Discourse of Ethnic and Religious Minorities in Modern Pakistan

Abstract

This study examines the Pakistani state’s policy towards religious minorities and some criteria for identifying ethnic groups. The study revealed the characteristics of perceptions of religious minorities and ethnic groups as dynamic, processual, relational, contextual, situational and intersectional. By analyzing the censuses and their indicators, Pakistan's legal framework for religious minorities, their geographical location is revealed. Much attention is paid to the 2017 census, which has raised issues regarding the size of religious minorities. The article cites several important differences in numbers, origins, legitimacy, and social status among religious minorities. This article is based on field research in cities of Pakistan such as Lahore, Peshawar, and Islamabad, where focus group interviews were conducted with professors at the Pakistan Study Center, University of Peshawar, and a semi-structured interview with Iqbal Kaiser, Director of the Punjabi Khoj Garh Research Center.Thus, the purpose of this study was to reveal Pakistan’s policy towards religious minorities and ethnic groups in the context of the legal framework. The study of the legislative framework and overt policies of the Pakistani administration as well as analyzing the status of religious minorities were the main objectives of this study. On the basis of historiographical analysis and comparative-historical discourse method, the emergence of the category and problem of religious minorities in the context of concepts of nation-state, democracy and international politics is assessed.

Keywords: Pakistan, religious minorities, ethnic groups, legislative framework, census.