Hinduism is one of the smallest religions in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, but has played a major role in its history, culture and politics.

The term Hindu is, by etymological definition derived from the Sindhu river (the modern day Indus). Thus, in many ways, the land which is today's heavily Muslim Pakistan may have played an important part in the birth of Hinduism.

History of Hinduism in Pakistan

See Also: History of Hinduism, History of Early Hinduism, Indus Valley Civilization, Vedic civilization

With the possibility of Hinduism being actually born in what is today Pakistan, and with the greater possibility that the peoples of the region played a major role in the synthesis of the modern religion, Hinduism's history there is significant.

Hinduism in Pakistan has endured unlimited invasions, different empires and political separation from the Hindu-majority India.

Ancient Ages

What is today Pakistan is where the ancient Mehrgarh and Indus Valley Civilization thrived. The Hinduism may have conjectured in Sarasvati River civilization which followed the Indus Valley Civilization. Various archaeological finds such as what appears to be like a , "Pasupati" image was found on the seals of the people of Mohenjodaro, in the Sindh province, point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism. According to a widely prevalent theory, A group of people known as Aryans migrated from regions like Iran or Eastern Europe, crossed the river Sindhu, and mingled with the indigenous people. This could have been the beginning of Vedic Hinduism. Sindhu is one of the seven holy rivers of Hindus. The religious beliefs and folklore of the Indus valley people have become a major part of the Hindu faith that evolved in this part of the South Asia.

The Sindh kingdom and its rulers play an important role in the Indian epic story of the Mahabharata. In addition, there is the legend that the Pakistani city of Lahore was first founded by Luv, the son of Vishnu's Avatara, Rama of the epic saga Ramayana. The Gandhara kingdom of the Northwest, and the legendary Gandhara peoples are also a major part of Hindu folktales and literature like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. And destroyed by Muslim invaders was the gigantic and rich Sun Mandir near Multan in today's

Buddhism

During the reign of Ashoka, Buddhism grew and thrived in the area, especially under the later rule of Kanishka, king of the Kushan Empire. With the ascent of the Gupta Dynasty, many Buddhists were returned to the Hindu fold in India, as Hindus adopted many of the teachings of the Buddha such as non-violence to all life, vegetarianism and proper treatment of fellow men. A substantial Buddhist community that rivalled the Hindus would remain in Pakistan until the Islamic conquests.

Some scholars believe that Vedic Hinduism was never very strong in Pakistan, but records left by great scholars like Alberuni, do not provide any such hint. In addition, a large Buddhist population remained in the Punjab and Sindh as Arab invaders attest to having encountered many 'Budd' statues of gold throughout the region. Due to the nature of the region as a borderland on the edge of South Asia many people more open and receptive to radically different ideologies like Islam and other Semitic faiths.

Under Islamic and British Rule

People in this region were exposed to Islamic teachings when the country came under the control of Muslim rulers. Though many Hindus voluntarily became Muslims, many Hindus also believe that a lot of people were forced to become Muslims. Alberuni states in his book, that Hindus who were forced to become Muslims, were not reaccepted into their community, when they escaped to places like Benares. He in fact laments, that due to Islamic conquests, many great Hindu scholars left this region. In over one thousand years of Muslim rule in the Punjab and Sindh, the population of Muslims outpaced the growth of Hinduism and Buddhism virtually disappeared, although relationships between people were peaceful and much more friendlier than in modern times. Many Muslims still retained many of the traditions and cultural influences of the times when some were a part of the original Hindu population. It was not uncommon at all to hear a Muslim greet a Hindu or another Muslim with the traditional greeting of Rama, Rama (taking the holy name of Rama is a common practice of respectful greeting in North India).

In August 1947, at the end of British Raj, the population percentage of Hindus in what is today Pakistan was perhaps as high as 30-35%, but would drop to its current total of less than 2 % in the years since partition.

Hinduism and Partition

When Pakistan gained independence in August 1947, over 7 million Hindus and Sikhs from what was East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and Pakistan's Punjab and Sindh provinces left this new state for India, and a similar number of Muslims moved the other way. The reasons for this incredible exodus was the heavily charged

Many Hindus who attained great success in the public eye in India, like the filmstars Dilip Kumar, 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. 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 avowed itself secular and gave equal rights to its religious minorities including the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities. The later rise of Hindu nationalism has led to communal conflict in India as well. Apparently, cultural marginalization, discrimination, economic hardships and religious persecution have resulted in many Hindus leaving Pakistan, and today Hindus constitute only 1.5% of Pakistan's population.

Economic position

The exchange of population in 1947 was more complete in the populous Punjab, currently Pakistan's Hindus live primarily in the Sindh province, living and working as bonded labour and small farmers. In the city of Karachi there are roughly 70,000 Hindus today. Herein they are merchants, servants and employees of service industries. The ethnicities of Pakistani Hindus include Sindhis, Gujaratis and Punjabis. They speak Sindhi, Punjabi, Gujarati, English and some Urdu, as per their ethnic origin and place in common life.

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 was dedicated to forward social development for Hindus in the city.

Hindus are allotted separate electorates to vote by, but their political importance is virtually null. The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat and the Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association are the primary civic organizations that represent and organize 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 that looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities.

Community life

The intense religious conservatism and politically charged environment in Pakistani Punjab offer 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 Islamization, 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 recently become Pakistan's premier leg spin bowler in cricket.

The future for Pakistani Hindus

The increasing Islamization has caused many Hindus to leave Hinduism and seek emancipation by converting to other faiths such as Buddhism and Christianity. Such Islamization like the blasphemy laws, which make it incredibly treacherous and dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Shariat, Koranic law has also increased the marginalization of Hindus and other minorities. Following the destruction in 1992 of the Babri Mosque in India, riots and persecution of 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.

See also

• Hinduism, Hindu, World Hinduism
• Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, Demographics of Pakistan
• Partition of India, Hinduism in Bangladesh