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| The Decline of ] , ] and ] in the areas that now constitute the new country of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 happened for a variety of reasons, and even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan, these ] religions have continued to dwindle in Pakistan . | The Decline of ] , ] and ] in the areas that now constitute the new country of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 happened for a variety of reasons, and even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan, these ] religions have continued to dwindle in Pakistan . | ||
| ⚫ | ==Persecution== | ||
| ==Pre-Pakistan History of the region== | |||
| Pakistan came into existance in 1947 but the history of the region that became Pakistan bears much significance in the decline of Hinduism in the region. | |||
| ===Qasim=== | |||
| In AD 711, ] conquered ] bringing Indian societies into contact with Islam. When he arrived Sindh had a ] mix of ] as well as Hindu population, as opposed to contemporary Pakistan where Buddhism is practically extinct and Hindus and Sikhs now constitute around 2% of the population. But the real growth of Islam occurred gradually. The Hindus , without any religious zeal to spread their religion just paled in front of the Muslims who slowly and steadily kept growing their numbers culminating in 1947 with British assistance. | |||
| ] was a Hindu and his the earlier ] was Buddhist . The forces of Muhammad bin Qasim defeated ] | |||
| ===Destruction of Temples and Stupas in Sindh by Qasim=== | |||
| In the ] ascribed to ] who was a ] historian by birth, '''though his sympathies seem to have been strongly with the Arabs''' has written of several of instances of conversion of ] ]s to mosques such as at ],and the destruction of ] temples . | |||
| Arab invaders described Indian Pagans as ''"but-parast'', and idol-breakers as ''"but-shikan"''. The word ''"but"'' is derived from Buddhism, but the Arabs used it for "Indian paganism" in general. Therefore in Arabic chronicles it is not always evident if Buddhists, Hindus or other Indian religions are meant. | |||
| Around 1000 CE, Turkic, Persian and the Afghan Muslims began major incursions into India through the traditional invasion routes of the northwest. Mahmud of Ghazni (979-1030) established a base in Punjab and raided nearby areas. | |||
| ===Mahmud of Ghazni=== | |||
| By the 10th century ] defeated the Hindu-]s, effectively removing Hindu influence and ending Buddhist self-governance across Central Asia, as well as the ]. He demolished both stupas and temples during his numerous campaigns across North-Western India, but left those within his domains and ] alone, even as ] recorded Buddha as the prophet "]".<ref></ref> | |||
| Mahmud of Ghazni is said to have been an ].<ref>Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political State of India Before the Mohammedan Invasion:... By Faxian, Sykes (William Henry) pg.?? </ref> Hindu and Buddhist statues, shrines and temples were looted and destroyed, and many Buddhists had to take refuge in Tibet.<ref> How to Prepare for the Sat II: World History By Marilynn Hitchens, Heidi Roupp, pg. ??</ref> | |||
| ===Muhammad of Ghor=== | |||
| Muhammad attacked the North-Western regions of the ] many times. Gujarat later fell to Muhammad of Ghor's armies in ]. ]'s armies destroyed many Buddhist structures, including the great Buddhist university of ].<ref>Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions By C. J. Bleeker, G. Widengren page 381</ref> | |||
| In ] ], one of ]'s generals destroyed monasteries fortified by the ] armies, such as the one at ]. Many monuments of ancient Indian civilization were destroyed by the invading armies, including Buddhist sanctuaries near ]. Buddhist monks who escaped the massacre fled to ], ] and ].<ref>Islam at War: A History By Mark W. Walton, George F. Nafziger, Laurent W. Mbanda (page 226)</ref> | |||
| ===The Mongols=== | |||
| In ], ] conquered ] and devastated the Muslim world. In ], after his death, his conquest was divided. ] then established the ], where his son ] made Buddhism the state religion. At the same time, he came down harshly on ] and demolished mosques to build many stupas.{{Citation needed|date=February 2009}} He was succeeded by his brother, and then his son ] who converted to Islam and in 1295 changed the state religion. After his reign, and the splitting of the Chagatai Khanate, little mention of ] or the stupas built by the Mongols can be found in Afghanistan and Central Asia.<ref></ref> | |||
| ===Timur (Tamarlane)=== | |||
| Timur was a 14th-century ] of ] descent <ref name="EI">B.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in ], Online Edition, 2006</ref><ref>The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, "Timur", 6th ed., Columbia University Press: ''"... Timur (timoor') or Tamerlane (tăm'urlān), c.1336–1405, <u>Mongol conqueror</u>, b. Kesh, near Samarkand. ..."'', ()</ref><ref>, in ]: ''"... was a member of the Turkic Barlas clan of Mongols..."''</ref><ref>, in ]: ''"... Baber first tried to recover Samarkand, the former capital of the empire founded by his Mongol ancestor Timur Lenk ..."''</ref>, conqueror of much of Western and central Asia, and founder of the ]. | |||
| ] destroyed Buddhist establishments and raided areas in which Buddhism had flourished.<ref>Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer By Jeannette Mirsky</ref><ref>Ethnicity & Family Therapy edited by Nydia Garcia-Preto, Joe Giordano, Monica McGoldrick</ref> | |||
| ===Mughals=== | |||
| ] rule also contributed to the decline of ] and Buddhism. They are reported to have destroyed many Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines alike or converted many sacred Hindu places into Muslim shrines and mosques.<ref>War at the Top of the World: The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet By Eric S. Margolis page 165</ref> Mughal rulers like ] destroyed Buddhist temples and monasteries and replaced them with Islamic mosques.<ref>India By Sarina Singh</ref> | |||
| {{off topic}} | |||
| ===Conclusion === | |||
| When ] arrived in India, it sought conversion from, not assimilation to or integration with, the already present religions. Under ] influence, the pressures of caste, and with no political support structure left in place to support Hinduism, many converted to Islam in the Bengal region. After the ] invasions of Islamic lands across Central Asia, many ]s also found themselves fleeing towards India and around the environs of ]. In Bengal, their influence, caste attitudes towards Buddhists, previous familiarity with converting Buddhists, a lack of Buddhist political power, ]'s resurgence through movements such as the ] and the ], all contributed to a significant realignment of beliefs that relegated Buddhism in India to the peripheries. | |||
| ===Islam=== | |||
| Buddhism suffered immensely during the ] with Muslim rulers such as ], ], ] and ] destroying temples and shrines and seeking conversion of Buddhists to Islam.<ref>Ambedkar and the Neo-Buddhist Movement, - Page 14 | |||
| by Madathilparampil M. Thomas, Theodore S. Wilkinson, S. Wilkinson (This was the greatest loss Buddhism suffered. The killing that followed the Muslim | |||
| conquest wiped out the Buddhist Sanga)</ref> | |||
| According to Dr. B. R. ], "there can be no doubt that the fall of Buddhism was due to the invasions of the Muslims.”<ref>B.R. Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, vol.3, p.229 (Chapter “The decline and fall of Buddhism”).</ref> He wrote: “Thus the origin of the word indicates that in the Muslim mind idol worship had come to be identified with the religion of Buddha. To the Muslims they were one and the same thing. The mission to break idols thus became the mission to destroy Buddhism. Islam destroyed Buddhism not only in India but wherever it went. Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhara and Chinese Turkestan (…) in all these countries Islam destroyed Buddhism.”<ref>B.R. Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, vol.3, p.229-230.</ref><br> | |||
| The Arabic invaders described Indian Pagans as But-parast, and idol-breakers as but-shikan. The word "but" is derived from Buddhism, but the Arabs used it for "Indian paganism" in general.<ref>Elliot & Dowson: History of India, vol.1, p.119, 120. Koenraad Elst: Who is a Hindu. 2001</ref> | |||
| ], a Buddhist and former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, has stated that Buddhism had collapsed in Central and East Asia because Islam was propagated by use of armed force in those countries.<ref> </ref> | |||
| ==Contemporary times== | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| {{Main|Hinduism in Pakistan|Persecution of Hindus#Pakistan|Anti-Hindu#Pakistan}} | {{Main|Hinduism in Pakistan|Persecution of Hindus#Pakistan|Anti-Hindu#Pakistan}} | ||
| There are a number of instances of persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percentage of the Pakistani population;<ref>Census of Pakistan, 1951</ref><ref> by Prafull Goradia, 2002 "In 1951, Muslims were 77 percent and Hindus were 22 percent."</ref> by 1998 the share of Hindus were down to around 1.7 percentage.<ref>Census of Pakistan, 1998</ref> This huge drop is due to wide forcible conversion and murder of those who resisted it, a situation that is recorded to have continued till date. Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news | first =B. Murlidhar | last =Reddy | title = Hindus in Pakistan allege humiliation| url =http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/23/stories/2005092314831800.htm | publisher =The Hindu | accessdate =2006-08-26 | location=Chennai, India | date=September 23, 2005}}</ref> | There are a number of instances of persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percentage of the Pakistani population;<ref>Census of Pakistan, 1951</ref><ref> by Prafull Goradia, 2002 "In 1951, Muslims were 77 percent and Hindus were 22 percent."</ref> by 1998 the share of Hindus were down to around 1.7 percentage.<ref>Census of Pakistan, 1998</ref> This huge drop is due to wide forcible conversion and murder of those who resisted it, a situation that is recorded to have continued till date. Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news | first =B. Murlidhar | last =Reddy | title = Hindus in Pakistan allege humiliation| url =http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/23/stories/2005092314831800.htm | publisher =The Hindu | accessdate =2006-08-26 | location=Chennai, India | date=September 23, 2005}}</ref> | ||
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| According to ], a physics professor at ] in ], the "Islamizing" of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'<ref>, ], 2009-01-21</ref> | According to ], a physics professor at ] in ], the "Islamizing" of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'<ref>, ], 2009-01-21</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | == References == | ||
| ⚫ | {{reflist}} | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| * | * | ||
| ⚫ | == References == | ||
| ⚫ | {{reflist}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 09:54, 20 January 2011
The Decline of Hinduism , Buddhism and Sikhism in the areas that now constitute the new country of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 happened for a variety of reasons, and even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan, these Dharmic religions have continued to dwindle in Pakistan .
Persecution
Main articles: Hinduism in Pakistan, Persecution of Hindus § Pakistan, and Anti-Hindu § PakistanThere are a number of instances of persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percentage of the Pakistani population; by 1998 the share of Hindus were down to around 1.7 percentage. This huge drop is due to wide forcible conversion and murder of those who resisted it, a situation that is recorded to have continued till date. Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan.
The increasing Islamisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India, a nation with a Hindu majority, has been an influential factor in the persecution of religious minorities, among those minorities, Hindus. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalisation of Hindus and other minorities. Following the Babri Mosque riots in India, riots and attacks on Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations. It remains the hope of many that a permanent peace between the two nations will go a long way in making life better for the roughly 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan. The 1998 census recorded 2,443,614 Hindus in Pakistan.
Hindu minorities, under Taliban rule in Swat, were forced to wear Red headgear such as turbans as a symbol of dhimmi.. In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindus in Karachi were attacked and ethnically cleansed following an incident when a Hindu youth drank from a water tap near an Islamic mosque
Pakistan Studies curriculum issues
Main article: Pakistan Studies curriculumAccording to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report 'Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible' A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan’s past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today’s students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.
An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn commenting on a report in The Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks noted 'By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India’s ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassahs the damage done is greater. ' According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'
According to Pervez Hoodbhoy, a physics professor at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, the "Islamizing" of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'
References
- Census of Pakistan, 1951
- Hindu masjids by Prafull Goradia, 2002 "In 1951, Muslims were 77 percent and Hindus were 22 percent."
- Census of Pakistan, 1998
- Reddy, B. Murlidhar (September 23, 2005). "Hindus in Pakistan allege humiliation". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
- "Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan". BBC News. 2 March 2007.
- http://specials.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/18sld1-hindu-families-face-the-heat.htm
- Press Trust of India (12 July 2010). "Hindus attacked, evicted from their homes in Pak's Sindh". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
- "Hindus attacked in Pakistan". Oneindia.in. Tuesday, 13 July 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Nayyar, A.H. and Salim, A. (eds.)(2003). The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan. Report of the project A Civil Society Initiative in Curricula and Textbooks Reform. Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad.
- Hate mongering worries minorities, Daily Times (Pakistan), 2006-04-25
- In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan - The Muslim nation's public school texts still promote hatred and jihad, reformers say. By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer; August 18, 2005; Los Angeles Times. 4 Page article online Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Primers Of Hate - History or biology, Pakistani students get anti-India lessons in all their textbooks; 'Hindu, Enemy Of Islam' - These are extracts from government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education. By AMIR MIR; Oct 10, 2005; Outlook India Magazine Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Noor's cure: A contrast in views; by Arindam Banerji; July 16, 2003; Rediff India Abroad Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Curriculum of hatred, Dawn (newspaper), 2009-05-20
- ^ ‘School texts spreading more extremism than seminaries’ By Our Special Correspondent; Tuesday, 19 May 2009; Dawn Newspaper. Retrieved 01 January 2010
- The threat of Pakistan's revisionist texts, The Guardian, 2009-05-18
- Pakistan: Do school texts fuel bias?, Christian Science Monitor, 2009-01-21