Religions of Pakistan

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Religious minorities may only form 3% of Pakistan's population, but in business, education, medicine and the arts their contribution is significant. All religions enjoy equal status under the Pakistani constitution. Christians are the biggest minority group in Pakistan; they are distributed throughout the subcontinent and represent a wide cross-section of ethnic and linguistic stocks Churches of virtually every denomination embellish the architectural horizon of most Pakistani cities. Although Pakistani Christians have not restricted themselves to any one area of activity, they have traditionally made an outstanding contribution in health, education, railways and the police force. They are also playing a growing role in the civil and defence services. The second biggest minority is the so-called scheduled castes; these former "untouchables" from the Hindu caste system in pre-Partition days. In Pakistan this group is not legally or economically discriminated against-but old habits die hard and many are engaged in largely menial tasks. This group is diminishing as more and more of them become educated and make their way up the socio-economic ladder. The Hindus of Pakistan are mostly found in Sindh where they concentrate on agriculture. In the larger cities (particularly in Karachi) Hindus are very active in commerce. Their holy days are celebrated with all their traditional colour. The Ahmadis follow the preaching of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad at the end of the 19th century. The doctrine is very close to Islam on most points, but differs over the inviolable finality of the Prophethood. Ahmadis are mainly of Punjabi origin and are represented in virtually every field of economic activity. They have declared as non-Muslim in the 1973 constitution by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after the seccession of East Pakistan. The Parsis or (Zoroastrians) are very small minority concentrated in the larger cities and are almost exclusively engaged in business.