Freedom of religion in Pakistan

Overview

Pakistan’s constitution (PDF) states that “all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law” (Article 25(1)), and that “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures” (preamble).

The US State Department’s annual report on human rights in Pakistan, covering 2023, says however that “Members of ethnic minority groups stated these provisions had never been fully implemented”, and that “observers cited forced religious conversion and enforcement of blasphemy laws as particular concerns for religious minorities”.

The report also notes that while Pakistan’s constitution enshrines every citizen’s “right to profess, practice and propagate his religion”, it is proceeded by a caveat that this right is not absolute, but “subject to law, public order, and morality” (Article 20).

According to Pakistan’s 2023 digital census, Muslims make up 96.4% of Pakistan’s population, down from 96.5% in 2017. Christians make up 1.4% of the population in 2023, and Hindus 1.6%, as opposed to 1.3% and 1.7% respectively in 2017. However, Christian church leaders in Pakistan have argued that the census “grossly undercounts” the number of their followers in the country, saying it doesn’t match with their experience of a growing population.

In February 2023, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan published a report (PDF) looking at freedom of religion and belief in 2021/2022. The Commission expressed “considerable alarm” over the state of religious freedom in the country. The report highlighted several developments during that period that “belied the state’s commitment” to freedom of religion and belief, specifically:

The incidence of forced conversions in Sindh [particularly of kidnapped Hindu women and girls being forced to marry Muslim men] has remained worryingly consistent. Reports of religious minorities’ sites of worship being desecrated have continued, but with no response from the state when such incidents involve sites associated with the Ahmadiyya community. In Punjab [in the northwest], the mandatory declaration of faith for marriage certificates has further marginalised the Ahmadiyya community, while attempts to enforce a standardised national curriculum have created an exclusionary narrative that sidelines Pakistan’s religious minorities.

The report also said the state’s response to issues with religious freedom “has, historically, fostered a climate of impunity for perpetrators of faith-based discrimination and a visibly shrinking space for religious freedom”.

More information on concerns over Pakistan’s actions towards Ahmadi Muslims can be found in the Commons Library debate pack Treatment of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.