Pakistan accused of undercounting Hindus, Christians in latest census

The religious minorities in Pakistan have accused the government of undercounting them in the latest census data published in May.

This comes in four years after the survey was conducted.

The survey for the sixth Population and Housing Census was undertaken under former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and got completed in 2017.

However, the results were delayed after some provinces, including Sindh and Balochistan flagged the issue of undercounting.

According to the 2017 census data, Pakistan’s overall population has grown to 207.68 million.

This is an increase of around 75 million since 1998 when the country recorded 132.3 million people.

As per the census, the Muslim population in Pakistan grew by 96.47 per cent while the population of other religious minorities reported negligible growth and even shrank in some cases.

Hindus in Pakistan account for 1.73 per cent of the total population while Christians make up for 1.27 per cent of Pakistani residents.

Other minorities like Ahmaddiyas account for less than 0.1 per cent of Pakistan’s population.

Karachi Supreme Court attorney Neel Keshav claimed that the Hindu population in Pakistan is likely to be much higher, reported Pakistan Today.

Pakistan Today quoted Center for Social Justice Director Peter Jacob as saying, "Even though Christians have migrated overseas and converted to Islam, our church records make us suspect that Christians may have been undercounted by at least half a million. We're struggling to find accurate data, and somehow the government is not helping. It is not investigating".