Pakistan tolerating 4% Hindus, says Mr 10% Zardari

The question is particularly relevant in Pakistan, whose Constitution establishes Islam as the state religion. The Indians have a different point of view.

But there is a lot in between which they have forgotten," said Zardari, adding, "We are Muslims. Zardari's remarks came while addressing a gathering at the Yadgar-e-Fatah Victory Monument ceremony in Islamabad on August 14.

What Happened

Zardari's use of the word, "tolerate", is striking when used by the President of a country to describe the treatment of a religious minority whose rights are meant to be guaranteed by the Constitution. Though Pakistan's constitutional framework gives Islam a special.

• Also, Pakistan's latest 2023 census puts its Hindu population at 5.2 million, or 2.17% of the country's population, lower than what Zardari asserted.Zardari's choice of the word "tolerate" is striking for a President speaking.

• Yadgar-e-Fatah Victory Monument is a monument which Pakistan built to mark "the remarkable triumph in Marka-e-Haq", the name it has given to the 2025 mini-war with India.

• Pakistan's latest census, conducted in 2023, puts its Hindu population at 5.2 million, or 2.17% of the country's population.

Key Details

It is also a particularly loaded choice of words in a country where Hindu and other religious minorities have faced forced conversions, abductions, discrimination and mob violence. Even after accounting for the population caveat, Pakistan's Hindu minority has faced serious discrimination and.

• According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country had 52.1 lakh Hindus.

• The figure combines 38.68 lakh people recorded as "Hindu Jati" and 13.49 lakh recorded as Scheduled Castes.

• The often-repeated claim that Hindus constituted about 14.6% of Pakistan's population at Partition is misleading.

Why It Matters

There have been dozens of instances in the last decade alone when Hindu families from Pakistan left the country and relocated to India, citing religious persecution, insecurity and limited opportunities as among the reasons for their decision to migrate. The Human Rights.

• The 14.6% figure is from the 1941 census for areas that now make up Pakistan.

• Pre-1971 figures can also be misleading, because Pakistan then included East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), where the Hindu population was substantially larger.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• The 1951 census, for example, recorded religion separately for West Pakistan and East Bengal.

• Its 2025 report highlighted the vulnerability of Hindu and Christian women and girls to forced conversions and underage marriages, particularly in Sindh and Punjab.

• Continued reporting by India Today as more details emerge