,832
|-
| [[Gilgit Agency]]
| Gilgit–Baltistan
| 74
| {{Percentage | 74 | 76526 | 2 }}
| 76,526
|-
! Total Hindus
! Pakistan
! 3,981,565
! {{Percentage | 3981565 | 27266001 | 2 }}
! 27,266,001
|}
=== 1951 census ===
According to the 1951 census, the Hindu population in Pakistan comprised 531,131 persons or 1.58 percent of the total population.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Hinduism in Pakistan by administrative division in 1951<ref name="Pakistan1951A"/><ref name="Pakistan1951B"/>
! rowspan="3" |[[Administrative divisions of Pakistan|Administrative<br />division]]
! colspan="10" |[[1951 Census of India|1951 census]]
|-
! colspan="2" |Caste Hindu
! colspan="2" |Scheduled Caste Hindu
! colspan="2" |Total Hindu population
! colspan="2" |Total Citizens
! colspan="2" |Total Population
|-
![[Population|{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}]]
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
!{{abbr|Pop.|Population}}
!{{Abbr|%|percentage}}
|-
| [[Sindh]]
| 141,387
| {{Percentage | 141387 | 4925342 | 2 }} 
| 323,120
| {{Percentage | 323120 | 4925342 | 2 }} 
| 464,507
| {{Percentage | 464507 | 4925342 | 2 }} 
| 4,925,342{{efn|name=Sindh1951Responses|Excluding 2,715 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
| {{Percentage | 4925342 | 4928057 | 2 }} 
| 4,928,057
| {{Percentage | 4928057 | 4928057 | 2 }} 
|-
| [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]
| 2,756
| {{Percentage | 2756 | 20636702 | 2 }} 
| 30,296
| {{Percentage | 30296 | 20636702 | 2 }} 
| 33,052
| {{Percentage | 33052 | 20636702 | 2 }} 
| 20,636,702{{efn|name=Punjab1951Responses|Excluding 14,438 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
| {{Percentage | 20636702 | 20651140 | 2 }} 
| 20,651,140
| {{Percentage | 20651140 | 20651140 | 2 }} 
|-
| [[Karachi Federal Capital Territory]]
| 4,641
| {{Percentage | 4641 | 1122406 | 2 }} 
| 13,412
| {{Percentage | 13412 | 1122406 | 2 }} 
| 18,053
| {{Percentage | 18053 | 1122406 | 2 }} 
| 1,122,406{{efn|name=Karachi1951Responses|Excluding 4,011 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
| {{Percentage | 1122406 | 1126417 | 2 }} 
| 1,126,417
| {{Percentage | 1126417 | 1126417 | 2 }} 
|-
| [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]]
| 11,729
| {{Percentage | 11729 | 1154167 | 2 }} 
| 1,358
| {{Percentage | 1358 | 1154167 | 2 }} 
| 13,087
| {{Percentage | 13087 | 1154167 | 2 }} 
| 1,154,167{{efn|name=Balochistan1951Responses|Excluding 19,869 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
| {{Percentage | 1154167 | 1174036 | 2 }} 
| 1,174,036
| {{Percentage | 1174036 | 1174036 | 2 }} 
|-
| [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
| 787
| {{Percentage | 787 | 5864550 | 2 }} 
| 1,645
| {{Percentage | 1645 | 5864550 | 2 }} 
| 2,432
| {{Percentage | 2432 | 5864550 | 2 }} 
| 5,864,550{{efn|name=KPK1951Responses|Excluding 35,355 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
| {{Percentage | 5864550 | 5899905 | 2 }} 
| 5,899,905
| {{Percentage | 5899905 | 5899905 | 2 }} 
|-
! [[Pakistan]]
! 161,300
! {{Percentage | 161300 | 33703167 | 2 }} 
! 369,831
! {{Percentage | 369831 | 33703167 | 2 }} 
! 531,131
! {{Percentage | 531131 | 33703167 | 2 }} 
! 33,703,167{{efn|name=Pakistan1951Responses|Excluding 76,388 persons claiming Nationalities other than Pakistani.}}
! {{Percentage | 33703167 | 33779555 | 2 }} 
! 33,779,555
! {{Percentage | 33779555 | 33779555 | 2 }} 
|}

=== 2017 census ===
==== Population by province ====
The percent of population of Hindus (separating the [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] from other Hindus) in the provinces in Pakistan, according to the 2017 census:<ref name=Census2017>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table09n.pdf|title=Population by Releigion|access-date=27 July 2021|archive-date=16 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216132035/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/census_2017_tables/pakistan/Table09n.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="sailent feature">{{cite web|title=SALIENT FEATURES OF FINAL RESULTS CENSUS-2017|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf|access-date=27 July 2021|archive-date=29 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829194924/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-style="vertical-align:top"
! style="text-align:center;"|Province
! Total Population
!colspan=2| Hindu (Jati)
!colspan=2| [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]]
!colspan=2| All Hindus
! style="text-align:center;" |Total Hindus %
|-style="text-align:right"
|style="text-align:left"| [[File:Flag of Sindh.svg|20px]] [[Sindh (Pakistan)|Sindh]]
|| 47,854,510 ||3,345,424 || 6.99% || 831,562 || 1.74% || 4,176,986 || 8.73% || 94%
|-style="text-align:right"
|style="text-align:left"| [[File:Flag of Balochistan.svg|20px]] [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]]
||12,335,129 || 45,627 || 0.37% || 3,506|| 0.03% || 49,133 || 0.4% || 1.1%
|-style="text-align:right"
|style="text-align:left"style="text-align:left"| [[File:Flag of Punjab.svg|20px]] [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]]
||109,989,655 || 198,251 || 0.18% || 13,390 || 0.012% || 211,641 || 0.2% || 4.76%
|-style="text-align:right"
|style="text-align:left"| [[File:Flag of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.svg|20px]] [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
|| 35,501,964|| 5,392 || 0.015% || 981 || 0.003% || 6,373 || 0.018% || 0.143%
|-style="text-align:right" 
|style="text-align:left"| [[File:Proposed Flag of Islamabad Capital Territory.svg|20px]] [[Islamabad Capital Territory]]
|| 2,003,368 || 562 || 0.028% || 175 || 0.0087% ||737 || 0.0367% || 0.166%
|-class="sortbottom" style="text-align:right"
|style="text-align:left"|Pakistan (total)
|| 207,684,626 || 3,595,256 || 1.73% || 849,614 || 0.41% || 4,444,870 || 2.14% || 100.00%
|-
|}

==== Population by district ====
[[File:Hindu Proportion by Pakistani District - 2017 Census.svg|thumb|right|
<div style="text-align: center">Hindu Proportion of each Pakistani District in 2017 according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics</div>|599x599px]]

[[Umerkot District|Umerkot district]] (52.15%) is the only Hindu majority district in Pakistan. [[Tharparkar District|Tharparkar district]] has the highest population of Hindus in terms of absolute terms. Tharparkar is said to have most Hindus in absolute numbers at 811,507.<ref name="gulfnews7772" /><ref>{{cite web |date=4 March 2015 |title=Mithi: Where a Hindu fasts and a Muslim does not slaughter cows |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1167315 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612164040/https://www.dawn.com/news/1167315 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=19 May 2025 |title=Hindu community, bikers stage victory march |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2546619/hindu-community-bikers-stage-victory-march |access-date=19 May 2025 |website=The Express Tribune |language=en}}</ref> The four districts- [[Umerkot District|Umerkot]], [[Tharparkar District|Tharparkar]], [[Mirpurkhas District|Mirpurkhas]] and [[Sanghar District|Sanghar]] hosts more than half of the Hindu population in Pakistan.<ref name="Districtwise"/>

All districts with a Hindu population greater than 1%, according to the 2017 census. In other districts the population of Hindus is less than 1%.<ref name="Districtwise">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/district-wise-census-2017-results|title=District wise census|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804025540/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/district-wise-census-2017-results|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! '''Administrative Unit'''
! '''District'''
! '''Percentage of Hindus '''
|-
| rowspan="24" |'''[[Sindh]]'''
| '''[[Umerkot District|Umerkot]]'''
| style="background: #FF0800" | '''54.53%'''
|-
| '''[[Tharparkar]]'''
| style="background:orange" | '''43.39%'''
|-
| '''[[Mirpurkhas District|Mirpurkhas]]'''
| style="background:orange" | '''38.74%'''
|-
| '''[[Tando Allahyar District|Tando Allahyar]]'''
| style="background:orange" | '''34.17%'''
|-
| '''[[Badin District|Badin]]'''
| style="background:  #fad67d" | '''23.61%'''
|-
| '''[[Tando Muhammad Khan District|Tando Muhammad Khan]]'''
| style="background: #fad67d" | '''22.25%'''
|-
| '''[[Sanghar District|Sanghar]]'''
| style="background: #fad67d" | '''21.79%'''
|-
| '''[[Matiari District|Matiari]]'''
| style="background: #fad67d" | '''16.66%'''
|-
| '''[[Hyderabad District, Sindh|Hyderabad]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''8.22%'''
|-
| '''[[Ghotki District|Ghotki]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''6.19%'''
|-
| '''[[Karachi South District|Karachi South]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''4.01%'''
|-
| '''[[Jamshoro district|Jamshoro]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3.87%'''
|-
| '''[[Shaheed Benazirabad District|Shaheed Benazirabad]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3.86%'''
|-
| '''[[Sukkur District|Sukkur]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3.55%'''
|-
| '''[[Kashmore District|Kashmore]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3.22%'''
|-
| '''[[Thatta District|Thatta]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3%'''
|-
| '''[[Sujawal|Sujawal District]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2.91%'''
|-
| '''[[Khairpur]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2.76%'''
|-
| '''[[Jacobabad]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2.16%'''
|-
| '''[[Malir]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.77%'''
|-
| '''[[Naushahro Feroze]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.64%'''
|-
| '''[[Larkana]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.45%'''
|-
| '''[[Shikarpur, Sindh|Shikarpur]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.4%'''
|-
| '''[[Karachi East]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" |'''1.38%'''
|-
| rowspan=2| '''[[Punjab]]'''
| '''[[Rahim Yar Khan District|Rahim Yar Khan]]'''
| style="background: #FFB6C1" | '''3.12%'''
|-
| '''[[Bahawalpur District|Bahawalpur]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.12%'''
|-
| rowspan=5| '''[[Balochistan]]'''
| '''[[Sibi District|Sibi]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2.4%'''
|-
| '''[[Lasbela District|Lasbela]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.58%'''
|-
| '''[[Jafarabad District|Jaffarabad]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.34%'''
|-
| '''[[Kachhi District|Kacchi]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1.04%'''
|-
| '''[[Mastung District|Mastung]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''1%'''
|-
| rowspan=2|'''[[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]'''
| '''[[Kohat]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2%'''
|-
| rowspan=2|'''[[Bannu]]'''
| style="background: #faecc8" | '''2%'''
|}

==== Population controversy ====
The official number of Hindus living in Pakistan is about 4.5 million or approx. 2.15% as per 2017 census conducted by Pakistan government authority.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Inside Pakistan's 'Conversion Factory' For Hindu Brides|url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-hindu-brides-conversion-sindh/31205637.html|access-date=2021-05-06|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=20 April 2021|language=en|last1=Khattak|first1=Daud|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505191237/https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-hindu-brides-conversion-sindh/31205637.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, at different time some of the demographic experts of Pakistan Hindu council as well as various Hindu politicians have given numbers based on their estimation research which have led to various controversies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_pakistans-religious-minorities-say-they-were-undercounted-census/6207724.html|title=Pakistan's Religious Minorities Say They Were Undercounted in Census|date=July 2021 |access-date=1 August 2021|archive-date=1 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801165949/https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/pakistans-religious-minorities-say-they-were-undercounted-census|url-status=live}}</ref> Pakistan has been accused on undercounting minority population over the decades. [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Karachi Supreme Court]] attorney Neel Keshav claimed that the Hindu population in Pakistan is likely to be much higher, as reported by ''Pakistan Today'' newspaper. Neel Keshav further claimed that the 1998 census data showed a Hindu population of nearly 2&nbsp;million. While the new census showed that it had only risen to 3.5 million in 20 years," which throws a light possibility of undercounting Hindu population.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan-faces-accusations-of-undercounting-hindus-christians-in-latest-census-101630602766899.html | title=Pakistan faces accusations of undercounting Hindus, Christians in latest census | work=Hindustan Times | date=2 September 2021 | access-date=5 March 2023 | archive-date=5 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305053820/https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pakistan-faces-accusations-of-undercounting-hindus-christians-in-latest-census-101630602766899.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_pakistans-religious-minorities-say-they-were-undercounted-census/6207724.html | title=Pakistan's Religious Minorities Say They Were Undercounted in Census | date=July 2021 | access-date=5 March 2023 | archive-date=5 March 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305053818/https://www.voanews.com/amp/extremism-watch_pakistans-religious-minorities-say-they-were-undercounted-census/6207724.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ ''Number of Hindus residing in Pakistan as an estimation research of (2019–21)''
|-
! Source/claimed by
! Population
! Year of claimed 
|-
| [[Pakistan Hindu Council]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hindu Population (PK) – Pakistan Hindu Council|date=13 January 2017|url=http://pakistanhinducouncil.org.pk/hinduism/hindu-population-pk/|access-date=2021-05-06|publisher=[[Pakistan Hindu Council]]|language=en-US|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815025257/http://pakistanhinducouncil.org.pk/hinduism/hindu-population-pk/|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
| 8,000,000 
| 2020
|-
| ''[[Gulf News]]'' (U.A.E based)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi's offer of citizenship|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/hindus-of-pakistan-reject-caa-do-not-want-indian-prime-minister-modis-offer-of-citizenship-1.68552370|access-date=2021-05-06|website=[[Gulf News]]|date=18 December 2019 |language=en|archive-date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218133117/https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/hindus-of-pakistan-reject-caa-do-not-want-indian-prime-minister-modis-offer-of-citizenship-1.68552370|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 8,800,000 
| 2019
|-
| ''[[The Economic Times]]'' (according to an official estimation)<ref name="economictimes_81494632">{{Cite news|title=Pakistan: Hindu community pardons mob accused of vandalising temple|work=[[The Economic Times]]|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-hindu-community-pardons-mob-accused-of-vandalising-temple/articleshow/81494632.cms?from=mdr|access-date=2021-05-06|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506072820/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-hindu-community-pardons-mob-accused-of-vandalising-temple/articleshow/81494632.cms?from=mdr|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 7,500,000
| 2021
|-
| According to Hindu community of Pakistan<ref name="economictimes_81494632"/>
| 9,000,000 
| 2021 
|-
| Claimed by [[Mangla Sharma]], member provincial assembly (MPA) from [[Muttahida Qaumi Movement–Pakistan|Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan]] (MQM-P)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-07|title=Two years after it counted population, Pakistan silent on minority numbers|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/2-yrs-after-it-counted-population-pakistan-silent-on-minority-numbers-6203547/|access-date=2021-05-06|website=[[The Indian Express]]|language=en|archive-date=31 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231115401/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/2-yrs-after-it-counted-population-pakistan-silent-on-minority-numbers-6203547/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| 10,000,000 
| 2020 
|}

===Projections===

According to a 2015 report by [[India TV]], Hinduism is reported to be the fastest-growing religion in Pakistan. The report highlights that the total Hindu fertility rate in Pakistan stands at 3.2, which is equivalent to the Muslim fertility rate in India.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/hinduism-fastest-growing-religion-in-pakistan-saudi-arabia-51516.html | title=Hinduism fastest growing religion in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia &#124; India TV News | date=11 June 2015 | access-date=19 April 2024 | archive-date=6 October 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006220922/https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/hinduism-fastest-growing-religion-in-pakistan-saudi-arabia-51516.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Pakistan's population is projected to increase to [[Demographics of Pakistan|367.8 million]] by 2050. As of the [[2023 Census of Pakistan|2023 Census]], Pakistan currently hosts 5.2&nbsp;million Hindus, making it the world's [[Hinduism by country|fifth-largest Hindu population]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religious Demographics of Pakistan 2023 |url=https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf |access-date=21 July 2024 |archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829194924/https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//population_census/sailent_feature_%20census_2017.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2050, it is projected to climb to the fourth position with 11.55 million Hindus. This surpasses Indonesia, the current fourth-largest Hindu country, according to the [[Pew Research Center]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.riazhaq.com/2015/06/pakistani-hindu-population-among.html?m=1#:~:text=With%203.33%20million%20Hindus%2C%20Pakistan,country%2C%20according%20to%20Pew%20Research. | title=Pakistani Hindu Population Among Fastest Growing in the World | access-date=19 April 2024 | archive-date=19 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419141454/https://www.riazhaq.com/2015/06/pakistani-hindu-population-among.html?m=1#:~:text=With%203.33%20million%20Hindus%2C%20Pakistan,country%2C%20according%20to%20Pew%20Research. | url-status=live }}</ref> However, according to Pakistani newspaper [[Dawn (newspaper)|''DAWN'']], 5,000 Hindus migrate to India every year seeking safety from religious persecution.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1105830 | title=5,000 Hindus migrating to India every year, NA told | date=13 May 2014 }}</ref> The same newspaper have also reported that some 1,000 Hindu women are forced to convert and marry Muslim men in Pakistan annually.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1098452 | title=1,000 minority girls forced in marriage every year: Report | date=8 April 2014 | access-date=19 April 2024 | archive-date=13 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513041454/https://www.dawn.com/news/1098452 | url-status=live }}</ref>

==Religious conversions==
=== Forced conversion of minority Hindu girls to Islam ===
{{Main article|Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan}}
[[File:Protest against forced conversion of Hindu girls in Pakistan.jpg|thumb|Protest against forced conversion of Hindu girls, procession conducted by [[Pakistan Hindu Council]]]]
One of the biggest issues the Hindu community faces in Pakistan is the [[Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan|forced conversion of minor Hindu girls]] to Islam; the number of such conversions, according to one highest estimate, is up to 1,000 per year.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Imtiaz|first=Saba|date=14 August 2017|title=Hindu Today, Muslim Tomorrow|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/08/hindu-muslim-pakistan/536238/|access-date=15 July 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=25 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725113527/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/08/hindu-muslim-pakistan/536238/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Sarfraz|first=Mehmal|date=2019-04-13|title=In Pakistan, the problem of forced conversions|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-pakistan-conversions/article26823108.ece|access-date=2021-07-15|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Abi-Habib|first1=Maria|last2=ur-Rehman|first2=Zia|date=4 August 2020|title=Poor and Desperate, Pakistani Hindus Accept Islam to Get By|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/asia/pakistan-hindu-conversion.html|access-date=15 July 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814074954/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/asia/pakistan-hindu-conversion.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Girls are often kidnapped by complicit acquaintances and relatives or men looking for brides. Sometimes they are taken by powerful landlords as payment for outstanding debts by their farmhand parents, and the authorities often look the other way.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gannon|first1=Kathy|date=28 December 2020|title=Each year, 1000 Pakistani girl forcibly converted to Islam|work=Associated Press|url=https://apnews.com/article/karachi-pakistan-coronavirus-pandemic-christianity-marriage-2d335f305278348540db41b593a9a2a9|access-date=1 January 2021|archive-date=1 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013607/https://apnews.com/article/karachi-pakistan-coronavirus-pandemic-christianity-marriage-2d335f305278348540db41b593a9a2a9|url-status=live}}</ref> In one case, a landlord abducted a Hindu daughter from a farm worker and falsely claimed the teen was compensation for a $1,000 debt that the family owed him.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Inayat|first1=Naila|date=15 February 2017|title=Pakistan Hindus lose daughters to forced muslim marriages|newspaper=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/15/pakistani-hindus-lose-daughters-forced-muslim-marriages/97013614/|access-date=2 January 2021|archive-date=29 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129195225/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/15/pakistani-hindus-lose-daughters-forced-muslim-marriages/97013614/|url-status=live}}</ref> Religious institutions and persons like [[Abdul Haq (politician)|Abdul Haq (Mitthu Mian)]] politician and caretaker of [[Daharki#Religion|Bharachundi Sharif Dargah]] in [[Ghotki district]] and Pir Ayub Jan Sirhindi, the caretaker of Dargah pir sarhandi in [[Umerkot District]] support forced conversions and are known to have support and protection of ruling political parties of Sindh.<ref name="Herald18Aug16">{{cite news|last1=Javaid|first1=Maham|title=State of fear|date=18 August 2016|url=https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153061/state-of-fear|work=[[Herald (Pakistan)]]|access-date=12 June 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308150331/https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153061/state-of-fear|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dailytimes.com.pk">{{cite news|last1=Quratulain|first1=Fatima|title=Forced conversions of Pakistani Hindu girls|date=19 September 2017|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/116289/forced-conversions-of-pakistani-hindu-girls/|work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)]]|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109134711/https://dailytimes.com.pk/116289/forced-conversions-of-pakistani-hindu-girls/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mitthu1">{{cite news|last1=Daur|first1=Naya|title=Who Is Mian Mithu?|date=16 September 2019|url=https://nayadaur.tv/2019/09/who-is-mian-mithu/|work=Naya Daur Media (NDM), Pakistan|access-date=12 June 2020|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309035320/https://nayadaur.tv/2019/09/who-is-mian-mithu/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) around 1000 non-Muslim minority women are converted to Islam and then forcibly married off. This practice is being reported increasingly in the districts of [[Tharparkar]], [[Umerkot]] and [[Mirpur Khas]] in Sindh.<ref name="dailytimes.com.pk" /><ref>{{clear}}
* {{Cite web|last=Singh|first=Ravinder|title=Atrocities on minorities continue in Imran Khan's Pakistan, two Hindu girls kidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam|url=https://zeenews.india.com/india/atrocities-on-minorities-continue-in-imran-khans-pakistan-two-hindu-girls-kidnapped-forcibly-converted-to-islam-2334972.html#:~:text=It%20has%20been%20reported%20that,close%20to%20the%20Pakistan%20Army.&text=Ekta%20Kumari%2C%20a%20resident%20of,is%20a%20teacher%20by%20profession.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126202632/https://zeenews.india.com/india/atrocities-on-minorities-continue-in-imran-khans-pakistan-two-hindu-girls-kidnapped-forcibly-converted-to-islam-2334972.html|archive-date=2021-01-26|access-date=16 February 2021|website=[[Zee News]]|date=9 January 2021}}
* {{Cite web|last=Shekhar|first=Siddharth|date=14 May 2020|title=Minor Hindu girl abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan by Islamic cleric Mian Mithoo|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/minor-hindu-girl-abducted-and-forcibly-converted-to-islam-in-pakistan-by-islamic-cleric-mian-mithoo-watch/591747|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229121341/https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/minor-hindu-girl-abducted-and-forcibly-converted-to-islam-in-pakistan-by-islamic-cleric-mian-mithoo-watch/591747|archive-date=2020-12-29|access-date=16 February 2021|website=[[Times Now]]}}
* {{Harvard citation no brackets|Bangash|2016|pp=67–74}} In 2014 alone, 265 legal cases of forced conversion were reported, mostly involving Hindu girls.
*{{cite news|last=Ilyas|first=Faiza|title=265 cases of forced conversion reported last year, moot told|date=20 March 2015|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1170682|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|access-date=20 January 2019|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116072458/https://www.dawn.com/news/1170682|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 2016, a bill against forced conversion was passed unanimously by the Sindh Provisional Assembly. However, the bill failed to make it into law as the Governor returned the bill. The Bill was effectively blocked by political parties like the [[Council of Islamic Ideology]] and [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ackerman|first1=Reuben|title=Forced Conversions & Forced Marriages in Sindh, Pakistan|date=2018|url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/ptr/ciforb/Forced-Conversions-and-Forced-Marriages-in-Sindh.pdf|publisher=CIFORB, the [[University of Birmingham]]|last2=Rehman|first2=Javaid|last3=Johns|first3=Morris|access-date=20 November 2019|archive-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233258/https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/ptr/ciforb/Forced-Conversions-and-Forced-Marriages-in-Sindh.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, a bill against forced conversion was proposed by Hindu politicians in the Sindh assembly, but was turned down by the ruling [[Pakistan Peoples Party]] lawmakers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tunio|first1=Hafeez|title=PPP lawmakers turn down bill against forced conversions|date=9 October 2019|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2075311/1-ppp-lawmakers-turn-bill-forced-conversions/?amp=1|work=[[The Express Tribune]]|access-date=12 June 2020|archive-date=10 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210133900/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2075311/1-ppp-lawmakers-turn-bill-forced-conversions?amp=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Conversions to Christianity===
There are also Irish Christian missionaries and Ahmadiyya missionaries operating in the [[Tharparkar|Thar region]]. The Christian and Ahmadi missionaries offer impoverished Hindus schools, health clinics etc. as an inducement for those who convert.<ref name="Dawn17Aug17"/> Korean Christian missionaries are also very active in Sindh, who have built schools from Badin to Tharparkar.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-21|title=Pakistan expels South Korean for 'illegal preaching' after murder of Chinese 'missionaries'|url=https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/06/pakistan-expels-south-korean-illegal-preaching-murder-chinese-missionaries/|access-date=2021-05-27|website=World Watch Monitor|language=en-US|archive-date=27 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527070836/https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/06/pakistan-expels-south-korean-illegal-preaching-murder-chinese-missionaries/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Korean Christian missionaries have converted more than 1,000 Hindu families in 2012 alone. According to the Sono Kangharani, a member of the Pakistan Dalit Network, the Korean missionaries have been active in the area since 2011 and these missionaries do not focus on individuals but they convert entire villages. According to him, about 200 to 250 Hindu villages were converted in the last two and a half years between 2014 and 2016.<ref name="Herald18Aug16" />

===Incentivized Conversion to Islam===

Many Hindus are induced to convert to Islam for easily getting Watan Cards and National Identification Cards. These converts were also given land and money. For example, 428 poor Hindus in Matli were converted between 2009 and 2011 by the Madrassa Baitul Islam, a [[Deobandi]] seminary in Matli, which pays off the debts of Hindus converting to Islam.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/324799/mass-conversions-for-matlis-poor-hindus-lakshmi-lies-in-another-religion/ |title=Mass conversions: for Matli's poor Hindus, 'lakshmi' lies in another religion |first1=Sameer |last1=Mandhro |first2=Saba |last2=Imtiaz |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |date=21 January 2012 |access-date=13 July 2021 |archive-date=22 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622170257/https://tribune.com.pk/story/324799/mass-conversions-for-matlis-poor-hindus-lakshmi-lies-in-another-religion/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Another example is the conversion of 250 Hindus to Islam in Chohar Jamali area in [[Thatta]].<ref name=IndiaToday10Apr19>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pakistan-restore-hindu-temples-1498397-2019-04-10|title=Pakistan to restore, hand over 400 Hindu temples|work=[[India Today]]|language=en|access-date=13 July 2021|date=10 April 2019|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182822/https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/world/story/pakistan-restore-hindu-temples-1498397-2019-04-10|url-status=live}}</ref> Conversions are also carried out by Baba Deen Mohammad Shaikh mission which converted 108,000 people to Islam since 1989.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/325623/100000-conversions-and-counting-meet-the-ex-hindu-who-herds-souls-to-the-hereafter/ |title=100,000 conversions and counting, meet the ex-Hindu who herds souls to the Hereafter |first1=Sameer |last1=Mandhro |date=23 January 2012 |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |access-date=13 July 2021 |archive-date=2 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402113927/https://tribune.com.pk/story/325623/100000-conversions-and-counting-meet-the-ex-hindu-who-herds-souls-to-the-hereafter/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Social, religious and political institutions==
[[File:Faces_Smeared_with_Holi_Colours.jpg|thumbnail|Festival of Holi in Lahore]]
 
The [[Pakistan Hindu Panchayat]], [[Pakistan Hindu Council]], Pakistan Hindu Youth Council<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/amp/1619758|title=Hindu youth delegation calls on governor|access-date=23 June 2021|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624211734/https://www.dawn.com/news/amp/1619758|url-status=live}}</ref> and the ''Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association'' are the primary civic organizations that represent and organise Hindu communities on social, economic, religious and political issues in most of the country, with the exception of the Shiv Temple Society of Hazara, which especially represents community interests in the [[Hazara region|Hazara]] region of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], in addition to being the special guardians of the [[Shiva]] temple, at [[Chitti Gatti]] village, near [[Mansehra]]. The Pakistan Hindu Council runs 13 schools across Tharparkar and also conducts mass wedding of poor Hindu couples.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/04/22/how-long-will-govt-neglect-tharparkar-asks-mna-ramesh-kumar/|title=How long will govt neglect Tharparkar, asks MNA Ramesh Kumar|date=22 April 2017|work=Pakistan Today|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810122810/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/04/22/how-long-will-govt-neglect-tharparkar-asks-mna-ramesh-kumar/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1455913|title=79 Hindu couples tie the knot in mass wedding|date=7 January 2019|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|access-date=10 August 2019|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810121309/https://www.dawn.com/news/1455913|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Dalit Sujag Tehreek]] is a [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] Hindu movement representing the scheduled caste Hindu communities like Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar, Oad, Bhagri etc.<ref name="ExpressTribune">{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1121999/dalit-sujag-tehreek-scheduled-caste-hindus-elect-officers|title=Dalit sujag tehreek: Scheduled caste Hindus elect officers|newspaper=ExpressTribune|access-date=26 July 2021|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726153512/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1121999/dalit-sujag-tehreek-scheduled-caste-hindus-elect-officers|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[ISKCON]] also has a presence in Pakistan. It is involved in preaching and distributing Urdu translated [[Bhagavad Gita]]. It has a large following among the [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] Hindus in Urban areas of Pakistan. There is a significant increase in the influence of Iskcon due to its rejection of caste system.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hinglaj Devi : identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan|last=Schaflechner|first=Jürgen|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|page=145,290|isbn=9780190850555|location=New York, NY|oclc=1008771979}}</ref> Iskcon has been conducting [[Ratha Yatra|Rathayatras]] since 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.orissapost.com/rath-yatra-travels-the-world/|title=Rath Yatra travels the world|newspaper=Orissa Post|access-date=22 April 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422120710/https://www.orissapost.com/rath-yatra-travels-the-world/|url-status=live}}</ref>

There was a [[Ministry of Minorities (Pakistan)|Ministry of Minority Affairs]] in the [[Government of Pakistan]] which looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities. In 2011, the Government of Pakistan closed the Ministry of Minority Affairs.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/640139/cabinet-approves-devolution-of-seven-ministries |title=Cabinet approves devolution of seven ministries |date=28 June 2011 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=16 August 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130816150922/http://beta.dawn.com/news/640139/cabinet-approves-devolution-of-seven-ministries |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fides.org/en/news/28649-ASIA_PAKISTAN_Paul_Bhatti_appointed_Special_Advisor_for_Religious_Minorities |title=Asian/Pakistan – Paul Bhatti appointed "Special Advisor" for Religious Minorities |date=24 March 2011 |work=[[Agenzia Fides]] |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516152925/http://www.fides.org/en/news/28649-ASIA_PAKISTAN_Paul_Bhatti_appointed_Special_Advisor_for_Religious_Minorities |url-status=live }}</ref> And a new ministry ''Ministry for National Harmony'' was formed for the protection of the rights of the minorities in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/224702/ministry-of-national-harmony-formed/?amp=1|title=Ministry of national harmony formed|date=5 August 2011|work=[[The Express Tribune]]|access-date=28 July 2019|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225050106/https://tribune.com.pk/story/224702/ministry-of-national-harmony-formed?amp=1|url-status=live}}</ref> But in 2013, the Ministry of National Harmony was merged with the Ministry of Religious Affairs despite opposition from the minorities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1020392|title=Concern over merger of ministries|date=24 June 2013|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-date=16 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516235724/https://www.dawn.com/news/1020392|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In Pakistani law and politics==

The Constitution's Article 51(2A) provides 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, 23 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the four provincial assemblies under Article 106<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1280797 |title=Minorities' seats |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date=30 August 2016 |first1=Naeem |last1=Shakir |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516225708/https://www.dawn.com/news/1280797 |url-status=live }}</ref> and four seats for non-Muslims in the [[Senate of Pakistan]].<ref name=Herald01Jul18>{{cite news |url=https://herald.dawn.com/news/1154039 |title=Problems with the electoral representation of non-Muslims |first1=Asif |last1=Aqeel |work=[[Herald (Pakistan)]] |date=1 July 2018 |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225233205/https://herald.dawn.com/news/1154039 |url-status=live }}</ref> Conventionally, Hindus were allotted 4 or 5 seats.
The number of national Assembly seats were increased from 207 in 1997, to 332 in 2002. But the number of non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased from 10. Similarly, the number of seats in Provincial Assembly of Sindh and Punjab were increased from 100 to 159 and 240 to 363 respectively, but the non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased.<ref name="idsn.org"/> Although a bill for increasing minorities' seats was introduced by [[Ramesh Kumar Vankwani]], it was not passed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1468051/bill-suggests-increasing-minorities-seats |title=Bill suggests increasing minorities' seats |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date=7 March 2019 |first1=Ikram |last1=Junaidi |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517055059/https://www.dawn.com/news/1468051/bill-suggests-increasing-minorities-seats |url-status=live }}</ref> Political parties [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F)]] party is against giving reserved seats for minorities.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1473511 |title=JUI-F lawmaker suggests abolition of reserved seats for minorities |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date=3 April 2019 |first1=Ikram |last1=Junaidi |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516223104/https://www.dawn.com/news/1473511 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1980s [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq|Zia ul-Haq]] introduced a system under which non-Muslims could vote for only candidates of their own religion. Seats were reserved for minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. Government officials stated that the separate electorates system is a form of [[affirmative action]] designed to ensure minority representation, and that efforts are underway to achieve a consensus among religious minorities on this issue, but critics argued that under this system Muslim candidates no longer had any incentive to pay attention to the minorities. Hindu community leader Sudham Chand protested against the system but was murdered. In 1999, Pakistan abolished this system.
Hindus and other minorities achieved a rare political victory in 2002 with the removal of separate electorates for Muslims and non-Muslims. The separate electorate system had marginalized non-Muslims by depriving them of adequate representation in the assemblies. The Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association was active by convening a national conference on the issue in December 2000. And in 2001, Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis successfully conducted a partial boycott of the elections, culminating in the abolishment of the separate electorate system in 2002. This allowed religious minorities to vote for mainstream seats in the National and Provincial assemblies, rather than being confined to voting for only minority seats. Despite the victory, however, Hindus still remain largely disenfranchised.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm |title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan |date=2 March 2007 |work=BBC News |access-date=10 May 2023 |archive-date=14 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814193916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, [[Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla]] became the first Hindu woman elected to the [[Senate of Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.india.com/news/world/after-1947-first-hindu-minority-woman-from-thar-to-become-senator-in-pakistan-2907286/|title=After 1947, First Hindu Minority Woman From Thar to Become Senator in Pakistan|date=21 February 2018|website=India.com|access-date=20 September 2018|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920084445/http://www.india.com/news/world/after-1947-first-hindu-minority-woman-from-thar-to-become-senator-in-pakistan-2907286/|url-status=live}}</ref> Although there is reservation of seats for women in [[Pakistan National Assembly]], not a single seat was allotted for non-Muslim women till 2018. In 2018 a Hindu woman, [[Krishna Kumari Kohli]], became the first non-Muslim woman to win a women's reserved seat in the [[Senate of Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/hindu-woman-elected-to-pakistans-senate-in-historic-first/articleshow/63155570.cms |title=Hindu woman elected to Pakistan's senate in historic first: Report |work=[[Times of India]] |date=4 March 2018 |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225130825/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/hindu-woman-elected-to-pakistans-senate-in-historic-first/articleshow/63155570.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, Pakistan general election [[Mahesh Kumar Malani]] became the first Hindu candidate who won a general seat in Pakistan National Assembly 2018. He won the seat from [[Tharparkar]]-II and thus became the first non-Muslim to win a general seat (non-reserved) in Pakistan national assembly.<ref name=news18-29Jul18>{{cite news |url=https://www.news18.com/news/world/meet-pakistans-first-hindu-candidate-mahesh-kumar-malani-to-win-on-general-seat-1827031.html |title=Meet Pakistan's First Hindu Candidate Mahesh Kumar Malani to Win on General Seat |date=29 July 2018 |first1=Sana |last1=Fazili |work=[[Network18 Group]] |access-date=20 September 2018 |archive-date=20 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920085752/https://www.news18.com/news/world/meet-pakistans-first-hindu-candidate-mahesh-kumar-malani-to-win-on-general-seat-1827031.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[Sindh provincial assembly]] election which took place along with the Pakistan National Assembly election 2018, [[Hari Ram Kishori Lal]] and Giyan Chand Essrani were elected from the Sindh provincial assembly seats. They became the first non-Muslims to win a general seat (non-reserved) in a provincial assembly election.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/pakistan-election-muslim-majority-areas-elect-3-hindu-candidates-in-sindh-118073101491_1.html|title=Pakistan election: Muslim-majority areas elect 3 Hindu candidates in Sindh|date=31 July 2018|newspaper=Business Standard India|access-date=16 November 2018|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920160817/https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/pakistan-election-muslim-majority-areas-elect-3-hindu-candidates-in-sindh-118073101491_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Hindu communities==
===Sindhi Hindus===
{{Main|Sindhi Hindus}}Sindhi Hindus are the biggest groups of Hindus in Pakistan and majority of the Hindus, resides in the Sindh province. A large population of them have migrated to India after the partition.<ref name="ECM" />

===Tamil Hindus===
{{Main|Tamils in Pakistan}}
[[File:Tamil Hindus celebrating festival in JPMC karachi.jpg|thumb|Tamil Hindus celebrating a religious festival in Karachi|256x256px]]
[[File:Hindu Comminity of Pakistan.jpg|thumb|[[Hindus|Hindu children]] at Mandir during prayer|256x256px]]

Some Tamil Hindu families migrated to Pakistan in the early 20th century, when Karachi was developed during the British Raj, and were later joined by [[Sri Lankan Tamils]] who arrived during the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]]. The [[Madrasi Para]] area is home to around 100 Tamil Hindu families. The Maripata [[Mariamman]] Temple, which has been demolished, was the biggest Tamil Hindu temple in Karachi.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dtnext.in/News/TamilNadu/2017/11/26020433/1053435/The-connection-between-Tamils-and-Pakistan.vpf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111173503/https://www.dtnext.in/News/TamilNadu/2017/11/26020433/1053435/The-connection-between-Tamils-and-Pakistan.vpf|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 2018|title=The connection between Tamils and Pakistan |date=26 November 2017 |work=[[DT Next]] |access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> The [[Drigh Road]] and [[Korangi]] also have a small Tamil Hindu population.<ref name="thenews">{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-98530-Strangers-to-their-roots-and-those-around-them|title=Strangers to their roots, and those around them|work=The News|date=20 March 2012|access-date=13 April 2020|first=Ammar|last=Shahbazi|archive-date=20 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320112748/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-98530-Strangers-to-their-roots-and-those-around-them}}</ref>

===Kalasha people===
{{Main|Kalash people}}
The [[Kalasha people]] practice a religion which is based on an older set of [[Ancient Hinduism]], but which has some [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] influence, alongside [[animism]] and [[shamanism]].<ref name="Witzel">{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Witzel |author-link=Michael Witzel |chapter=Kalash Religion (extract from 'The Ṛgvedic Religious System and its Central Asian and Hindukush Antecedents') |editor1=A. Griffiths |editor2=J. E. M. Houben |title=The Vedas: Texts, Language and Ritual |location=Groningen |publisher=Forsten |year=2004 |pages=581–636 |chapter-url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/KalashaReligion.pdf |access-date=7 August 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109231338/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/KalashaReligion.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>pace Fussman 1977</ref> Though having some cultural and religious similarities to the [[Hindus]], they are considered a separate ethnic religion people by the government of Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1324805|title=Peshawar High Court orders govt to include Kalasha religion in census|last=Akbar|first=Ali|date=4 April 2017|publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|language=en|access-date=11 July 2017|quote=Kalasha, the religion followed by Kalash community, lies between Islam and an ancient form of Hinduism.|archive-date=5 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105005050/https://www.dawn.com/news/1324805|url-status=live}}</ref> They reside in the [[Chitral District]] of [[Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] province.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lazaridis|first1=Iosif|last2=Nadel|first2=Dani|last3=Rollefson|first3=Gary|last4=Merrett|first4=Deborah C.|last5=Rohland|first5=Nadin|last6=Mallick|first6=Swapan|last7=Fernandes|first7=Daniel|last8=Novak|first8=Mario|last9=Gamarra|first9=Beatriz|last10=Sirak|first10=Kendra|last11=Connell|first11=Sarah|date=2016h|title=Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East|url= |journal=Nature|language=en|volume=536|issue=7617|pages=419–424|bibcode=2016Natur.536..419L|doi=10.1038/nature19310|issn=1476-4687|pmc=5003663|pmid=27459054|bibcode-access=free}}</ref>

===Nanakpanthis===
{{Main|Nanakpanthi}}
[[Nanakpanthi]] are Hindus who revere [[Guru Nanak]], the founder of [[Sikhism]] along with Hindu gods. Today, a large fraction of [[Sindhi Hindu]]s consider themselves Nanakpanthi.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/51488/struggling-to-revive-gurmukhi/ |title=Struggling to revive Gurmukhi |first1=Amar |last1=Guriro |date=18 October 2016 |work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)]] |access-date=2 November 2018 |archive-date=7 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907071158/https://dailytimes.com.pk/51488/struggling-to-revive-gurmukhi/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Balmiki Hindus===
{{Main|Balmikism|l1 = Balmiki Hindus of Pakistan}}
The Valmiki or Balmikis are Hindu worshippers of [[Valmiki]], the author of The [[Ramayana]]. Most Valmiki Hindus converted to either Christianity or Islam after the partition. However, many of those who converted still worship Valmiki and celebrate Valmiki Jayanti.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dailyo.in/arts/pakistan-lahore-independence-day-14-august-ramayana-muslims-islam-hindus-valmiki/story/1/26048.html |title='To see Lahore is to be born': A view of Pakistan's famed cultural heart. On Pak Independence Day, an edited excerpt from Haroon Khalid's book 'Imagining Lahore: The City That Is, The City That Was'. |first1=Haroon |last1=Khalid |date=14 August 2018 |access-date=13 June 2020 |work=Daily O (part of [[India Today]]) |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516184521/https://www.dailyo.in/arts/pakistan-lahore-independence-day-14-august-ramayana-muslims-islam-hindus-valmiki/story/1/26048.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://scroll.in/article/844497/hindu-past-in-an-islamic-country-living-with-new-names-and-identities-and-old-fears-in-pakistan |title=Hindu past in an Islamic country: Living with new identities and old fears in Pakistan |first1=Haroon |last1=Khalid |date=21 July 2017 |work=The Scroll (India) |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517012756/https://scroll.in/article/844497/hindu-past-in-an-islamic-country-living-with-new-names-and-identities-and-old-fears-in-pakistan |url-status=live }}</ref> The most important centre for worship of [[Valmiki caste|Valmikis]] in [[Pakistan]] is [[Valmiki Mandir]] in [[Lahore]].<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=2005-10-05|title=Hindu Valmiki Mandir in Lahore|url=http://www.hrk.org/articles/1005/76.html|access-date=|website=hrk.org}}{{dead link|date=June 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Most of the Balmikis (or Valmikis) belonged to the [[Schedule Caste]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Patel|first=Shaista Abdul Aziz|date=2 December 2020|title=It is time to talk about caste in Pakistan and Pakistani diaspora|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/15/it-is-time-to-talk-about-caste-in-pakistan-and-pakistani-diaspora|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102163156/https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/15/it-is-time-to-talk-about-caste-in-pakistan-and-pakistani-diaspora|archive-date=2021-01-02|access-date=2021-02-07|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|aljazeera]]|language=en}}</ref>

=== Pashtun Hindus ===
{{Main|Hindu Pathans in India|Pashtuns#Religion}}
In the early times, before the [[Islamic conquest of Afghanistan]], most of the modern-day [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] people belonged to the [[Hindu Religion]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Vogelsang|first=Willem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC|title=The Afghans|date=2001-11-28|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-631-19841-3|language=en|quote=During the 8th and 9th centuries AD the eastern terroritries of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-Muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians (Hindus), although many of the local rulers and people were apparently of Hunnic or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non-Muslim population of eastern Afghanistan was, culturally linked to the Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists|access-date=8 June 2021|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412063037/https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC|url-status=live}}</ref> Though due to the repeated [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Islamic invasion]] in the [[Pashtun areas|Pakhtun areas]], most of them have converted to Islam or migrated to other parts of the Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Arnold|first1=Alison|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia|last2=Nettl|first2=Bruno|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2000|isbn=9-780-824-04946-1|pages=785|quote=Before the emergence of Islam, the Pakhtuns were followers of Hinduism and Buddhism and considered music sacred, employing it in many religious rituals.}}</ref> Still, there is a small Pashtun Hindu community, known as the ''[[Sheen Khalai]]'' meaning 'blue skinned' (referring to the color of Pashtun women's facial [[tattoo]]s), migrated to Unniara, [[Rajasthan]], India after [[Partition of India|partition]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Haidar|first=Suhasini|date=2018-02-03|title=Tattooed 'blue-skinned' Hindu Pushtuns look back at their roots|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tattooed-blue-skinned-hindu-pushtuns-look-back-at-their-roots/article22645932.ece|access-date=2021-06-06|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=17 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617014505/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tattooed-blue-skinned-hindu-pushtuns-look-back-at-their-roots/article22645932.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to 1947, the community resided in the [[Quetta]], [[Loralai]] and Maikhter regions of the British Indian province of [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|Baluchistan]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-08-08|title=Hindu Pashtun: How One Woman Uncovered India's Forgotten Links to Afghanistan|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/155394/hindu-pashtun-shilpi-batra-sheenkhalai-afghanistan/|access-date=2021-06-06|website=The Better India|language=en-US|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707140126/https://www.thebetterindia.com/155394/hindu-pashtun-shilpi-batra-sheenkhalai-afghanistan/|url-status=live}}</ref> They are mainly members of the Pashtun [[Kakar]] tribe. Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate Pashtun culture through the [[Attan]] dance.<ref name=":0" />

===Punjabi Hindus===
{{Main|Punjabi Hindus|Punjabis#Punjabis in Pakistan|l2 = Hindu punjabis of Punjab}}
There is a small population of [[Punjabi Hindus]] living in the [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab province]] of Pakistan, most notably in [[Lahore]] where there are some 200 Hindu families.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1842865/1-hindu-community-celebrates-diwali-across-punjab|title=Hindu community celebrates Diwali across Punjab|work=The Express Tribune|date=8 November 2018|access-date=18 December 2020|archive-date=11 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311062320/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1842865/1-hindu-community-celebrates-diwali-across-punjab/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/978422/victory-over-evil-dussehra-celebrated-at-krishna-mandir|title=Dussehra celebrated at Krishna Mandir|work=The Express Tribune|date=23 October 2015|access-date=18 December 2020|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128164503/https://tribune.com.pk/story/978422/victory-over-evil-dussehra-celebrated-at-krishna-mandir|url-status=live}}</ref> Though most of the Punjabi Hindus migrated en masse to [[India]] after the partition of India in 1947.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gurbachan|first=Talib|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9fQLAAAAIAAJ|title=Muslim League Attack on Sikhs and Hindus in the Punjab, 1947|date=1950|publisher=[[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee]]|language=en|author-link=Gurbachan Singh Talib}}</ref> In the modern times most of the Punjabi Hindus are settled in [[United States]], [[Germany]], [[England]], [[Canada]] and [[Australia]] due to their mass migration (or diaspora).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gokhale|first=Balkrishna Govind|author-link=Balkrishna Govind Gokhale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOiBLjroszoC&q=gurjara-pratihara+punjab&pg=PA84|title=Ancient India: History and Culture|date=1995|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-694-7|language=en}}</ref> A small proportion of [[Punjabis in Afghanistan|Afghan Punjabis]] are also there in [[Pakistan]] in [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] and [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], majority of them are [[Hindus]] who migrated from [[Afghanistan]] mainly after [[Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|conflict]] due to the persecution of [[Taliban]] and religious fanatics.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-25|agency=TNN|title=Persecuted Hindus from Pakistan, Sikhs from Afghanistan make case for CAA|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/persecuted-hindus-from-pakistan-sikhs-from-afghanistan-make-case-for-caa/articleshow/72961838.cms|access-date=2021-05-21|website=The Times of India|language=en|archive-date=21 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521130108/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/persecuted-hindus-from-pakistan-sikhs-from-afghanistan-make-case-for-caa/articleshow/72961838.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Community life and status==
[[File:Shiv Mandir Umerkot.jpg|thumb|[[Umarkot Shiv Mandir]] in Umarkot is famous for the three-day [[Shivarathri]] celebration, which is attended by around 250,000 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1392074 |title=The thriving Shiva festival in Umarkot is a reminder of Sindh's Hindu heritage |date=27 February 2018 |first1=Zulfiqar Ali |last1=Kalhoro |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516110256/https://www.dawn.com/news/1392074 |url-status=live }}</ref>|236x236px]]

According to a study, ''Information on Caste Based Discrimination in South Asia, Long Behind Schedule, a Study on the Plight of [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] Hindus in Pakistan'', the majority of scheduled caste Hindus (79%) in Pakistan have experienced discrimination. This discrimination is higher in southern Punjab (86.5%), compared to the rest of the country. The study found that majority (91.5%) of the respondents in [[Rahimyar Khan]], [[Bahawalpur]], [[Tharparkar]] and [[Umerkot]] districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dalits.nl/pdf/LongBehindSchedule.pdf |title=Information on Caste Based Discrimination in South Asia, Long Behind Schedule, a Study on the Plight of Scheduled Caste Hindus in Pakistan |first1=Zulfiqar |last1=Shah |date=December 2007 |publisher=Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) and International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226222513/http://www.dalits.nl/pdf/LongBehindSchedule.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="idsn.org"/>

In [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] province, Hindus are relatively more secure and face less religious persecution. The tribal chiefs in Balochistan, particularly the Jams of Lasbela and Bugti of Dera Bugti, consider non-Muslims like Hindus as members of their own extended family and allows religious freedom. They have never forced Hindus to convert. Also, in Balochistan Hindu places of worship are proportionate to their population. For example, between Uthal and Bela jurisdiction in [[Lasbela District]], there are 18 temples for 5,000 Hindus living in the area, which is an indicator of religious freedom.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1472977 |title=Forced conversions |first1=Akhlaq Ullah |last1=Tarar |date=31 March 2019 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-date=19 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119010255/https://www.dawn.com/news/1472977 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in [[Khuzdar District]] and [[Kalat District]], Hindus face discrimination.<ref name="Dawn11">{{cite news |url=https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153061/state-of-fear |title=State of fear |first1=Maham |last1=Javaid |date=18 August 2016 |work=[[Herald (Pakistan)]] |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308150331/https://herald.dawn.com/news/1153061/state-of-fear |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Peshawar]], capital of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], Hindus enjoy religious freedom and live peacefully alongside the Muslims.
The city of Peshawar today is home to four Hindu tribes – the Balmiks, the Rajputs, the Heer Ratan Raths and the Bhai Joga Singh Gurdwara community. Since partition, the four tribes have lived in harmony with all religious communities including Muslims. However, there is the lack of upkeep of the dilapidated Hindu temples in the city. The local government always fails to assign caretakers and priests at temples.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2078824/1-across-religious-divides-harmonious-haven-hindus-khyber-pakhtunkhwa/?amp=1|title=Across religious divides: A harmonious haven for Hindus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa|date=14 October 2019|work=[[The Express Tribune]]|access-date=22 November 2019|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225063443/https://tribune.com.pk/story/2078824/1-across-religious-divides-harmonious-haven-hindus-khyber-pakhtunkhwa?amp=1|url-status=live}}</ref> But in other parts of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa like Buner, Swat and Aurakzai Agencies, Hindu and Sikh families, have been targeted by Taliban for failing to pay [[Jizya]] (religious tax) and due to this more than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families in Pakistan's have moved to [[Hasan Abdal]] and [[Rawalpindi]] in Punjab in 2009<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sikhs-and-hindu-families-move-to-pak-punjab-393331|title=Sikhs and Hindu families move to Pak Punjab|date=3 May 2009|work=NDTV|access-date=26 November 2019|archive-date=29 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929175638/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sikhs-and-hindu-families-move-to-pak-punjab-393331|url-status=live}}</ref>

In central [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Hindus are a small minority. After the partition, Hindus have been converting to Islam under pressure, particularly in Doda village near Sargodha. Due to the low population of Hindus in the Central Punjab, many of the Hindus have married Sikhs and vice versa. Intermarriages between the Hindus and Sikhs are very common there.<ref name="Dawn11"/>

The [[Indus river]] is a [[holy river]] to many Hindus, and the [[Government of Pakistan]] periodically allows small groups of Hindus from India to make pilgrimage and take part in festivities in Sindh<ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan: Over 70 Hindu pilgrims from India arrive in Sindh for Sant Shada Ram anniversary|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/pakistan-over-70-hindu-pilgrims-from-india-arrive-in-sindh-for-sant-shada-ram-anniversary-4391334/|access-date=13 May 2020|agency=PTI|work=[[The Indian Express]]|date=23 November 2016|archive-date=23 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523155013/https://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-news/pakistan-over-70-hindu-pilgrims-from-india-arrive-in-sindh-for-sant-shada-ram-anniversary-4391334/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Punjab.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tiwari|first1=Siddharth|title=125 Indian hindu pilgrims visit Pakistan ahead of Maha Shivratri, welcomed at Wagah border|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/125-indian-hindu-pilgrims-visit-pakistan-ahead-of-maha-shivratri-welcomed-at-wagah-border/1/612943.html|access-date=13 May 2020|agency=PTI|publisher=[[India Today]]|date=5 March 2016|ref=The pilgrims will stay at Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore Fort before they leave for the historic Katas Raj temple in Punjab province's Chakwal district, some 250 kilometres from here, on Monday to take part in the festivities.|archive-date=16 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116144627/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/125-indian-hindu-pilgrims-visit-pakistan-ahead-of-maha-shivratri-welcomed-at-wagah-border/1/612943.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rich Pakistani Hindus go to India and release their loved ones' remains into the [[Ganges]]. Those who cannot afford the trip go to [[Churrio Jabal|Churrio Jabal Durga Mata temple]] in [[Nagarparkar]].<ref name=TribuneGranite>{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/130210/contractor-blasting-through-tharparkar-temple-in-search-of-granite/?amp=1 |date=10 March 2011 |first1=Aisha |last1=Iqbal |first2=Sajid |last2=Bajeer |access-date=13 May 2020 |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |title=Contractor blasting through Tharparkar temple in search of granite |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224172833/https://tribune.com.pk/story/130210/contractor-blasting-through-tharparkar-temple-in-search-of-granite?amp=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Education and literacy rates===
According to Pakistan's National Council for Justice and Peace (NCJP) report the average literacy rate among Hindu (upper caste) is 34 percent, Hindu [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] is 19 percent, compared to the national average of 46.56 percent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Religious Minorities in Pakistan By Dr Iftikhar H.Malik|url=https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/469cbfc30.pdf|access-date=9 April 2020|archive-date=16 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516225708/https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/469cbfc30.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a 2013 survey conducted by the Pakistan Hindu Seva Welfare Trust, the literacy rate among [[Scheduled Caste of Pakistan|Scheduled Caste]] Hindus in Pakistan is just 16%. The survey noted that majority of the scheduled caste Hindu families do not send their girl children to schools due to the fear of forced conversion.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/hindu-parents-dont-send-girl-children-to-schools-in-pakistan-survey/articleshow/20431451.cms|title=Hindu parents don't send girl children to schools in Pakistan: Report|author=Yudhvir Rana|date=4 June 2013|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=8 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208181810/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Hindu-parents-dont-send-girl-children-to-schools-in-Pakistan-Survey/articleshow/20431451.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> Pakistan belongs to those nations who have the world's worst literacy rate, which is the main reason for its slow agricultural growth and sluggish economy. Pakistan's literacy rate is ranked 113 in a total of 120 countries. This is a huge issue for the country and its economic development.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abbasi |first=Kashif |date=2021-06-11 |title=Literacy rate stagnant at 60pc |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1628652 |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en |archive-date=25 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825112537/https://www.dawn.com/news/1628652 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-11 |title=Low literacy rate in Pakistan |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/04/11/low-literacy-rate-in-pakistan/ |access-date=2023-08-25 |language=en-US |archive-date=25 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825112546/https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/04/11/low-literacy-rate-in-pakistan/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Hindu marriage acts and laws===
{{Main article|Hindu marriage laws in Pakistan}}
[[File:Sindhi Hindu wedding in Pakistan.jpg|thumb|A Hindu marriage in Pakistan]]

There are two laws governing Hindu marriages-Sindh Hindu Marriage act of 2016 (applicable only in the [[Sindh]] province), Hindu Marriage Act of 2017 (applicable in [[Islamabad Capital Territory]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], [[Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] and [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] provinces). However, there are no laws and amendments made to register a marriage between two Hindus – from one Province to another ([[Islamabad Capital Territory]], [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]], [[Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa]] and [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]).<ref name=Shahid>{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1429958/sindh-hindu-marriage-act-relief-restraint?amp=1|title=Sindh Hindu Marriage Act—relief or restraint?|author=Shahid Jatoi|newspaper=Express Tribune|date=8 June 2017|access-date=24 January 2020|archive-date=13 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613203815/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1429958/sindh-hindu-marriage-act-relief-restraint?amp=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Sindh Hindu Marriage Bill was passed by the [[Provincial Assembly of Sindh]] in February 2016. This was the first Hindu Marriage act in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sindh Assembly approves Hindu Marriage Bill|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1239719|access-date=11 January 2017|agency=[[Reuters]]|publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=15 February 2016|archive-date=20 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120173843/http://www.dawn.com/news/1239719|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="scroll11">{{cite news|url=https://scroll.in/article/819841/two-laws-govern-hindu-marriages-in-pakistan-but-neither-addresses-divorce-adequately|title=Two laws govern Hindu marriages in Pakistan – but neither addresses divorce adequately|work=Scroll.In|date=25 October 2016|access-date=5 November 2019|archive-date=5 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105120021/https://scroll.in/article/819841/two-laws-govern-hindu-marriages-in-pakistan-but-neither-addresses-divorce-adequately|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-approves-Hindu-Marriage-Bill-after-decades-of-inaction/articleshow/50914816.cms|title=Pakistan approves Hindu Marriage Bill after decades of inaction|agency=Press Trust of India|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=9 February 2016|access-date=28 September 2016|archive-date=14 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214032859/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistan-approves-Hindu-Marriage-Bill-after-decades-of-inaction/articleshow/50914816.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> It was amended in 2018 to include divorce rights, remarriage rights and financial security of the wife and children after divorce.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/paks-sindh-to-let-divorced-or-widowed-hindu-women-remarry/articleshow/65360976.cms|date=11 August 2018|work=[[The Times of India]]|title=Pak's Sindh to let divorced or widowed Hindu women remarry|access-date=21 April 2024|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308201101/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/paks-sindh-to-let-divorced-or-widowed-hindu-women-remarry/articleshow/65360976.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

At federal level, a Hindu Marriage Bill was proposed in 2016, which was unanimously approved by the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]] in 2016<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ali|first1=Kalbe|title=NA finally passes Hindu marriage bill|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1286344|access-date=11 January 2017|publisher=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|date=27 September 2016|archive-date=13 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113114349/http://www.dawn.com/news/1286344|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistani-lawmakers-adopt-landmark-Hindu-marriage-bill/articleshow/54545116.cms|title=Pakistani lawmakers adopt landmark Hindu marriage bill|agency=Press Trust of India|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=27 September 2016|access-date=28 September 2016|archive-date=30 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160930021108/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pakistani-lawmakers-adopt-landmark-Hindu-marriage-bill/articleshow/54545116.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> and by the [[Senate of Pakistan]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/amritsar/pak-senates-nod-to-hindu-marriage-bill/articleshow/57227804.cms|title=Pak senate's nod to Hindu Marriage Bill|author=Yudhvir Rana|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=19 February 2017|access-date=24 February 2017|archive-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221232925/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/amritsar/pak-senates-nod-to-hindu-marriage-bill/articleshow/57227804.cms|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2017, the Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain signed the Hindu Marriage Bill and thereby making it a law. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also mentioned that the marriage registrars will be established in areas where Hindus stay.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.news18.com/news/world/hindu-marriage-bill-becomes-law-in-pakistan-2-1361817.html|title=Hindu Marriage Bill Becomes Law in Pakistan|date=2017-03-20|work=News18|access-date=2017-03-20|archive-date=20 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320143538/http://www.news18.com/news/world/hindu-marriage-bill-becomes-law-in-pakistan-2-1361817.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, many have criticised the Clause 12(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Bill which says that "a marriage will be annulled if any of the spouses converts to another religion".<ref name="scroll11"/>

==Temples==
{{Main|List of Hindu temples in Pakistan}}
[[File:Katas Raj Ruins.JPG|thumb|The [[Katas Raj Temples]] surrounding a sacred pond in [[Punjab]]]]
The Communal violence of the 1940s and the subsequent persecutions have resulted in the [[Persecution of Hindus#Temple Destruction|destruction of many Hindu temples]] in Pakistan, although the Hindu community and the [[Government of Pakistan]] have preserved and protected many prominent ones. Some ancient Hindu temples in Pakistan draw devotees from across faiths including Muslims.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ancient Pakistan temples draw devotees from across faiths|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ancient-Pakistan-temples-draw-devotees-from-across-faiths/articleshow/39084949.cms|access-date=13 May 2020|agency=TNN|work=[[Times of India]]|date=27 July 2014|archive-date=5 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105061123/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ancient-Pakistan-temples-draw-devotees-from-across-faiths/articleshow/39084949.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to a survey, there were 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan at the time of Partition and 408 of them were now turned into toy stores, restaurants, government offices and schools.<ref name="gulfnews">{{cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan-to-restore-hand-over-400-hindu-temples-1.1573614894498|title=Pakistan to restore, hand over 400 Hindu temples|work=Gulf News|date=13 November 2019|access-date=13 November 2019|archive-date=13 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113084359/https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan-to-restore-hand-over-400-hindu-temples-1.1573614894498|url-status=live}}</ref> Among these 11 temples are in [[Sindh]], four in Punjab, three in [[Balochistan]] and two in [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]. However, in November 2019, government of Pakistan started the restoration process for 400 Hindu temples in Pakistan. After restoration, the temples will be reopened to Hindus in Pakistan.<ref name="gulfnews"/>

The [[Pamwal Das Shiv Mandir]], centuries-old historic temple in Baghdadi area of [[Lyari Town]] was illegally turned into a Muslim Pir and slaughterhouse for cows by Muslim clerics with the help of Baghdadi police after making series of attacks on Hindu families living in the area.<ref name=news1>[https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/27465 Temple turns into slaughterhouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320042142/https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/27465 |date=20 March 2020 }}, [[The News International]], 10 October 2006.</ref><ref name=news2>[https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/28128-historic-shiv-mandir-makes-way-for-a-pir Historic Shiv Mandir makes way for a Pir ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517033808/https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/28128-historic-shiv-mandir-makes-way-for-a-pir |date=17 May 2020 }}, [[The News International]], 10 October 2006.</ref><ref name=hjag1>{{cite web |url=https://www.hindujagruti.org/hindu-issues/save-temples/shiv-temple-turns-slaughterhouse-pakistan |title=Shiv temple turns into slaughterhouse in Pakistan |work=[[Hindu Janajagruti Samiti]] (HJS) |date=October 2006 |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516163558/https://www.hindujagruti.org/hindu-issues/save-temples/shiv-temple-turns-slaughterhouse-pakistan |url-status=live }}</ref> The 135,000 acres of temple land is now controlled by the Evacuee Trust Property Board. The historic Kali Bari Hindu Temple has been rented out to a Muslim party in Dera Ismail Khan who converted the temple into a Hotel. The Holy Shiv Temple in Kohat has been converted into a government primary school. The Raam Kunde Complex of Temples at [[Saidpur, Islamabad|Saidpur]] village in Islamabad is now a picnic site. Another temple at Rawal Dam in Islamabad has been shut down and the Hindu community believes that the temple is going to dilapidate day by day without being handed over to them. In Punjab, a Hindu temple at Rawalpindi was destroyed and reconstructed to use as a community centre, while in Chakwal the Bhuwan temple complex is being used by the local Muslim community for commercial purposes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/686952/95-of-worship-places-put-to-commercial-use-survey/?amp=1 |title=95% of worship places put to commercial use: Survey |date=25 March 2014 |first1=Zahid |last1=Gishkori |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |access-date=20 November 2019 |archive-date=15 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115180047/https://tribune.com.pk/story/686952/95-of-worship-places-put-to-commercial-use-survey?amp=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a report issued by a one-man commission to the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Supreme Court]] in February 2021, out of 365 Hindu temples built before partition in Pakistan, 13 are being managed by the [[Evacuee Trust Property Board]], 65 are being managed by the Hindu community, and the remainder of 287 have been abandoned to land mafias.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali |first=Kalbe |date=2021-02-08 |title=Hindus' holy sites a picture of neglect, says commission |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1606143 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref>

===Reopened temples===
[[File:Views of Shawala Teja Singh Temple after Renovation.jpg|thumb|right|Shawala Teja Singh Temple after Renovation by the Government]]
The [[Goraknath Temple]] which was closed in the 1947 was reopened in 2011 after a court ruling which ordered the [[Evacuee Trust Property Board]] to open it.<ref name=P1>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-photos-hindu-temple-in-peshawar-reopens-after-60-years/20111101.htm|title=Hindu temple reopens after 60 ears|date=1 November 2011|work=Rediff|access-date=25 November 2019|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110358/https://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-photos-hindu-temple-in-peshawar-reopens-after-60-years/20111101.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="P2">{{cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1082837 |title=Gunmen kill Hindu temple guard in Peshawar |date=26 January 2014 |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |access-date=18 July 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127110436/https://www.dawn.com/news/1082837 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="P3">{{Cite web|title=Hindu Gorakhnath temple in Peshawar, Pakistan reopens after 60 years|url=http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/10/hindu-gorakhnath-temple-in-peshawar.html|access-date=2021-07-18|language=en|archive-date=7 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507172607/http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2011/10/hindu-gorakhnath-temple-in-peshawar.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="P4">{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/839909/night-of-shiv-shivratri-festival-begins-at-dargah-pir-ratan-nath/|title=Shiv Ratri begins at Peshawar temple|work=[[The Express Tribune]]|date=18 July 2021|access-date=25 November 2019|archive-date=27 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127111826/https://tribune.com.pk/story/839909/night-of-shiv-shivratri-festival-begins-at-dargah-pir-ratan-nath/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some temples were reopened and renovated in a public-private partnership like the [[Darya Lal Mandir]] in Karachi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1230978|title=Finishing touches to renovated Darya Lal mandir|author=Tooba Masood|date=6 January 2016|newspaper=Dawn|access-date=18 July 2021|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718082529/https://www.dawn.com/news/1230978|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, the Pakistan Prime Minister [[Imran Khan]] said that his government will reclaim and restore 400 temples to Hindus.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/14-Nov-2019/hbo-announces-game-of-thrones-prequel-house-of-the-dragon|title=Pakistan to restore more than 400 Hindu temples|work=Dailypakistan|access-date=22 February 2020|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222061335/https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/14-Nov-2019/hbo-announces-game-of-thrones-prequel-house-of-the-dragon|url-status=live}}</ref> Following this, the 1,000-Year-Old [[Shivala Teja Singh temple]] in Sialkot (which was closed for 72 years)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/1-000-year-old-hindu-temple-in-pakistans-sialkot-reopens-after-72-years-2077056|title=1,000-Year-Old Hindu Temple in Pakistan's Sialkot Reopens After 72 Years|date=29 July 2019|work=Ndtv News|access-date=22 February 2020|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222062942/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/1-000-year-old-hindu-temple-in-pakistans-sialkot-reopens-after-72-years-2077056|url-status=live}}</ref> and a 100-year-old Hindu temple in Balochistan was reopened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pak-reopens-100-year-old-temple-in-balochistan-1644389-2020-02-08|title=Pak reopens 100-year-old temple in Balochistan|date=8 February 2020|work=[[India Today]]|access-date=22 February 2020|archive-date=22 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200222062944/https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pak-reopens-100-year-old-temple-in-balochistan-1644389-2020-02-08|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Major Pilgrimage centres===
*[[Shri Hinglaj Mata temple]] – [[Shakti peetha]] in Pakistan.<ref name= Chakrabarti430>{{cite book|author1=Kunal Chakrabarti|author2=Shubhra Chakrabarti|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVOFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA430 |year=2013|publisher=Scarecrow|isbn=978-0-8108-8024-5|page=430}}</ref> The annual pilgrimage to the temple is the largest one in Pakistan. More than 250,000 people take part in the pilgrimage during the spring.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1088366/mata-hinglaj-yatra-to-hingol-a-pilgrimage-to-reincarnation/?amp=1 |date=20 April 2016 |first1=Ali |last1=Xafar |title=Mata Hinglaj Yatra: To Hingol, a pilgrimage to reincarnation |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-date=20 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320084616/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1088366/mata-hinglaj-yatra-to-hingol-a-pilgrimage-to-reincarnation?amp=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Ramapir Temple Tando Allahyar|Shri Ramdev Pir temple]] in [[Tando Allahyar District]], in [[Sindh]]. The annual Ramdevpir mela in the temple is the second largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hindus-converge-at-Ramapir-Mela-near-Karachi-seeking-divine-help-for-their-security/articleshow/16557691.cms|title=Hindu's converge at Ramapir Mela near Karachi seeking divine help for their security|date=26 September 2012|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=22 November 2019|archive-date=2 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102053221/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hindus-converge-at-Ramapir-Mela-near-Karachi-seeking-divine-help-for-their-security/articleshow/16557691.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[Umarkot Shiv Mandir]] –The three-day Shivrathri festival in the temple is famous. It is one of the biggest religious festivals in the country. It is attended by around 250,000 people. All the expenses were borne by the [[Pakistan Hindu Panchayat]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1392074 |title=The thriving Shiva festival in Umarkot is a reminder of Sindh's Hindu heritage |date=27 February 2018 |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117163933/https://www.dawn.com/news/1392074 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple]] – Famous for Shivrathri celebrations which is attended by 200,000 pilgrims. Hindus cremate the dead and ashes are preserved till Shivratri for immersion in the into holy water in [[Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple]].<ref name=TribuneGranite/>

===Riots, attacks and destruction of temples===
{{See also|2014 Larkana temple attack|2019 Ghotki riots|2020 Karak temple attack}}

* In 2006, a Hindu temple in [[Lahore]] was destroyed to pave the way for construction of a multi-storied commercial building. When reporters from Pakistan-based newspaper ''[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]'' tried to cover the incident, they were accosted by the henchmen of the property developer, who denied that a Hindu temple existed at the site.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-05-28|title=Another temple is no more|url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/194343/another-temple-is-no-more|access-date=2021-02-19|website=Dawn|language=en|archive-date=8 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808050134/http://beta.dawn.com/news/194343/another-temple-is-no-more|url-status=live}}</ref> 
*In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down.<ref>{{Cite web|agency=AFP|website=Newsweek Pakistan|title=Hindu Temple Guard Gunned Down in Peshawar|date=26 January 2014|url=https://www.newsweekpakistan.com/hindu-temple-guard-gunned-down-in-peshawar/|access-date=2021-02-19|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224014033/https://www.newsweekpakistan.com/hindu-temple-guard-gunned-down-in-peshawar/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[The Express Tribune|25 March 2014 ''Express Tribune'']] citing an All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement (PHRM) survey said that 95% of all Hindu temples in Pakistan have been converted since 1990. Pakistani Muslims have attacked Hindu temples if anything happens to any mosque in neighbouring India.<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Reuters|date=1992-12-08|title=PAKISTANIS ATTACK 30 HINDU TEMPLES (Published 1992)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html|access-date=2021-02-19|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225202434/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 
* In 2014, a [[Hindu]] temple and a [[Dharamshala (type of building)|dharmashala]] in Larkana district in [[Sindh]] was attacked by a crowd of [[Muslims]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Mob sets fire to Hindu community center in Pak over blasphemy |url=http://www.firstpost.com/world/mob-sets-fire-to-hindu-community-centre-in-pak-over-blasphemy-1436793.html |date=16 March 2014 |work=Firstpost |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=27 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127141215/https://www.firstpost.com/world/mob-sets-fire-to-hindu-community-centre-in-pak-over-blasphemy-1436793.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 
* In 2019, three Hindu temples were vandalised in [[Ghotki district]] in Sindh over blasphemy accusations.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hindu teacher attacked, temple vandalised in Pakistan's Sindh |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/hindu-teacher-attacked-temple-vandalised-pakistan-sindh-1599432-2019-09-15 |date=15 September 2019 |work=[[India Today]] |department=City:Islamabad |agency=TNN |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219194516/https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/world/story/hindu-teacher-attacked-temple-vandalised-pakistan-sindh-1599432-2019-09-15 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In 2019, a Hindu temple Pakistan's southern Sindh province was vandalism by miscreants and they set fire to holy books and idols inside the temple.<ref>{{Cite news|last=ANI|date=2019-02-05|title=Pak: Hindu temple vandalised, holy books, idols burnt|work=Business Standard India|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pak-hindu-temple-vandalised-holy-books-idols-burnt-119020500554_1.html|access-date=2021-02-19|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309011159/https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pak-hindu-temple-vandalised-holy-books-idols-burnt-119020500554_1.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In January 2020, a Hindu temple in [[Chachro]], [[Tharparkar district]] in Sindh was vandalised by miscreants, who desecrated the idols and set fire to holy scriptures.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wionews.com/pakistan/another-hindu-temple-vandalised-in-pakistan-holy-books-idols-burnt-276834|title=Another Hindu temple vandalised in Pakistan, holy books, idols burnt|work=Wionews|date=27 January 2020|access-date=27 January 2020|archive-date=27 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127090709/https://www.wionews.com/pakistan/another-hindu-temple-vandalised-in-pakistan-holy-books-idols-burnt-276834|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In December 2020, a Hindu temple in [[Teri, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Teri]] village of [[Karak District|Karak district]] was attacked and vandalised.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ahmad|first=Imtiaz|date=2021-12-30|title=Hindu temple in Pakistan vandalised, set on fire|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/hindu-temple-in-pakistan-vandalised-set-on-fire/story-06WMhxga1WvRXA4shTjtlI.html|access-date=2020-12-31|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|archive-date=31 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231081957/https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/hindu-temple-in-pakistan-vandalised-set-on-fire/story-06WMhxga1WvRXA4shTjtlI.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
*In August 2021, a Hindu Temple in [[Rahim Yar Khan District|Rahim Yar Khan]] in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab province of Pakistan]] was attacked<ref>{{Cite news|agency=PTI|date=2021-08-05|title=Mob attacks temple in Pakistan's Punjab, damages idols|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/mob-attacks-temple-in-pakistans-punjab-damages-idols/article35736194.ece|access-date=2021-08-06|issn=0971-751X|archive-date=6 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806041305/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/mob-attacks-temple-in-pakistans-punjab-damages-idols/article35736194.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhatti|first=Haseeb|date=2021-08-05|title=CJP takes notice of attack on Hindu temple in Rahim Yar Khan|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1638951|access-date=2021-08-06|website=DAWN.COM|language=en|archive-date=6 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806041305/https://www.dawn.com/news/1638951|url-status=live}}</ref> by a Muslim Mob, burning down parts of it and damaging idols.

==Religious persecution{{anchor|Decline and persecution}}==

There has been a historical decline of [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Sikhism]] in the areas of [[Pakistan]]. This happened for a variety of reasons even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan. The region became predominantly [[Muslim]] during the rule of [[Delhi Sultanate]] and later [[Mughal Empire]]. In general, religious conversion was a gradual process, though it is mostly attributed to the works of Sufis, some converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement,{{sfn|Malik|2008|p=183-187}} or freedom from slavery and some by force.{{sfn|Avari|2013|pp=66–70 |ps=: "Many Hindu slaves converted to Islam and gained their liberty."}} The predominantly Muslim population supported [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] and [[Partition of India]]. After the [[Partition of India|independence]] of [[Pakistan]] in 1947, the minority Hindus and Sikhs [[Human migration|migrated]] to [[India]] while the Muslims refugees from India migrated to Pakistan. Approximately 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved to India while 6.5 million Muslims settled in Pakistan.

Some Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second-class citizens and many have continued to migrate to India.<ref name="bbc2007030222">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan|last=Sohail|first=Riaz|date=2 March 2007|work=[[BBC]]|quote=But many Hindu families who stayed in Pakistan after partition have already lost faith and migrated to India.|access-date=22 February 2011|archive-date=14 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100814193916/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ahmedabad Mirror">{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-114-pakistanis-are-indian-citizens-now/articleshow/59695975.cms|title=Gujarat: 114 Pakistanis are Indian citizens now|access-date=24 July 2017|work=Ahmedabad Mirror}}</ref> According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan data, around 1,000 Hindu families fled to India in 2013.<ref name="Rizvi">{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1206092|title=Hindu refugees from Pakistan encounter suspicion and indifference in India|last=Rizvi|first=Uzair Hasan|date=10 September 2015|work=Dawn|access-date=6 December 2016|archive-date=14 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214025324/http://www.dawn.com/news/1206092|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2014, a member of the ruling [[Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz|Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz]] (PML-N), Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, revealed in the National Assembly of Pakistan that around 5,000 Hindus are migrating from Pakistan to India every year.<ref name="Haider">{{Cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1105830|title=5,000 Hindus migrating to India every year, NA told|last=Haider|first=Irfan|date=13 May 2014|access-date=2016-01-15|archive-date=29 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229174650/http://www.dawn.com/news/1105830|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Targeted sexual harassment ===

Those Pakistani Hindus who have migrated to India allege that Hindu girls are sexually harassed in Pakistani schools and their religious practices are mocked.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why Pakistani Hindus leave their homes for India – BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34645370|access-date=6 May 2016|work=BBC News|date=28 October 2015|language=en-GB|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124162729/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34645370|url-status=live}}</ref> The Indian government is planning to issue [[Aadhaar|Aadhaar cards]] and [[Permanent account number|PAN cards]] to Pakistani Hindu refugees, and simplifying the process by which they can acquire Indian citizenship.<ref>{{cite news|title=Modi government to let Pakistani Hindus register as citizens for as low as Rs 100 {{!}} Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-modi-government-to-let-pakistani-hindus-register-as-citizens-for-as-low-as-rs-100-2203007|access-date=6 May 2016|work=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|date=17 April 2016|language=en-US|archive-date=16 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516194111/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-modi-government-to-let-pakistani-hindus-register-as-citizens-for-as-low-as-rs-100-2203007|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, [[India]] passed the [[Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019]] that allows the persecuted Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs who arrived in India before the end of December 2014 to obtain Indian citizenship.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50670393 Citizenship Amendment Bill: India's new 'anti-Muslim' law explained] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212192621/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50670393 |date=12 December 2019 }}, BBC News, 11 December 2019.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783 |title=Parliament passes the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 |website=pib.gov.in |access-date=14 July 2021 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216092712/https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx%3Frelid%3D195783 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Discrimination and attacks===
{{See also|2014 Larkana temple attack|2019 Ghotki riots|2020 Karak temple attack|2021 Bhong temple attack}}
[[Jogendra Nath Mandal|Jogendranath Mandal]], Pakistan's first minister of Law and Labour, left for India in 1950, 3 years after taking office, citing anti-Hindu bias by the bureaucracy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Balouch|first=Akhtar|date=2015-11-04|title=Jogendra Nath Mandal: Chosen by Jinnah, banished by bureaucracy|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1217465|access-date=2021-08-05|website=DAWN.COM|language=en|archive-date=30 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730160714/https://www.dawn.com/news/1217465|url-status=live}}</ref> He quoted, "I have come to the conclusion that Pakistan is no place for Hindus to live in and that their future is darkened by the ominous shadow of conversion or liquidation".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-01|title=History Headline: Pakistan's Ambedkar, and two stories far apart|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/jogendra-nath-mandal-pakistan-muslim-league-ambedkar-caa-6293195/|access-date=2021-08-05|website=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=23 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023181731/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/jogendra-nath-mandal-pakistan-muslim-league-ambedkar-caa-6293195/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Separate electorates for Hindus and Christians were established in 1985—a policy originally proposed by Islamist leader [[Abul A'la Maududi]]. Christian and Hindu leaders complained that they felt excluded from the county's political process, but the policy had strong support from Islamists.<ref name="OBJ-31">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn|url-access=registration|quote=separate electorates for minorities in pakistan.|title=Pakistan: Eye of the Storm|date=2002|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300101478|page=[https://archive.org/details/pakistaneyeofsto00benn/page/31 31]|last1=Jones|first1=Owen Bennett|access-date=9 December 2014}}</ref> Until 1999, when former military chief [[Pervez Musharraf]] [[Pervez Musharraf Coup|overthrew]] [[Nawaz Sharif|Nawaz Sharif's government]], non-Muslims had dual voting rights in the general elections that allowed them to not only vote for Muslim candidates on general seats, but also for their own non-Muslim candidates.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Rahman|first=Zia-ur|title=Christian community campaigns for right to elect, not 'select'|url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/171708-Christian-community-campaigns-for-right-to-elect-not-select|access-date=2021-04-10|website=[[The News International (Pakistan)|The News International]]|language=en|archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224213123/https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/171708-Christian-community-campaigns-for-right-to-elect-not-select|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the [[Demolition of the Babri Masjid|Babri Masjid demolition]], widespread violence erupted against Hindus.<!-- Mobs attacked scores of Hindu temples across Pakistan.--><ref name="Gordon">{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Sandy|last2=Gordon|first2=A. D. D.|title=India's Rise as an Asian Power: Nation, Neighborhood, and Region|date=2014|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=9781626160743|pages=54–58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xllmBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Khalid |first1=Haroon |title=How the Babri Masjid Demolition Upended Tenuous Inter-Religious Ties in Pakistan |url=https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-babri-majid-ayodhya-hindus |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=The Wire |date=14 November 2019 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815205948/https://thewire.in/south-asia/pakistan-babri-majid-ayodhya-hindus |url-status=live }}</ref> Shops owned by Hindus were also attacked in [[Sukkur]], [[Sindh]]. Hindu homes and temples were also attacked in [[Quetta]].<ref name="Poli" /><ref name="A2">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DD113BF93BA35751C1A964958260&sec=&spon=|title=Pakistanis Attack 30 Hindu Temples|date=7 December 1992|work=[[The New York Times]]|quote=Muslims attacked more than 30 Hindu temples across Pakistan today, and the Government of this overwhelmingly Muslim nation closed offices and schools for a day to protest the destruction of a mosque in India.|access-date=15 April 2011|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225031309/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/08/world/pakistanis-attack-30-hindu-temples.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2020, a mob in [[Karak District]] attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple which was originally demolished in 1997 before being restored by the [[Supreme Court of Pakistan|Pakistan Supreme Court]] in 2017. The head of the [[Pakistan Hindu Council]], [[Ramesh Kumar Vankwani]] stated "We will stage a protest in front of the Supreme Court against the attack on our temple which is one of the four largest holy sites of the Hindu community in Pakistan."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Police: Attackers Damage Hindu Temple in Pakistan|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-central-asia_police-attackers-damage-hindu-temple-pakistan/6203882.html|access-date=2021-08-03|website=Voice of America|date=29 March 2021 |language=en|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803085641/https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/police-attackers-damage-hindu-temple-pakistan|url-status=live}}</ref> Religious discrimination remains common to this day throughout the country, and Pakistan has been designated a '[[Country of Particular Concern]]' by the [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom]] (USCIRF) for engaging in or tolerating "systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mob attacks and sets fire to Hindu temple in Pakistan|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/30/mob-attacks-and-sets-fire-to-hindu-temple-in-pakistan|access-date=2021-08-03|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en|archive-date=6 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806201436/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/30/mob-attacks-and-sets-fire-to-hindu-temple-in-pakistan|url-status=live}}</ref>

The rise of [[Taliban]] insurgency in Pakistan has been an influential and increasing factor in the persecution of and non-Muslims in Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Imtiaz|first1=Saba|last2=Walsh|first2=Declan|date=15 July 2014|title=Extremists Make Inroads in Pakistan's Diverse South|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/world/asia/militants-in-pakistan-make-inroads-in-the-diverse-and-tolerant-south.html?_r=0&referrer=|access-date=24 July 2014|archive-date=12 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012042331/https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/world/asia/militants-in-pakistan-make-inroads-in-the-diverse-and-tolerant-south.html?_r=0&referrer=|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan|date=21 October 2013|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/persecution-of-religious-minorities-in-pakistan_884708.html|work=[[Zee News]]|publisher=Zee Media Corporation Ltd.|access-date=18 February 2014|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222142457/http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/persecution-of-religious-minorities-in-pakistan_884708.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="USdept2006">{{cite web|title=Pakistan, International Religious Freedom Report 2006|date=15 September 2006|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71443.htm|publisher=US Department of State|access-date=12 June 2020|archive-date=13 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013184435/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71443.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=13 July 2010|title=Hindus attacked in Pakistan|newspaper=[[Oneindia.in]]|url=http://news.oneindia.in/2010/07/13/hindus-in-sindh-attacked-pakistan.html|access-date=14 July 2010|archive-date=30 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233830/http://news.oneindia.in/2010/07/13/hindus-in-sindh-attacked-pakistan.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Between 2011 and 2012, 23 Hindus were kidnapped for ransom and 13 Hindus were killed as a part of targeted killings of non-Muslims.<ref name="Herald18Aug16" /> In January 2014, a policeman standing guard outside a Hindu temple at Peshawar was gunned down.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 January 2014|title=Hindu temple guard gunned down in Peshawar|url=http://newsweekpakistan.com/hindu-temple-guard-gunned-down-in-peshawar|access-date=31 January 2014|website=Newsweek Pakistan|publisher=AG Publications (Private) Limited.|archive-date=30 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130051030/http://newsweekpakistan.com/hindu-temple-guard-gunned-down-in-peshawar/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pakistan's Supreme Court has sought a report from the government on its efforts to ensure access for the minority Hindu community to temples – the Karachi bench of the apex court was hearing applications against the alleged denial of access to the members of the minority community.<ref>{{cite web|date=27 February 2014|title=Are Hindus in Pakistan being denied access to temples?|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-hindus-in-pakistan-denied-access-to-temples/20140227.htm#2|access-date=3 March 2014|website=rediff.com|publisher=PTI (Press Trust of India)|archive-date=2 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302070546/http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-hindus-in-pakistan-denied-access-to-temples/20140227.htm#2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Sahoutara|first=Naeem|date=26 February 2014|title=Hindus being denied access to temple, SC questions authorities|work=[[The Express Tribune]]|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/676049/hindus-being-denied-access-to-temple-sc-questions-authorities|access-date=3 March 2014|archive-date=2 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302051453/http://tribune.com.pk/story/676049/hindus-being-denied-access-to-temple-sc-questions-authorities/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=26 February 2014|title=Pak SC seeks report on denial of access to Hindu temple|publisher=Press Trust of India|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/news/41450-pak-sc-seeks-report-on-denial-of-access-to-hindu-temple.html|url-status=dead|access-date=3 March 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140303211814/http://www.thestatesman.net/news/41450-pak-sc-seeks-report-on-denial-of-access-to-hindu-temple.html|archive-date=3 March 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria recently alleged mistreatment by team members and management for being a Hindu.<ref>{{Cite magazine|agency=Press Trust of India|date=December 27, 2019|title=Danish Kaneria controversy: Player should be judged on cricketing ability not on religion, says Mohsin Khan|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/danish-kaneria-pcb-comment-mohsin-khan-judged-religion-hindu-shoaib-akhtar-1632005-2019-12-27|access-date=2021-08-03|magazine=India Today|language=en|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803085640/https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/danish-kaneria-pcb-comment-mohsin-khan-judged-religion-hindu-shoaib-akhtar-1632005-2019-12-27|url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2023, the Pakistan Higher Education Commission banned the celebration of the Hindu festival [[Holi]] on institute campuses to preserve "Islamic identity" and "sociocultural values" which flared the issue of religious discrimination in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-21 |title=Holi banned in Pakistan universities to 'preserve Islamic identity': Report |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/holi-banned-in-pakistan-universities-islamabad-university-holi-celebration-viral-video-religious-freedom-in-pakistan-101687339278354.html |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Khan |first=Sameer |date=2023-06-21 |title=Pakistan imposes ban on Holi celebrations in varsities |url=https://www.siasat.com/pakistans-higher-education-commission-imposes-ban-on-holi-celebrations-on-campus-2621009/ |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=The Siasat Daily |language=en-US |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621111835/https://www.siasat.com/pakistans-higher-education-commission-imposes-ban-on-holi-celebrations-on-campus-2621009/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Erosion Of Country's Islamic Identity': Pakistan's Higher Education Commission Bans Holi Celebrations In Universities |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/education/erosion-of-countrys-islamic-identity-pakistans-high-education-commission-bans-holi-celebrations-in-universities |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Free Press Journal |language=en}}</ref> The ban was later removed a month later by the education commission, following outrage on social media.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Presse |first=AFP-Agence France |title=Pakistan Education Officials Reverse Ban On Holi Celebrations |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/pakistan-education-officials-reverse-ban-on-holi-celebrations-2fd4e9d8 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=www.barrons.com |language=en-US |archive-date=27 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127164811/https://www.barrons.com/news/pakistan-education-officials-reverse-ban-on-holi-celebrations-2fd4e9d8 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A Hindu temple was attacked with rocket launchers by a gang of dacoits in the Southern Sindh Province of Pakistan on July 16, in the second such incident of vandalism of a place of worship belonging to the minority community in less than two days. The assailants attacked the small temple built by the local Hindu community and adjoining homes belonging to members of the minority community in the Kashmore area of the Sindh Province. The attack came after the Mari Mata Temple in Karachi's Soldier Bazar was razed to the ground by bulldozers in the presence of a heavy contingent of police force late on Friday night. The temple believed to be nearly 150 years ago was demolished after being declared an old and dangerous structure in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh Province.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Dacoits attack Hindu temple with rocket launchers in Pakistan|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/dacoits-attack-hindu-temple-with-rocket-launchers-in-pakistan/article67087722.ece|access-date=16 July 2023|website=The Hindu|date=16 July 2023|language=en|archive-date=16 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716161421/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/dacoits-attack-hindu-temple-with-rocket-launchers-in-pakistan/article67087722.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

As per a written response to parliament by Indian [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of State for External Affairs]] [[Kirti Vardhan Singh]] in December 2024, a total of 112 cases of violence against Hindus and other minorities have been reported in Pakistan in 2024 till October.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-12-20 |title=2,200 in Bangladesh, 112 in Pakistan: Government on violence cases against Hindus in neighbouring countries |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2200-in-bangladesh-112-in-pakistan-government-on-violence-cases-against-hindus-in-neighbouring-countries/articleshow/116504422.cms |access-date=2024-12-20 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2,200 Cases of Violence Against Hindus, Other Minorities in Bangladesh, 112 In Pakistan: Centre |url=https://www.news18.com/india/2200-cases-of-violence-against-hindus-other-minorities-in-bangladesh-112-in-pakistan-centre-9163334.html |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=News18 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Islamic curriculum ===
[[File:A woman reciting the Gita at the Sadh Belo temple on the special occasion of the 150th death anniversary of Baba Bhankandi Maharaj.jpg|thumb|A woman reciting the Bhagavad Gita at the [[Sadh Belo]] temple on the special occasion of the 150th death anniversary of Baba Bhankandi Maharaj|left]]
According to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report, "Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible".<ref name=sdpi>Nayyar, A.H. and Salim, A. (eds.)(2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20051109090607/http://www.sdpi.org/whats_new/reporton/State%20of%20Curr%26TextBooks.pdf The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan]. Report of the project ''A Civil Society Initiative in Curricula and Textbooks Reform''. Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad.</ref>

A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace, a non-profit organization, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. "From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious", the report stated.<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C04%5C25%5Cstory_25-4-2006_pg7_26 Hate mongering worries minorities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606143452/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C04%5C25%5Cstory_25-4-2006_pg7_26 |date=6 June 2011}}, [[Daily Times (Pakistan)]], 2006-04-25</ref><ref name="LA Times Report: In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan&nbsp;— The Muslim nation's public school texts still promote hatred and jihad, reformers say.">[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-aug-18-fg-schools18-story.html In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan – The Muslim nation's public school texts still promote hatred and jihad, reformers say.]  By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer; 18 August 2005; ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. 4-page article online, retrieved on 2 January 2010</ref><ref name="Outlook India Magazine Report: Primers of Hate&nbsp;— History or biology, Pakistani students get anti-India lessons in all their textbooks; 'Hindu, Enemy of Islam' – These are extracts from government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education.">{{cite news |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/primers-of-hate/228853 |title=Primers Of Hate – History or biology, Pakistani students get anti-India lessons in all their textbooks; 'Hindu, Enemy Of Islam' – These are extracts from government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education |first1=Amir |last1=Mir |date=10 October 2005 |work=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)]] |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327061931/https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/primers-of-hate/228853 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/16guest.htm Noor's cure: A contrast in views] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091546/http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/16guest.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}; by Arindam Banerji; 16 July 2003; [[Rediff.com|Rediff India Abroad]] Retrieved on 2 January 2010</ref>

In 1975, Islamiat or Islamic studies was made compulsory, resulting that a large number of minority students being forced to study [[Islamic studies|Islamic Studies]].<ref name=DailyTimes18Dec16>{{cite news |url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/39753/non-muslim-students-reluctant-to-study-islamic-studies-or-ethics/ |title=Non-Muslim students reluctant to study Islamic studies or ethics |first1=Arshad |last1=Yousafzai |date=18 December 2016 |work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)]] |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516184106/https://dailytimes.com.pk/39753/non-muslim-students-reluctant-to-study-islamic-studies-or-ethics/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Insensitivity of Pakistani School Education to Religious Diversity of the Nation* {{!}} ヒューライツ大阪|url=https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/human_rights_education_in_asian_schools/section2/2004/03/insensitivity-of-pakistani-school-education-to-religious-diversity-of-the-nation.html|access-date=2021-08-11|website=www.hurights.or.jp|archive-date=16 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116184512/https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/human_rights_education_in_asian_schools/section2/2004/03/insensitivity-of-pakistani-school-education-to-religious-diversity-of-the-nation.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015, [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] government introduced Ethics as an alternative subject to Islamiat for non-Muslim school children in the province<ref>{{cite news |url=http://paktribune.com/news/Ethics-as-an-alternative-subject-to-Islamiat-in-KP-273255.html |title=Ethics as an alternative subject to Islamiat in KP |date=1 March 2015 |work=PakTribune |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803104843/http://paktribune.com/news/Ethics-as-an-alternative-subject-to-Islamiat-in-KP-273255.html |url-status=live }} [http://old.paktribune.com/news/Ethics-as-an-alternative-subject-to-Islamiat-in-KP-273255.html Alternative URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612124438/http://old.paktribune.com/news/Ethics-as-an-alternative-subject-to-Islamiat-in-KP-273255.html |date=12 June 2020 }}</ref> followed by [[Sindh]] in 2016.<ref name=DailyTimes18Dec16/>

Hindu students are often forced to study as per the Islamic curriculum. It has been reported that students are taught hatred against the Hindus in Pakistan's school.<ref>{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=2011-11-09|title='Pakistan schools teach Hindu hatred'|url=https://www.dawn.com/2011/11/09/pakistan-schools-teach-hindu-hatred/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=Dawn|language=en|archive-date=19 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119031554/http://dawn.com/2011/11/09/pakistan-schools-teach-hindu-hatred/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Afzal|first=Madiha|title=How Pakistani school textbooks mould its students' skewed worldview|url=https://qz.com/india/1239211/jihad-islam-us-and-india-how-pakistani-school-textbooks-mould-its-students-skewed-worldview/|access-date=2021-02-06|website=Quartz India|date=4 April 2018|language=en|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112023757/https://qz.com/india/1239211/jihad-islam-us-and-india-how-pakistani-school-textbooks-mould-its-students-skewed-worldview/|url-status=live}}</ref> While speaking at the UN Working Group on Durban Declaration and Plan of Action in Genava, Munir Mengal, the president of Baloch Voice Association said, "I used to go to school in a very high standard state-run Army school called Cadet College the first lesson to us was Hindus are Kafirs, Jews are enemies of Islam both are liable to death for no other reason".
He added, "Even today the same is the first most important and basic message from uniformed Army teachers that we have to respect guns and bombs because we have to use these against Hindu mothers to kill them otherwise they will give birth to a Hindu child".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Schools in Pakistan teach hatred against Hindus, Jews, Baloch activist told UN|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/schools-in-pakistan-teach-hatred-against-hindus-jews-baloch-activist-told-un/articleshow/78663282.cms|website=Quartz India|date=16 October 2020|access-date=21 April 2024|archive-date=18 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718203806/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/schools-in-pakistan-teach-hatred-against-hindus-jews-baloch-activist-told-un/articleshow/78663282.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2021, Single National Curriculum (SNC) was adopted by the Pakistan government in which instead of Islamiat for Muslims, the Non-Muslim students belonging to Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Kalash and Bahai religions will be taught separate books on their religion separately.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1609273/president-told-minority-students-to-be-taught-their-religious-texts|title=President told minority students to be taught their religious texts|author=Kashif Abbasi|access-date=24 July 2021|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724071116/https://www.dawn.com/news/1609273/president-told-minority-students-to-be-taught-their-religious-texts|url-status=live}}</ref>

As per the new Curriculum, Hindu students from Grade 1 to 5 will study about Om symbol, Dharma, Moksha, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, arti song Om Jai jagdhesh with meaning, Hindu celebrations (like Ram Navmi, Diwali, Cheti Chand, Janmashtami), Hindu deities (like Ganesh, Jhulelal, Sita) Prahlad pictorial life story of Ram, Krishna, Hindu Saints like Valmiki, Mira Bai, Kabir das, Tulsi das; Sacred places of Hindus in Pakistan like [[Sant Nenuram Ashram]], [[Sadh Belo|Sadhu Bela]], [[Hinglaj Mata Temple|Hinglaj Mata Mandir]] etc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mofept.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/Religious%20Education%20I-V.pdf|title=Single National Curriculum|page=17 to 22|access-date=24 July 2021|archive-date=24 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724071117/http://www.mofept.gov.pk/SiteImage/Misc/files/Religious%20Education%20I-V.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The Brookings Institution, in a recent report evaluating the SNC, points to the phenomenon of isomorphic mimicry in which developing states "pretend to do the reforms that look like the kind of reforms that successful countries do" without actually changing much. SNC also aims at mainstreaming madrassas, which might lead to spilling over of extremist and more theological subjects into formal schools.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-24|title=Explained: What is the Single National Curriculum proposed for schools in Pakistan and what are its criticisms?|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/single-national-curriculum-proposed-for-schools-in-pakistan-7373650/|access-date=2021-08-03|website=The Indian Express|language=en|archive-date=3 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803085642/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/single-national-curriculum-proposed-for-schools-in-pakistan-7373650/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Prominent Pakistani Hindus==
{{Main article|List of Pakistani Hindus}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Hinduism|Pakistan
}}{{div col}}
* [[Religion in Pakistan]]
* [[List of Hindu temples in Pakistan]]
* [[Pakistan Hindu Council]]
* [[Pakistan Hindu Panchayat]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|}}
* {{cite book |last=Avari |first=Burjor |author-link=Burjor Avari |title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A history of Muslim power and presence in the Indian subcontinent |publisher=Routledge |pages= |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-58061-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGHpVtQ8eKoC&pg=PA88 |volume= }}
* {{cite book|last=Ispahani|first=Farahnaz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o36uDQAAQBAJ|title=Purifying the Land of the Pure: Pakistan's Religious Minorities|publisher=[[HarperCollins|Harper Collins India]]|year=2017|isbn=978-0-190-62165-0|location=[[Oxford University|Oxford University Press]]|pages=|oclc=1020480157|author-link=Farahnaz Ispahani|orig-year=2015}}
* {{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1121936/our-vanishing-hindus/ |title=Our vanishing Hindus |work=[[The Express Tribune]] |volume= |pages= |date=13 June 2016 |first1=Yaqoob Khan |last1=Bangash |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=13 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113092407/http://tribune.com.pk/story/1121936/our-vanishing-hindus/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book|last1=Malik|first1=Jamal|title=Islam in South Asia: A Short History|date=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004168596|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FduG_t2sxwMC|location=|pages=|language=en}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Allchin|first1=F. Raymond|author-link1=Raymond Allchin|title=The Urban Position of Taxila and Its Place in Northwest India-Pakistan|journal=Studies in the History of Art|date=1993|volume=31|pages=69–81|jstor=42620473}}
* {{cite book |title=Creating a New Medina: State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in Late Colonial North India |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ |author=Venkat Dhulipala |isbn=978-1-316-25838-5 |access-date=19 March 2020 |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007221937/https://books.google.com/books?id=PrqLBgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hinduism in Pakistan}}{{Wikiquote|Hinduism in Pakistan}}
* {{Cite web|title=Hindus demand reconstruction of all temples damaged in 1992|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C03%5Cstory_3-5-2006_pg13_5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930182520/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C05%5C03%5Cstory_3-5-2006_pg13_5|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-09-30|website=DailyPak Times}}
* {{Cite news|title=Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan|language=en-GB|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6367773.stm}}
* {{Cite web|title=In pictures: Hindus in Pakistan, Prayers offered|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/south_asia_hindus_in_pakistan/html/1.stm|publisher=[[BBC News]]}}
* {{Cite web |title=Assessment for Hindus in Pakistan |url=http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=77004 |url-status=live|website=CID.cm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201172811/http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/assessment.asp?groupId=77004 |archive-date=1 February 2009}}
* {{Cite web|title=Tharpakar: Hindu majority district in Pakistan!|url=http://www.anindianmuslim.com/2006/05/hindu-majority-district-in-pakistan.html}}
* {{cite web|title=Discrimination and persecution of Hindus in Pakistan|url=https://www.hafsite.org/human-rights-issues/discrimination-and-persecution-plight-hindus-pakistan|publisher=[[United Nations Human Rights Council]]|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210134934/https://www.hafsite.org/human-rights-issues/discrimination-and-persecution-plight-hindus-pakistan|url-status=dead}}
{{Hinduism in Pakistan}}{{Asia in topic|Hinduism in}}
{{Religion in Pakistan}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hinduism in Pakistan| ]]
[[Category:Hinduism and Islam]]
[[Category:Religion in Pakistan]]
[[Category:History of religion in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Hinduism in South Asia]]