Citizenship law: Pakistan said, the Hindu population has increased

The Parliament of India has passed a controversial bill granting citizenship to non-Muslim minority groups from three of its neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till 31 December 2014. READ MORE

Under this, if Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India illegally can prove that they came from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, then they can apply for citizenship.

The Indian government argues that the number of minorities in these three countries are steadily declining and they are facing persecution on the basis of religion. READ MORE

It was criticized in the Parliament for calling it discriminatory as it would not grant citizenship to other minority groups in these countries.

“In 1950, the Nehru Liaqat Agreement was signed in Delhi and this ensured that both the countries would take care of minorities in their respective countries. But it did not happen and this agreement was a waste. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have a state religion, Islam. And in this way, there are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian and Christian minorities.

In 1947, the population of minorities inside Pakistan was 23 per cent and in 2011, it was reduced from 23 per cent to 3.7 per cent. “

Pakistan has dismissed the Indian Home Minister’s claim as false.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Wednesday, terming this claim as false and baseless.

The Foreign Ministry said, “If you look at the figures of the 1941 census, it will be clear that India has not deliberately and mischievously mentioned the large-scale displacement during the partition of 1947 and East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) in 1971. Both these incidents have had an impact on the percentage of a minority population in Pakistan. “

The statement said, “According to the first census of 1951 in Pakistan, the number of minorities in western Pakistan (present-day Pakistan) was 3.1 per cent of the total population, which increased to 3.71 per cent by 1998. In separate census Pakistan also The increase in the population of minorities has been recorded in the minority population was 2.96 per cent in the second census of 1961, 3.25 per cent in the 1971 census, 3.33 per cent in 1981 and in the year 1998. In the fifth census went reached 3.72 per cent. “

Pakistan Foreign Ministry also said that the 1998 census figures also, show that the population of Hindus in Pakistan was 1.5 per cent in 1951, which increased to about 2 per cent in 1998.

Pakistan’s government objected to the Citizenship Amendment Bill of India. Prime Minister Imran Khan wrote on Twitter that this bill violates all norms of international law.

After the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, Imran Khan wrote on Twitter, “We strongly condemn this bill of India, which violates all norms of international law and bilateral agreements with the Government of Pakistan. These RSS Hindus Part of the nation’s plan which the Fascist Modi government is promoting. “

Is the Indian government’s claim about the non-Muslim population, ie, minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh correct?

The Parliament of India has passed a controversial bill granting citizenship to non-Muslim minority groups from three of its neighbouring countries Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till 31 December 2014.

Under this, if Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India illegally can prove that they came from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, then they can apply for citizenship.

The Indian government argues that the number of minorities in these three countries are steadily declining and they are facing persecution on the basis of religion.

It was criticized in the Parliament for calling it discriminatory as it would not grant citizenship to other minority groups in these countries.

So let us know what circumstances are facing the non-Muslim communities in these three neighbouring countries?

How much the non-Muslim population?

Home Minister Amit Shah said that the non-Muslim population in Pakistan has decreased dramatically since 1951.

This is the situation after the large-scale migration of non-Muslims from Pakistan after partition in 1947.

Amit Shah described the population of minorities remaining in Pakistan as 23% in 1951, he says that their population has reduced due to decades of persecution.

But Amit Shah’s figures need to be challenged. It seems that they have mistakenly added figures before Bangladesh separated from Pakistan.

According to census data, the population of Hindus in Pakistan (West Pakistan before the formation of Bangladesh) was 1.5 to 2% in 1951 and there is no significant change even today.

The census also states that the population of non-Muslims in Bangladesh has fallen from 22% or 23% in 1951.

In the 1970s, Pakistan declared Ahmadiyya people to be non-Muslim. With this, this group with a population of 40 lakhs became the largest non-Muslim religious minority in the country.

Non-Muslim groups in Afghanistan are Hindus, Sikhs, Bahá’ís and Christians. These are less than 0.3 per cent of the population there.

In 2018, there were only 700 Sikhs and Hindus left. According to the report of the US State Department, they have also escaped due to the ongoing conflict there.

The Citizenship Bill of the Government of India states: In the constitution of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the religion of the state is considered Islam. Because of this, people of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities have faced persecution on the basis of religion in those countries.

It is true that the religion of the state is considered Islam in Pakistan. Afghanistan is also an Islamic country.

But the situation in Bangladesh is more complicated. The country came into existence in 1971 with a secular constitution, but in 1988 Islam was officially made the religion of the country.

In Bangladesh, a long legal battle to overturn this ended in 2016 with the verdict of the top court which ruled that ‘Islam’ should remain the official religion of the country.

However, all these countries have constitutional provisions that non-Muslim populations are free to follow their religious practices.

In both the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh, people of the Hindu community have occupied the post of Chief Justice. But the houses and businesses of a large population of Hindus have been targeted.

In some cases, they were targeted in such a way that they left from there and their land and property were seized. Hindus have also been targeted by religious extremists.

The Bangladesh government has denied India’s claim of targeting minorities. Foreign Minister Abdul Monim told the media, “We do not have examples of oppression of minorities in the country.”

According to UN figures, between 2016–19, the number of refugees in India has increased by 17%.

Whereas till August this year, the largest number of registered refugees in the United Nations are from Tibet and Sri Lanka.

Originally published at https://www.mubahisa.in.