Hinduism in Punjab, Pakistan

Hinduism is a minority religion in Punjab province of Pakistan followed by about 0.2% of its population. Punjab has the second largest number of Hindus in Pakistan after Sindh.[2] Hinduism is followed mainly in the Southern Punjab districts of Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.[3]

Punjabi Hindus of Pakistan
Hindus in Cholistan celebrating Holi
Total population
211,641 (2017)
0.2% of total Province population
Religions
Hinduism (majority)
Nanakpanthi and Kalash
Scriptures
Bhagavad Gita, and Vedas
Guru Granth Sahib (only by Nanakpanthi)
Languages
Sanskrit (sacred)
Punjabi, Marwari, Saraiki[1]
Hindi, Urdu and other languages (minority)

Hinduism has a strong historical presence in Punjab with many mandirs, shrines (samadhis), alongside various religious traditions and texts that were developed in the region. According to the 1941 census, Punjabi Hindus constituted approximately 13.7 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan.[lower-alpha 1] With violence and religious cleansing accompanying the partition of India in 1947, the vast majority departed the region en masse, primarily migrating eastward to Delhi and the region of Punjab that would fall on the eastern side of the Radcliffe Line, in the contemporary Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.

History
One of the Amb Temples constructed between the 7th and 9th centuries.
Hindu Population History
Punjab, Pakistan
YearPop.±%
1941 2,373,466[lower-alpha 1]—    
1951 33,052−98.6%
1998 116,410+252.2%
2017 211,641+81.8%
Source: [4]: 42 [5]: 12–21 [6][7]
Census of India, Census of Pakistan

Ancient era

Hinduism is the oldest recorded religion practiced by the Punjabi people.[8] The Rig Veda, the oldest and most sacred Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the Indus River around 1500 BCE.[9] The Punjab region also features heavily in the Mahabharata.[10][11] According to Hindu religious texts, Multan was founded by the Hindu sage Kashyapa[12] and also asserts Multan as the capital of the Trigarta Kingdom ruled by the Katoch dynasty at the time of the Kurukshetra War that is central the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata.[13][14][15] Historically, the Punjabi Hindus and Saraiki Hindus followed mainly a Brahminical form of Hinduism.[16] The Prahladpuri Temple in Multan is believed to be constructed by Prahlada in honor of Narasimha.[17] Most of the Hindus in Punjab once also had also influence of Sikhism on their culture and lifestyle. Nanakpanthis are the Hindus who follows the teaching of Sikh guru, Guru Nanak.[18]

Colonial era

By the early 20th century, Western Punjab (present-day Punjab, Pakistan) had a Punjabi Muslim majority population (primarily supporting the Muslim League and Pakistan Movement) but also included significant Punjabi Hindu and Punjabi Sikh minority populations.

According to the 1941 census, Punjabi Hindus constituted approximately 13.7 percent of the population in the region that comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan, numbering around 2.4 million persons.[lower-alpha 1] Following the partition of Punjab, according to the 1951 census, the Hindu population declined to 33,052 persons or 0.2 percent due to religious cleansing violence alongside large-scale mass migration and population transfer to East Punjab, India and Delhi in the violent events of partition of India.[5]: 12–21 

With the formation of independent Pakistan and India during the partition of India in 1947, approximately 3 million Punjabi Hindus migrated to India.[19][20][21]

Demography
Hindu Arora Storekeeper, Lahore, circa 1862–72
Rattan Chand temple, Lahore, 1880
Hindu Shivite temple, Lahore, 1914

1941 census
Hindus in the administrative divisions that compose the contemporary Punjab, Pakistan region (1941)[4]: 42 [lower-alpha 1]
District/
Princely State		 Hinduism [lower-alpha 2]
Population Percentage
Lahore District 284,689 16.79%
Multan District 249,872 16.83%
Sialkot District 231,319 19.43%
Montgomery District 210,966 15.87%
Lyallpur District 204,059 14.61%
Bahawalpur State 174,408 13%
Jhang District 129,889 15.81%
Shakargarh Tehsil[lower-alpha 3] 116,553 39.98%
Gujranwala District 108,115 11.85%
Shahpur District 102,172 10.23%
Muzaffargarh District 90,643 12.72%
Sheikhupura District 89,182 10.46%
Gujrat District 84,643 7.66%
Rawalpindi District 82,478 10.5%
Dera Ghazi Khan District 67,407 11.59%
Mianwali District 62,814 12.41%
Attock District 43,209 6.39%
Jhelum District 40,888 6.49%
Biloch Trans–Frontier Tract 160 0.4%
Total Hindus 2,373,466 13.68%
Total Population 17,350,103 100%

*Note: Territory comprises the contemporary state of Punjab, Pakistan.

2017 census

According to the 2017 Census, Hinduism is followed by 0.19% of the population or about 2 lakh people including 11,000 scheduled caste Hindus.[2] However according to the Pakistan Hindu Council, there are 349,230 Hindus in Punjab. [22]

According to estimates in religious minorities in Pakistan's elections, there are above 50,000 or more in 11 districts in Pakistan. All of these are in Sindh except the Rahim Yar Khan District in Punjab and is the only district in Punjab with more than 2% of its population as Hindu.[23]

About 90% of the Hindus in Punjab province lives in Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur.[24]

Districts of Punjab Percentage of Hindus Population
Rahim Yar Khan 3.12% 150,002
Bahawalpur 1.12% 41,094
Other districts - 20,545

Community life

Hindus in Punjab is mainly concentrated in the Southern Punjab districts. According to a study, the majority (86.5%) of the scheduled caste Hindus in Southern Punjab have experienced discrimination. The study found that majority (91.5%) of the respondents in Rahimyar Khan districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them.[25] In Central Punjab, the population of Hindus are very low, so many of the Hindus have married Sikhs and vice versa. Intermarriages between the Hindus and Sikh community are very common there.[26] The Forced conversion of Hindu girls are a problem faced by the Hindu community. According to a report by Minority Rights Commission, the number of forced conversions and forced marriages increasing in South Punjab, particularly the Rahim Yar Khan District and adjacent areas.[27]

The Hindu marriages in Punjab are registered under the Hindu marriage act of 2017.[28][29]

Politics

Punjab Assembly has eight reserved seats for non-Muslims and most of them are Christians.[23] In 1997, the Seth Bharta Ram became the first Hindu to be elected to the minority reserved seat in Punjab Provincial assembly. It was only after 16 years, another Hindu member Kanji Ram was elected to the provincial assembly.[30][31] Currently there are no Hindu member in the 17th Punjab provincial assembly.

Hindus form a significant electoral role in the assembly seats of Rahim Yar Khan District.[23]

Temples

There are many temples in the Punjab and mainly of them served as a worship place for multi-religious community. The notable of them includes:

See also

Notes
  1. 1941 figure taken from census data by combining the total population of all districts (Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Gujrat, Shahpur, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Attock, Mianwali, Montgomery, Lyallpur, Jhang, Multan, Muzaffargargh, Dera Ghazi Khan), one tehsil (Shakargarh – then part of Gurdaspur District), one 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: [4]: 42 
    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. The state that makes up this region in the contemporary era is Punjab, Pakistan.
  2. Including Ad-Dharmis
  3. Part of Gurdaspur District which was awarded to Pakistan as part of the Radcliffe Line.

References
  1. Aiza Hussain. "An evening with the Hindu Marwari of Cholistan". Dawn. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  2. "SALIENT FEATURES OF FINAL RESULTS CENSUS-2017" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  3. "Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census" (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  4. "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI PUNJAB PROVINCE". Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  5. "CENSUS OF PAKISTAN, 1951 POPULATION ACCORDING TO RELIGION TABLE 6" (PDF). Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  6. "Population Distribution by Religion, 1998 Census" (PDF). Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  7. "TABLE 9 - POPULATION BY SEX, RELIGION AND RURAL/URBAN" (PDF). Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. Nayar, Kamala Elizabeth (2012). The Punjabis in British Columbia: Location, Labour, First Nations, and Multiculturalism. McGill–Queen's University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7735-4070-5. Retrieved October 2, 2023. Hinduism is the oldest of the religions practiced by the Punjabis
  9. "Rigveda | Hindu literature". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  10. Needham, Joseph (2004). Within the Four Seas: The Dialogue of East and West. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-36166-4.
  11. Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India (4th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 0-415-32919-1.
  12. Ghose, Sanujit (2004). Legend of Ram: Antiquity to Janmabhumi Debate. Bibliophile South Asia. ISBN 9788185002330.
  13. Sinha, Amita; Silva, Kapila D. (2016). Cultural Landscapes of South Asia: Studies in Heritage Conservation and Management. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317365938. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  14. Charak, Sukh Dev Singh (1978). Himachal Pradesh, Volume 1. Light & Life Publishers.
  15. Hutchison, John (1933). History of the Panjab Hill States, Volume 1. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120609426.
  16. Eaton, Richard Maxwell, 1940- ... (2006). Essays on Islam and Indian history. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-566265-2. OCLC 469584446.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. MacLagan, Sir Edward (1926). Gazetteer of the Multan District, 1923–24 Sir Edward Maclagan, Punjab (Pakistan). pp. 276–77.
  18. "Navjot Singh Sidhu thinks there are 14 crore Sikhs in India instead of 2.4 crore". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  19. Salamat, Zarina (1997). The Punjab in 1920's: a case study of Muslims. Karachi: Royal Book Company. p. 145. ISBN 978-969-407-230-2. OCLC 40480171.
  20. Banerjee-Dube, Ishita; Dube, Saurabh (2009). Ancient to modern: religion, power, and community in India. New Delhi; Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-569662-2. OCLC 302183130.
  21. "The partition of India and retributive genocide in the Punjab, 1946–47: means, methods, and purposes" (PDF). Retrieved 19 December 2006.
  22. "Hindu Population (PK) – Pakistan Hindu Council". Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. Aqeel, Asif (1 July 2018), "Problems with the electoral representation of non-Muslims", Herald (Pakistan), retrieved 21 May 2021
  24. "District wise census". Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  25. Shah, Zulfiqar (December 2007), Information on Caste Based Discrimination in South Asia, Long Behind Schedule, a Study on the Plight of Scheduled Caste Hindus in Pakistan (PDF), Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) and International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), retrieved 21 May 2021
  26. Javaid, Maham (18 August 2016), "State of fear", Herald (Pakistan), retrieved 21 May 2021
  27. Zahid Gishkori (3 September 2012). "Intolerance growing in South Punjab: Report". Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  28. "Pakistan Senate passes landmark Hindu marriage bill". The Hindu. 18 February 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  29. Kalbe Ali (27 September 2016). "NA finally passes Hindu marriage bill". Dawn. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  30. "ECP announces by-polls on vacant seats". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  31. "Hindus get representation in Punjab Assembly of Pakistan after 16 years". India Today. 13 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
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