Whatever Happened To The Sikhs/Hindus Left In Pakistan Post 1947

[proactive]

The original poster is actually talking about the period AFTER partition. Of course Hindus and Sikhs were sizeable minorities in the areas that went to Pakistan in 1947. Apart from just the population, the Sikhs owned the majority of the land in central Punjab and the Hindus owned the businesses in the towns and cities. The creation of Pakistan especially in the eastern parts of West Punjab was akin to a family of tenants usurping the house of the their landlord because they are 5 in number and the landowner is just one person!

[kds1980]

How can it be that in 1947 - Pakistan = 57 % per cent Muslim, (3 % Christian) and 40 % Sikh/Hindu (approx 30-40 million people) and just 55 years later (in 2002) the Hindu/Sikh population is reduced to just 2 %? With Muslims being 97% of the population?

What do YOU think happened to all these people? 1. Killed? (possibly) 2. Migrated to India (unlikely with stringent border controls) or FORCIBLY CONVERTED? ( in my view very Likely).

What are YOUR views?

Totally incorrect .Population of Non muslims were not at all 43% before partition

- Pre-1947 region of present-day Pakistan only had less than 15% non-Muslims, out of which half were Sikhs. Many of the Hindus were actual migrants from the region of present day India during the British rule. For example, most of the Hindus in pre-1947 Karachi had migrated from Gujarat and Rajasthan during British rule because of Karachi's economic boom then. The other remaining Hindus of local origin were converts due to Shankarcharya's missionaries from India region during post- 9th century AD period.

- The pre-1947 non-Muslim population in present day region of Pakistan had: 6% Hindu and 10% Sikh in W. Punjab, 9% Hindu and 2% Sikh in Sindh, 1% Hindu and 2% Sikh in NWFP, and 2% Hindu in Baluchistan.

- According to the UN and other respected organizations, 12 million is the total estimate of migrations from both India and Pakistan (East Pakistan included) of Muslims, "Hindus" and Sikhs combined at the time of independence. So if "Hindus" and Sikhs are taken as 50% of that figure (although there were much more migrations of Hindus/Sikhs than Muslims) of population, that would make about 6 million Hindus-Sikhs in both East and West Pakistan that migrated to India. Now, we know that there was almost an equal (50% each) number of migrants leaving East and West Pakistan (although Hindu population in East Pakistan was much higher), that would make the Hindu-Sikh population in West Pakistan about 3 million. Now we know that West Pakistan's population at that time was about 25-30 million which makes the total Hindu-Sikh population about 10-12% (+ add the current 1.5%) in West Pakistan before partition. Also, it is estimated that out of the non-Muslim population in West Pakistan, +40% were Sikhs, so that leaves Hindus with even lesser numbers.

http://pakistanipatriots.blogspot.com/2009/11/nwe-greek-mythology.html

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You can verify from other sites about population of non muslims in Pakistan you will find figure between 10-20% from unbiased sources

[californiasardar1]

Lets try discussing this and exchanging information on this topic, as I want to garner as much insight as possible.

From my understanding, AFTER partition, and I emphasise the word AFTER, NOT before or DURING, just AFTER partition of India and Pakistan, their was a sizeable population of SikhS and Hindus who stayed behind in what is modern day Pakistan.

When I say 40 % , I am talking 10's of millions of people, what happend to them, where are they now?

I ask this because at the last Pakistani censues which I believe was in 2002, ( I could be wrong as it may have been 2001), 97% of Pakistan was MUSLIM, 2% Hindu/Sikh and 1 % Christian.

I believe that pre partition, Lahore was the business capital of Punjab and had a majority Hindu Punjabi populas, I also know that Sindh had a huge Hindu/Sikh population.

How can it be that in 1947 - Pakistan = 57 % per cent Muslim, (3 % Christian) and 40 % Sikh/Hindu (approx 30-40 million people) and just 55 years later (in 2002) the Hindu/Sikh population is reduced to just 2 %? With Muslims being 97% of the population?

What do YOU think happened to all these people? 1. Killed? (possibly) 2. Migrated to India (unlikely with stringent border controls) or FORCIBLY CONVERTED? ( in my view very Likely).

What are YOUR views?

Where are you getting your numbers from? How long after the partition is that figure from? I think that a lot of the population transfer may have been going on after the partition had technically occurred. I think you should double-check to make sure you have a figure that comes after the completion of the mass population transfers.

In Punjab, virtually all Hindus and Sikhs were forced to move to the Indian side and most Muslims were forced to move to the Pakistani side. So I have a very hard time believing that 40% of Pakistan was still Hindu/Sikh after Western Punjab had basically been "cleansed" of its Hindu/Sikh population.

I believe that there was a very sizable Hindu population left in Sindh who were not forced to leave, but I think many of them gradually left by their own choice in the months and years following the partition.

[hinduveer]

I will address all points in detail later on , after work, but very quickly, bearing in mind the fact that tensions were extremely high between India and Pakistan in 1951, just 4 years after partition, and the fact that Muslim pakistani politicians are among the most corrupt in the world, I QUITE FRANKLY DONT BELEIVE THEIR CENSUS figures of 1951.

Think about it, and bearing in mind what my bhuas who migrated from West Pakistan have told me about that time, HOW many Hindus and SIkhs left in Pakistan, DO U THINK would have risked ther lives to come out and stated in the Census that they were Hindu or Sikh?

Hindus and Sikhs that didnt want to leave there land or wealth behind, those that were too poor to afford to travel even using the simplest means, or those that trusted there fellow Pakistanis got left behind. DONT FORGET THE BLOODSHED, DURING PARTITION WAS A SURPRISE TO MANY, as most just felt it was a name change, nothing else. There is a video / progrmame that states 2 million people died and that the British were too blame for leaving so abruptly.

Also dont forget Lahore, was majority Hindu Punjabi, the farming most fertile lands were mostly owned by JATT SIKHS, in Punjab. Furthermore many areas on the outskirts of western punjab had sizeable sikh populas, and Sindh was also majority Hindu.

If Western Pakistan was 31 % hindu sikh, as procative implies, then post partition it would still be up adn around 25%, due to transport issues, money issues, lack of education, trust, slow news medium, and people not wanting to leave there land, wealth and neighbours.

[chatanga]

the transfer of populations took place from august 14 when pakistan was revealed upto around november/december 1947. not before on any large scale.

[hinduveer]

No disrespect Mods, but thsi quality control thing is adversely affecting the flow of conversation for me on this and many threads.

[musicman]

Hinduveer. stop trying to make sikh-hindu relations...

we've had enough of ur relations.

You've hand enough of Hindu relations?

What an absurd comment.

[musicman]

Pakistan was seen as a Muslim country therefore i wouldn't be suprised that the majority muslim population was threatening the minority Hindus & Sikhs to go to India, as which is happening to this current day were there has been numerous threats of conversion, kidnapping etc. More and more Hindu families have had enough and are crossing the border to India were they are safe.

[hinduveer]

Musicman I ignore foolish comments from peeps like khalasthan86, the majority of people here are good.

Im not trying to make relations, my relations with most people of all walks of life are good.

I asked a pertinent question, and MY VIEW IS MOST OF THE HINDUS/SIKHS that got left behind in Pakistan ( whether they are 10 million or 20!), have been FORCEFULLY converted,as hindus and sikhs are not allowed to have jobs in the civil service and are HEAVILY discriminated against to this day. It was a big deal when they had a sikh traffic warden, or inspector at the lowest level for the first time a couple of years ago,

the ones who havent converted are stuck in low level jobs and live in poverty.

2-3 hindu - sikh girls are converted/abducted / raped a week! ( see another thread!)

Every hindu/sikh i have spoken to who lived in pakistan tells horror stories of how bad it was

APOLOGIES, I still havent had a chance to give detailed post re this thread, too busy at work!

[hinduveer]

Here is some information from wikipedia.

Hinduism and PartitionSee also: Partition of IndiaWhen Pakistan was formed in August 1947, over 7 million Hindus and Sikhs from what was East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Pakistan's Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwas were forced to leave this new state for India, and a similar number of Muslims chose the other way. The reasons for this incredible exodus was the heavily charged communal atmosphere in British India, deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities. The fact that over 1 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 Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs who had to leave ancestral homes during hastily arranged partition.

Many Hindus who attained great success in the public eye in India, like the filmstars Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, and Sunil Dutt trace their birthplaces and ancestral homes to the towns of Pakistan. Independent India's first Test cricket captain, Lala Amarnath hailed from Lahore, prime ministers I K Gujral and Manmohan Singh are also from the part of the Punjab which became part of Pakistan, and former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani was born in Karachi. Nearly all of these individuals left their homes due to the violence and turmoil of independence.

For more information about Hindus in East Pakistan - Bangladesh, see Hinduism in Bangladesh.

Post-1970s

Since Pakistan declared itself an Islamic nation and pursued a decidedly Islamic course in its political and social life since the 1980s, Hindus as a minority in Pakistan have had considerably fewer privileges, rights and protections in comparison to minorities in India, which constitutionally avows itself secular and giving of equal rights to its religious minorities including the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities. Cultural marginalization, discrimination, economic hardships and religious persecution have resulted in many Hindus converting to other religions (Islam, Christianity), and today Hindus constitute barely 1.8% of Pakistan's population.

Because Hindus are not "People of the Book" like Christians, they have generally been given fewer rights informally (de facto) by the Muslim majority than the country's Christians (see Dhimmi), even if de jure Hindus have equal rights under the law.

Religious, social and political institutions

The Indus river is a holy river to many Hindus, and the Pakistan government periodically allows small groups of Hindus from Pakistan and India to make pilgrimage, though most Hindus are forced to do this along the banks of the river that flows through a small part of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The communal violence of the 1940s and the subsequent persecutions have resulted in the destruction of thousands of Hindu temples in Pakistan, although the Hindu community and the Pakistani government have preserved and protected many prominent ones. The Hindu Gymkhana in Karachi has tried to promote social development for Hindus in the city. One of the few temples remaining in Karachi today is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Karachi.

Hindus are allotted separate electorates to vote by, but their political importance is virtually nil^{[citation needed]}. The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat and the Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association are the primary civic organizations that represent and organise Hindu communities on social, economic, religious and political issues. There are minority commissions and for a while, a Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Government of Pakistan looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities.

Community life

The intense religious conservatism and politically charged environment in Pakistani Punjab offers limited freedoms for Hindus. Outside such an environment, Karachi's city culture allows for a secular environment that gives much needed opportunities to minorities like Hindus. Though Islamisation, cultural and political has swept the country since the 1980s, the secular institutions established in British times allow Hindus to take advantage of education, sports, cultural activities, government services and participate in mainstream Pakistani life. Prominent Pakistani Hindus include Karachi's Danish Kaneria, who has become Pakistan's premier leg spin bowler in cricket, fashion designer Deepak Perwani, and Justice Rana Bhagwandas, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Persecution

Main articles: Persecution of Hindus#Pakistan and Anti-Hindu#PakistanThe increasing Islamisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India, a nation with a Hindu majority, has been an influential factor in the persecution of religious minorities, among those minorities, Hindus. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalisation of Hindus and other minorities. Following the Babri Mosque riots in India, riots and attacks on Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations. It remains the hope of many that a permanent peace between the two nations will go a long way in making life better for the roughly 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan. The 1998 census recorded 2,443,614 Hindus in Pakistan.^[7]

Hindu minorities, under Taliban rule in Swat, were forced to wear Red headgear such as turbans as a symbol of dhimmi.^[8] In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindus in Karachi were attacked and ethnically cleansed following an incident when a Hindu youth drank from a water tap near an Islamic mosque^[9][10]

[edit] Pakistan Studies curriculum issues

Main article: Pakistan Studies curriculumAccording 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'^[11] A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, 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. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan’s past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today’s students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.^{[12][13][14][15]}

An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn commenting on a report in The Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks noted 'By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India’s ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassahs the damage done is greater. '^[16][17] According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'^[17][18]

According to Pervez Hoodbhoy, a physics professor at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, the "Islamizing" of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'^[19]