There are 1800 places of worship for Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan, out of which only 37 are functioning. That means 1763 places of worship are closed. On December 3, Pakistan’s parliamentary committee was told that out of a total of 1800 sites, only 37 were active. There are two big reasons for this…

• The population of Hindus and Sikhs in these areas is very less.
• The government agency doing maintenance is not working properly.

On December 3, the first meeting of the Parliamentary Minority Caucus was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. Its chairman is Senator Danesh Kumar. The rights of Hindus, Sikhs and other minorities were discussed in the meeting. The committee adopted its rules of work unanimously. The committee has demanded from the government that these sites should be restored. Better facilities should be provided to minorities in education and jobs.

What are the statistics of places of worship in Pakistan?

• A total of 1285 places of worship (temples) of Hindus.
• 532 Gurudwaras of Sikhs.
• In total about 1800 sites.
• But only 37 are operational.

Actually, after the partition of 1947, Hindu-Sikh communities left these areas and now their numbers are less there. Also, the government organization named Evaki Trust Property Board (ETPB) is not taking proper care of them. Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani (leader of the Sikh community) criticized ETPB and said that this institution has failed in fulfilling its responsibilities.

What recommendations did the committee make?

• The Chairman of ETPB should be made a non-Muslim.
• All 1800 sites should be restored.
• This place should remain as heritage and Hindu-Sikh people coming from other areas can worship there.
• Scholarships for minority students should be increased.
• Hateful and discriminatory material should be removed from school books (in English and Urdu).
• Religious studies should be limited to books of that religion only.
• The 20 numbers extra which are given for Hifz-e-Quran, should be the same for minorities also.
• Job quota for non-Muslims should be increased.
• Senior officers of at least Additional Secretary level should attend the committee meetings.

Senator Danes Kumar said, ‘This caucus will work to implement the guarantees of the Constitution in real life, so that practical protections and policy changes can be achieved for non-Muslims.’

MNA Kesu Mal Khial Das told Pakistani newspaper Dawn that most of the temples and gurudwaras were abandoned in 1947 as the local communities left. But the government should take care of them, so that people from all over the country can come and worship.

Voice raised for minorities in Pakistan
This meeting is a big step for the minorities. The committee has promised that work will be done expeditiously on repair of places of worship, equality in education-jobs and heritage conservation. If these recommendations are implemented, the Hindu-Sikh community in Pakistan will get more security and respect.

A report by Pakistan’s National Child Rights Commission (NCRC) has shown extensive discrimination in the Islamic Republic of minority children, especially Christians and Hindus. This report presents information about the situation of children of minority religions and their situation there. This report demands government intervention.

According to Christian Daily International, the report points to serious challenges faced by religious minority children, which is a comprehensive problem. Forced conversion, child marriage and child labor, especially bonded labor, have become a problem for thousands of Christians and Hindu children.

Religion of minor girls

In the NCRC report of Christian Daily International, one of the most serious revelations is the tradition of kidnapping minor girls from minority communities and forcibly converting them and getting married to big Muslim men. The report also stated that due to institutional bias, lack of law enforcement and heavy mass pressure, the victims do not have any way for legal aid, which is a big crisis for human rights.

According to NCRC, a total of 27 complaints related to murder, kidnapping, forced conversion and minor marriage were received from April 2023 to December 2024, in which minority children were targeted and these are only recorded cases.

The most afflicted in Punjab province

It was reported by Christian Daily International that the situation in the country’s most populous province of Punjab is the most serious, where between January 2022 and September 2024, 40% of the total cases filed against minority children took place here. According to police data, the victims included 547 Christians, 32 Hindus, 2 Ahmedia, 2 Sikhs and 9 others.

The NCRC report said that there is a lack of religious inclusion, which forces Christian and Hindu students to read Islamic subjects against their faith. Christian Daily International further stated that it negatively impacts their GPA and educational progress, causing a culture of failure and separation.

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