Sikhism in Pakistan explained

Group:Sikhism in Pakistan
Flag Size:50px
Population:15,998 (2023 census)[1]
Languages:Punjabi • UrduPashtoSindhiBalochiPakistani English
Region1:Pakistani Punjab
Pop1:5,649
Region2:Sindh
Pop2:5,182
Region3:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Pop3:4,050
Region4:Balochistan
Pop4:1,057

Sikhism in Pakistan has an extensive heritage and history, although Sikhs form a small community in Pakistan today. Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab, a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages, with some also residing in Peshawar in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is located in Pakistan's Punjab province. Moreover, the place where Guru Nanak died, the Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib is also located in the same province.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Sikh community became a major political power in Punjab, with Sikh leader Maharaja Ranjit Singh founding the Sikh Empire which had its capital in Lahore, the second-largest city in Pakistan today.[2] [3]

According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population comprised roughly 1.67 million persons or 6.1 percent of the total population in the region that would ultimately become Pakistan, notably concentrated in West Punjab, within the contemporary province of Punjab, Pakistan, where the Sikh population stood at roughly 1.52 million persons or 8.8 percent of the total population. At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, it is estimated that the Sikh population increased to over 2 million persons in the region which became Pakistan with significant populations existing in the largest cities in the Punjab such as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad (then Lyallpur). After the Partition of Punjab, many Sikhs in Pakistan felt unsafe due to the occurrence of severe riots and mass scale persecution over there; soon, almost the entire Sikh population left Pakistan's West Punjab for India's East Punjab and Delhi.[4] [5]

In the decades following Pakistan's formation in 1947, the remaining Sikh community began to re-organize, forming the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (PSGPC) to represent the community and protect the holy sites and heritage of the Sikh religion in Pakistan. It is headed by Satwant Singh.[6] The Pakistani government has begun to allow Sikhs from India to make pilgrimages to Sikh places of worship in Pakistan and for Pakistani Sikhs to travel to India.

History

Colonial era

Prior to independence in 1947, 2 million Sikhs resided in the present day Pakistan and were spread all across Northern Pakistan, specifically the Punjab region and played an important role in its economy as farmers, businessmen, and traders. Significant populations of Sikhs inhabited the largest cities in the Punjab such as Lahore, Rawalpindi and Lyallpur.

Lahore, the capital of Punjab, was then and still is today the location of many important Sikh religious and historical sites, including the Samadhi of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who is referred to as Sher-e-Punjab .The nearby town of Nankana Sahib has nine Gurudwaras, and is the birthplace of Sikhism's founder, Guru Nanak Sahib. Each of Nankana Sahib's gurdwaras are associated with different events in Guru Nanak Dev's life. The town remains an important site of pilgrimage for Sikhs worldwide.

Sikh organizations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as welcoming possible persecution; the Sikhs largely thus strongly opposed the partition of India.[7]

Partition of India (1947)

The majority of the Sikhs and Hindus of West Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan migrated to India after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, resulting in a fraction of the Sikh communities that formerly existed previously. These Sikh and Hindu refugee communities have had a major influence in the culture and economics of the Indian capital city of Delhi. Today, segments of the populations of East Punjab and Haryana states and Delhi in India can trace their ancestry back to towns and villages now in Pakistan, including former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[8] [9]

Modern era

Sikhs have mainly kept a low profile within the monolithic Muslim population of Pakistan.[10] Though, Pakistan maintains the title of Islamic state, the articles twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two in chapter two of its constitution guarantees religious freedom to the non-Muslim residents.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf.
  2. Book: History of the Sikhs. 201. Gupta, Hari Ram. 1991. Munshiram Manoharlal. 978-8121505154.
  3. Book: Singh, Khushwant. History of the Sikhs. Oxford University Press. 978-0195673081 . viii. 2004.
  4. The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition . . 22 June 2015 .
  5. Web site: Sikh farmers who migrated twice suffered the most during Partition . 15 August 2022 .
  6. Web site: Sikh pilgrims arrive in Pakistan to attend Guru Nanak's birth anniversary celebrations. thenews.com.pk. en. 2019-11-13.
  7. Book: Kudaisya . Gyanesh . Yong . Tan Tai . The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia . 2004 . Routledge . 978-1-134-44048-1 . 100 . en . No sooner was it made public than the Sikhs launched a virulent campaign against the Lahore Resolution. Pakistan was portrayed as a possible return to an unhappy past when Sikhs were persecuted and Muslims the persecutor. Public speeches by various Sikh political leaders on the subject of Pakistan invariably raised images of atrocities committed by Muslims on Sikhs and of the martyrdom of their gurus and heroes. Reactions to the Lahore Resolution were uniformly negative and Sikh leaders of all political persuasions made it clear that Pakistan would be 'wholeheartedly resisted'. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party with a substantial following amongst the rural Sikhs, organized several well-attended conferences in Lahore to condemn the Muslim League. Master Tara Singh, leader of the Akali Dal, declared that his party would fight Pakistan 'tooth and nail'. Not be outdone, other Sikh political organizations, rival to the Akali Dal, namely the Central Khalsa Young Men Union and the moderate and loyalist Chief Khalsa Dewan, declared in equally strong language their unequivocal opposition to the Pakistan scheme..
  8. News: The villagers are proud of the link between Gah and the prime minister of India.. Thenews.com.pk. 10 March 2015. 4 October 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121004171329/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-129405-In-Manmohan-Singhs-village-Gah. dead.
  9. News: Singh's ancestral village, Gah, is located 25 kilometres west of Chakwal city and attracted journalists like moths to a flame following the former PM's rise to power.. Dawn.com.
  10. News: "Maryada may be in danger, but Sikhs are special in Pakistan". The Tribune India. 4 October 2006.
  11. News: Sikhs of Narayanpura welcoming people from all walks of life to attend their celebrations such as Joti-Jot and the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.. Dawn.com.
  12. News: Ranchore Line's Narayanpura, an area where the Sikhs and the Hindus live together. Tribune.com.pk.
  13. http://www.allaboutsikhs.com/events/partition1.htm "Partition Of The Punjab - 1947"
  14. Web site: India Uncut: Jaziya. Indiauncut.blogspot.com. 16 December 2018.
  15. http://www.sikhreview.org/december2001/terror.htm "The Heart-rending Story of Afghani Sikhs"
  16. News: Many of the Sikhs displaced from the Tirah Valley have adopted Pashtun traditions and culture.. Thediplomat.com.
  17. News: 25,000 Sikhs in the province – mostly in Buner, Swat, DI Khan, Bara, Khyber, Kurram and Orakzai agencies.. Tribune.com/pk.
  18. Web site: First Sikh officer in Pakistan Army. Zulqernain. Tahir. 20 December 2005. Dawn.com. 16 December 2018.
  19. News: Prominent Sikhs within Pakistan, those who have crossed difficult barriers to succeed in their life and careers.. Dawn.com.
  20. Web site: Pakistan passes Anand Karaj . September 2011 .
  21. http://www.topnews.in/pakistan-minister-gives-assurances-enacting-sikh-marriage-act-27314 "Pakistan Minister gives assurances for enacting Sikh Marriage Act"
  22. News: Punjab Assembly unanimously passes landmark bill to regulate Sikh marriages. Dawn. Arif . Malik. 14 March 2018. 29 January 2021.
  23. News: Sindh Assembly approves Hindu Marriage Bill. Dawn. 15 February 2016. 29 January 2021.
  24. News: 2 September 2012 . Over 35,000 Buddhists, Baha'is call Pakistan home . 16 December 2018 . The Express Tribune.
  25. News: Pak NGO to resolve issues of Sikh community . 16 December 2018 . The Times of India.
  26. Web site: 28 May 2018 . Number of non-Muslim voters in Pakistan shows rise of over 30pc .
  27. Web site: 17 April 2015 . Pakistan's dwindling Sikh community wants improved security . 16 December 2018 . Dawn.com.
  28. Web site: 14 September 2007 . Pakistan . 2010-08-13 . State.gov.
  29. Web site: Rana . Yudhvir . December 15, 2022 . Pakistan census to have column for Sikhs Amritsar News - Times of India . 2022-12-21 . The Times of India . en . He said roughly there were around 30,000-35,000 Sikhs in Pakistan..
  30. https://www.dawn.com/news/1410442/number-of-non-muslim-voters-in-pakistan-shows-rise-of-over-30pc Dawn.com. 28 May 2018.
  31. https://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/population/2023/tables/national/table_9.pdf "TABLE 9 : POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN, CENSUS - 2023 (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics"
  32. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 6, Punjab . saoa.crl.28215541 . 4 February 2023. 1941 . 6 . India Census Commissioner .
  33. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 10, North-West Frontier Province . saoa.crl.28215543 . 4 February 2023. 1941 . 10 . India Census Commissioner .
  34. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 22, Jammu & Kashmir . saoa.crl.28215644 . 4 February 2023. 1941 . 22 . India Census Commissioner .
  35. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 12, Sind . saoa.crl.28215545 . 4 February 2023. 1941 . 12 . India Census Commissioner .
  36. Web site: Census of India, 1941. Vol. 14, Baluchistan . saoa.crl.28215993 . 4 February 2023. 1942 . 14 . India Census Commissioner .
  37. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. I. . saoa.crl.25057656 . 31 March 2024 . 1881 .
  38. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. II. . saoa.crl.25057657 . 31 March 2024 . 1881 . 520 .
  39. Web site: Census of India, 1881 Report on the Census of the Panjáb Taken on the 17th of February 1881, vol. III. . saoa.crl.25057658 . 31 March 2024 . 1881 . 250 .
  40. Web site: Gazetteers Of Gurdaspur District, 1883-84 . 7 April 2024 . 1884.
  41. Web site: 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. ]. saoa.crl.25363739 . 10 March 2024 . 1901.
  42. Web site: Punjab District Gazetteers Gurdaspur District Vol.21 Statistical Tables . 10 March 2024 . 1913.
  43. Web site: Census of India 1911. Vol. 14, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25393788 . 3 March 2024 . 1911.
  44. Web site: Census Of India 1911 Punjab Vol XIV Part II . 3 March 2024 . 1911 . Kaul, Harikishan.
  45. Web site: Census of India 1921. Vol. 15, Punjab and Delhi. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25430165 . 17 February 2024 . 1921.
  46. Web site: Census of India 1931. Vol. 17, Punjab. Pt. 2, Tables. . saoa.crl.25793242 . 4 February 2024 . 1931.
  47. Web site: Timeline: Persecution of religious minorities. 4 November 2012 . 6 March 2015.
  48. Book: World Report 2014. 2011. Human Rights Watch. 366–372.
  49. News: Popular Pakistani Sikh activist shot dead in Peshawar. Hindustan Times. 30 May 2018.
  50. News: Three Sikh beheaded by Taliban in Pakistan. Economic Times. 22 February 2010.
  51. News: India protests against Pakistan's move to convert Sikh gurdwara into mosque in Lahore. Deccan Chronicle. 28 July 2020.
  52. Web site: 2018-12-14 . Sikhs in Pakistan fear for lives as persecution rages on . 2023-07-27 . international.la-croix.com . en.
  53. Web site: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – World . 2010-03-09 . Tribuneindia.com.
  54. Web site: 2010-02-23 . Pak Sikhs seeks security, Indian citizenship . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100227024100/http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/23629/38 . 2010-02-27 . 2010-03-09 . PunjabNewsline.com.
  55. Web site: Ethnic group by religion, April 2001: Census update . Statistics.gov.uk . 2010-08-13.
  56. Web site: 13 March 2021 . Gurdeep Singh takes oath as first turban-clad Sikh Senator of Pakistan .
  57. Web site: [Chapter 1: Fundamental Rights&#93; of [Part II: Fundamental Rights and Principles of Policy&#93; |website=Pakistani.org |access-date=2010-08-13}}</ref> Since independence in 1947, relations between Pakistan's minorities and the Muslim majority have remained fairly and politically stable. From 1984 to 2002, Pakistan held a system of separate electorates for all its national legislative assemblies, with only a handful of parliamentary seats reserved for minority members. Minorities were legally only permitted to vote for designated minority candidates in general elections. The regime of former President General [[Pervez Musharraf]] had professed an agenda of equality for minorities and promotion and protection of minority rights, however, the implementation of corrective measures has been slow. Considerable amount of Sikhs are found in neighbourhood called Narayanpura of Karachi's Ranchore Lines.[11] [12]

    The historical and holy sites of Sikhs are maintained by a Pakistani governmental body, the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which is responsible for their upkeep and preservation.

    The emergence of the Sikh community within Pakistan

    After the independence of Pakistan and the migration of nearly all Sikhs to India the Sikh community's rights were significantly diminished as their population decreased.[13] Today, the largest urban Sikh population in Pakistan is found in Peshawar, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where the Pashtun law of "nanawati" (protection) spared the scale of violence which had raged across the Indus River in Punjab. Despite the longstanding tensions between the Sikh and Muslim communities in South Asia, the Pashtuns were tolerant towards the religious minority of Sikhs.[14] There are small pockets of Sikhs in Lahore and Nankana Sahib in Punjab.

    There has been an influx of Sikhs refugees from Afghanistan to Pakistan due to the turbulent civil war and conflicts that have ravaged neighboring Afghanistan, and many of these Sikhs have settled in Peshawar.[15] Afghanistan, like Pakistan, has had small Sikh and Hindu populations. There has been a massive exodus of refugees from Afghanistan into Pakistan during the past 30 years of turmoil up to the reign of the Taliban and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Due to Pakistan's porous borders with Afghanistan, large numbers of Afghanistan's minority communities, based mainly around the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad have fled, and some Sikhs have joined their kinsmen in Peshawar and Lahore.[16] [17]

    The Pakistani Constitution states that Sikhism is a monotheistic religion. Recently the Sikh community within Pakistan has been making every effort possible to progress in Pakistan. For example, Hercharn Singh became the first Sikh to join the Pakistan Army. For the first time in the 58-year history of Pakistan there has a Sikh been selected into Pakistan's army. Prior to Harcharan Singh's selection in the Pakistani army no individual person who was a member of the Hindu or the Sikh community were ever enrolled in the army, however; the Pakistani Christian community has prominently served in the Pakistan Armed Forces and some had even reached the ranks of Major Generals in the army, Air Vice Marshals in the Pakistan Air Force and rear Admiral in the Pakistan Navy. It has received various awards for gallantry and valor. Moreover, members of the tiny Parsi community have some representation in the Armed Forces.[18] Other prominent Sikhs are Inspector Amarjeet Singh of Pakistan Rangers and Lance-naik Behram Singh of Pakistan Coast Guard.[19]

    In 2007, the Pakistan Government proposed the Sikh marriage act that allows Sikh marriages in Pakistan be registered.[20] [21] But it was not passed. In 2017, the Punjab legislative assembly passed the Anand Karaj act thereby allowing the Sikh marriage in Punjab province be registered.[22] In the Sindh province, the Sikh marriages are registered under the Sindh Hindu Marriage Act of 2016.[23]

    Demographics

    Modern era

    According to the Government of Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority, there were 6,146 Sikhs registered in Pakistan in 2012.[24] A 2010 survey by the Sikh Resource and Study Centre reported 50,000 Sikhs living in Pakistan.[25] Most are settled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed by Sindh and Punjab.[26] Other sources, including the US Department of State, claim the Sikh population in Pakistan to be as high as 20,000.[27] [28] In a news article published in December 2022, there was an estimated 30,000–35,000 Sikhs in Pakistan according to Gurpal Singh and Sikhs will be included as a separate category and enumerated on the 2023 Census of Pakistan.[29] The results of the 2023 census will be a milestone in the first official inclusion of Sikhs since the formation of Pakistan as a sovereign nation. The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has provided the numbers of eligible voters belonging to minority religions (registered in electoral rolls):

    • 2013: 5,934 Sikh Voters [30]
    • 2018: 8,852 Sikh Voters
    Pakistani Sikhs by Province - 2023 Census [31] !Province!Total Population!Urban!Rural !Male !Female
    Punjab5,6494,3541,2952,9752,667
    Sindh5,1823,5401,6422,7822,382
    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa4,0502,4301,6202,0841,964
    Balochistan1,057468589633420
    Islamabad6037233624
    Pakistan15,98810,8295,1698,5107,457

    Colonial era

    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in Pakistan comprised roughly 1.67 million persons or 6.1 percent of the total population. With the exception of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, all administrative divisions in the region that compose 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.

    Administrative
    division    ! colspan="4"
    1941 Census
    Sikh PopulationSikh PercentageTotal ResponsesTotal Population
    Punjab[32] 1,530,11217,350,10317,350,103
    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[33] 57,9393,038,0675,415,666
    AJK[34] 39,9101,073,1541,073,154
    Sindh[35] 32,6274,840,7954,840,795
    Balochistan[36] 12,044857,835857,835
    Gilgit–Baltistan121116,047116,047
    Pakistan1,672,75327,266,00129,643,600

    Punjab

    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in West Punjab (the region that composes contemporary Punjab, Pakistan) was approximately 1,520,112, or 8.77 percent of the total population. At the district level in the West Punjab region, the largest Sikh concentrations existed in Sheikhupura District (Sikhs formed 18.85 percent of the total population and numbered 160,706 persons), Lyallpur District (18.82 percent or 262,737 persons), Lahore District (18.32 percent or 310,646 persons), Montgomery District (13.17 percent or 175,064 persons), and Sialkot District (11.71 percent or 139,409 persons).

    District or Princely State! colspan="2"
    1881[37] [38] [39] [40] 1901[41] [42] 1911[43] [44] 1921[45] 1931[46] 1941
    Lahore District125,591159,701169,008179,975244,304310,646
    Sialkot District40,19550,98281,76174,93994,955139,409
    Gujranwala District36,15951,607107,74850,80271,59599,139
    Rawalpindi District17,78032,23431,83931,71841,26564,127
    Montgomery District11,96419,09268,17595,520148,155175,064
    Jhelum District11,18815,07024,43618,62622,03024,680
    Gujrat District8,88524,89344,69349,45659,18870,233
    Shakargarh Tehsil5,0906,55710,55312,30315,73020,573
    Shahpur District4,70212,75633,45630,36140,07448,046
    Jhang District3,4773,52619,4279,3768,47612,238
    Muzaffargarh District2,7883,2256,3224,8695,2875,882
    Multan District2,0854,66219,88118,56239,45361,628
    Bahawalpur State1,6787,98516,63019,07134,89646,945
    Dera Ghazi Khan District1,3261,0271,0429327601,072
    Lyallpur District88,049146,670160,821211,391262,737
    Mianwali District2,6334,8812,9864,2316,865
    Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract05002
    Attock District26,91419,80919,52220,120
    Sheikhupura District82,965119,477160,706
    Total Sikhs272,908483,999813,441863,0911,180,7891,530,112
    Total Population7,942,39910,427,76511,104,58511,888,98514,040,79817,350,103

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    During the colonial era (British India), prior to the partition in 1947, decadal censuses enumerated religion in North-West Frontier Province, and not in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Both administrative divisions later amalgamated to become Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in North-West Frontier Province (part of the region that composes contemporary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) was approximately 57,939, or 1.9 percent of the total population. At the district level in North-West Frontier Province, the largest Sikh concentrations existed in Peshawar District (Sikhs formed 2.82 percent of the total population and numbered 24,030 persons), Mardan District (2.34 percent or 11,838 persons), and Bannu District (2.07 percent or 6,112 persons).

    District! colspan="2"
    192119311941
    Peshawar District15,32624,27124,030
    Hazara District4,8507,6309,220
    Bannu District3,2865,4826,112
    Kohat District2,6743,2494,349
    Dera Ismail Khan District1,9041,8782,390
    Mardan District11,838
    Total Sikhs28,04042,51057,939
    Total Population2,251,3402,425,0763,038,067

    At the tehsil level in North-West Frontier Province, as per the 1941 census, the largest Sikh concentrations existed in Peshawar Tehsil (Sikhs formed 3.97 percent of the total population and numbered 15,454 persons), Kohat Tehsil (3.15 percent or 3,613 persons), Nowshera Tehsil (3.04 percent or 6,636 persons), Mardan Tehsil (3.04 percent or 9,091 persons), and Bannu Tehsil (2.82 percent or 5,285 persons).

    Tehsil! colspan="2"
    192119311941
    Peshawar Tehsil8,2239,73615,454
    Abbottabad Tehsil3,3444,5996,035
    Mardan Tehsil2,8745,1749,091
    Bannu Tehsil2,7774,9795,285
    Nowshera Tehsil2,3804,6786,636
    Kohat Tehsil2,1952,1843,613
    Swabi Tehsil1,0623,0302,747
    Haripur Tehsil9682,0192,011
    Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil8848941,740
    Tank Tehsil811574401
    Charsadda Tehsil7871,6531,940
    Marwat Tehsil509503817
    Mansehra Tehsil468966965
    Hangu Tehsil4341,038650
    Kulachi Tehsil209410249
    Amb Tehsil7045195
    Teri Tehsil452786
    Phulra Tehsil0114
    Total Sikhs28,04042,51057,929
    Total Population2,251,3402,425,0763,038,067
    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in urban portions of North-West Frontier Province was approximately 41,399, or 7.5 percent of the total urban population. Cities/urban areas in North-West Frontier Province with the largest Sikh concentrations included Mardan (Sikhs formed 14.15 percent of the total population and numbered 6,014 persons), Bannu (12.71 percent or 4,894 persons), Risalpur (11.37 percent or 1,024 persons), Haripur (11.1 percent or 1,035 persons), and Abbottabad (9.77 percent or 2,680 persons).
    City/Urban Area! colspan="2"
    192119311941
    Peshawar6,1528,63014,245
    Bannu2,4213,9474,894
    Kohat2,1392,1523,562
    Mardan1,6792,9276,014
    Nowshera1,3193,0424,253
    Jamrud1,254
    Abbottabad8791,0392,680
    Dera Ismail Khan7247081,412
    Risalpur6013141,024
    Lakki470268548
    Haripur3466961,035
    Tank344240181
    Nawan Shehr246363309
    Kulachi84128138
    Baffa398681
    Charsadda30287294
    Cherat87425
    Tangi172
    Parang100
    Mansehra469375
    Utmanzai171
    Kot Najibullah156
    Total Urban Sikh Population18,73725,37741,399
    Total Urban Population335,849386,177552,193

    Balochistan

    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in Baluchistan Agency (the region that composes contemporary Balochistan, Pakistan) was approximately 12,044, or 1.4 percent of the total population. At the district/princely state level in Baluchistan Agency, the largest Sikh concentrations existed in Quetta–Pishin District (Sikhs formed 5.62 percent of the total population and numbered 8,787 persons), Bolan District (3.06 percent or 184 persons), Zhob District (1.75 percent or 1,076 persons), Loralai District (1.34 percent or 1,124 persons), and Chaghai District (0.6 percent or 181 persons).

    District/
    Princely State! colspan="2"
    PopulationPercentage
    Quetta–Pishin District8,787
    Loralai District1,124
    Zhob District1,076
    Sibi District566
    Bolan District184
    Chaghai District181
    Kalat State79
    Las Bela State47
    Kharan State0
    Total Sikhs12,044
    Total Population857,835

    According to the 1941 census, the Sikh population in urban portions of Baluchistan Agency was approximately 11,041, or 9.7 percent of the total urban population. Cities/urban areas in Baluchistan Agency with the largest Sikh concentrations included Loralai (Sikhs formed 21.9 percent of the total population and numbered 1,116 persons), Quetta (11.42 percent or 7,364 persons), Fort Sandeman (10.73 percent or 1,004 persons), Chaman (10.48 percent or 697 persons), and Pishin (9.68 percent or 183 persons).

    City/Urban Area! colspan="2"
    PopulationPercentage
    Quetta7,364
    Loralai1,116
    Fort Sandeman1,004
    Chaman697
    Sibi362
    Pishin183
    Machh121
    Usta77
    Bela47
    Kalat33
    Mastung28
    Panjgur9
    Pasni0
    Total Urban
    Sikh Population    		11,041
    Total Urban
    Population    		114,060

    Religious Persecution

    In Pakistan multiple incidents of discrimination against religious minorities have occurred. These attacks are usually blamed on religious extremists but certain laws in the Pakistan Criminal Code and government inaction are also thought to cause these attacks to surge.[47] Sunni militant groups operate with impunity across Pakistan, as law enforcement officials either turn a blind eye or appear helpless to prevent widespread attacks against religious minorities.[48] Sikhs have been victims of massacres, targeted assassinations and forced conversions, mostly in Peshawar.[49] [50] [51] Non-Muslim Pakistanis, including Sikhs, continue to grapple with significant challenges of persecution and religious discrimination. In response to alleged death threats, numerous Sikh families have sought refuge in other nations deemed "safer" to secure their well-being.[52]

    Attack on Sikh Community

    In 2009, the Taliban in Pakistan demanded that Sikhs in the region pay them the jizya (poll tax levied by Muslims on non-Muslim minorities).[53] In 2010, the Taliban attacked many minorities including Sikhs resulting in two beheadings.[54]

    Pakistani Sikh diaspora

    Many Pakistani Sikhs have emigrated to countries like the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and Thailand. According to the UK's 2001 census, there were 346 Pakistani Sikhs in the UK. There is also a growing Pakistani Sikh expatriate community in the United Arab Emirates.[55]

    Notable Pakistani Sikhs

    Following are some of notable Pakistani Sikhs:

    Sikh Gurdwaras in Pakistan

    See main article: List of Gurdwaras in Pakistan.

    See also

    External links

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sikhism in Pakistan".

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