Re: forced conversions report
Majority of Pakistan especially the north west and surrounding areas are very intolerant and extremism thrives there. Intolerance is at an all time high. Just recently people caught eating outside during ramzan in Faisalabad would be jailed for good. So now what are non Muslims supposed to do?
I'm thankful that a Christian like me is from Karachi, a very open and tolerant city. Probably the only city in Pakistan left where there is some religious tolerance.
1947, there are quite a few places in Pak were minorities are quite safe and prosper. Unfortunately Dawn does not have the following story on their site anymore but if someone can dig their archives they might find the following.
Pakistani Christians: statistical data
I am a Pakistani American and a demographical statistician by
profession. I owe loyalty to my motherland particularly to Sialkot
region where I was educated. These days I come across news about
oppression of minorities the world over, including Pakistan, and
subsequent migration.
I can at least attest about my own Pakistani Christian community. The
propaganda of Christians being persecuted and forced to migrate to
other counties smacks of ill-conceived knowledge of demographic data.
In 1901 the Christians living in areas approximating West and East
Pakistan numbered 32,000. By the year 1961 in the same region their
number rose to 733,000. In 1972 even after the separation of East
Pakistan, in the present (West) Pakistan alone the Christian population
increased to 907,861 which rose to 1,310,426 in 1981 according to the
census of Pakistan. By the year 1997 they numbered 2,723,660, an
increase of 207% over 1981 figure.
Without indulging in any comparisons, which are always odious, with
other communities for the sake of reader's curiosity it is revealed
that the Muslim community numbering 81,450,057 in 1981 registered an
increase of 158% by the year 1997 by scoring 129,373,850. The Hindu
community increased by 192% from 1,276,116 in 1981 to 2,451,294 in
1997.
The above data reveals that my Christian community has achieved the
highest percentage increase among the religious communities in
Pakistan. They were only 0.07 pc of population in 1901 but now they are
about 2 pc. Their proportion to total population has increased about
28.5 times and their population has increased 85 times.
My sole purpose in presenting these demographical statistical data is
to infuse understanding among different communities and restrain the
minorities in Pakistan from falling prey to disintegrating political
propaganda to meet selfish ends at the cost of national cohesion and
unity.
HAROLD WILSON
Hicksville, NY, USA