Baháʼí Faith in Pakistan
The Baháʼí Faith originated in the 19th century Persian empire, and soon spread into the neighboring British India, which is now Pakistan and other states.
[8] With the constitutional recognition that they received in 1981,[1] Bahá’ís in Pakistan have had the right to hold public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils.
[15] Minority Rights Group International in its 2002 report states that the Bahá’í in Pakistan, "are still a young and almost invisible community, which is confined to intellectuals who try to keep out of the limelight.
[21] Shoba Das of Minority Rights Group International reported in 2013, "There are around 200 Baha’is in Islamabad, and perhaps two or three thousand in the whole of Pakistan.
This mass conversion is due to some social works done in the areas of Hyderabad, Matli, Badin, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas.
[24] According to Minority Rights Group International, the Baháʼís are generally converts and middle-class urbanites who keep a very low profile.
[31] Jamshed Jamshedi moved from Iran to Karachi in 1917 and Mirza Qalich Beg translated The Hidden Words into Sindhi.
[7] National coordinated activities across India began and reached a peak with the first All-India Convention which occurred in Mumbai for three days in December 1920.
[9] Martha Root, an American Baháʼí, visited Karachi and Lahore in 1930[30] and again in 1938 when she stayed for three months and supervised the publication of her book titled Tahirih — the Pure.
[7][34] The committee also published scores of Baháʼí books and leaflets in Urdu, English, Arabic, Persian, Sindhi, Pushtu, Balochi, Gojri, Balti and Punjabi and memorials including those marking the centenaries of the declaration of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh.
Hand of the Cause Dorothy Beecher Baker spoke at a variety of events in India extending her stay twice to speak at schools – her last public talk was in Karachi in early 1954.
[43] The Baháʼís elected to this first national assembly included Isfandiar Bakhtiari, Chaudhri Abdur Rehman, Faridoon Yazameidi, A.C. Joshi, M.H.
[47] In 1963 the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baháʼís, was elected and all nine members of the Pakistani National Spiritual Assembly participated in the voting.
[48] In 1964 Hand of the Cause Tarázu'lláh Samandari visited Baháʼís and social leaders in Dacca, East Pakistan at the time.
[50] In 1960 Mason Remey declared himself to be the successor of Shoghi Effendi,[51] thus he was excommunicated by the Hands of the cause at Haifa and expelled from the Baháʼí faith.
The Baháʼí youth of Karachi sponsored a youth symposium on world peace,[62] the community at large elected a woman to the national assembly,[63] for the first time elected a local assembly in Rahim Yar Khan,[64] and held a reception for a Baháʼí from the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro with guests including executive engineers, attorneys, businessmen and industrialists, doctors, press representatives, bankers and university students.
[66] Also in 1972 the government of Pakistan invited the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís to send a delegate to participate in a Conference of the Religious Minorities.
[76] In 1978 conditions in Afghanistan, including the Soviet invasion, lead to many Afghan Baháʼís being arrested in that country and many fled to Pakistan.
[82] In spring 1980 for the International Year of the Child the local assembly of Hyderabad organized an event that showcased children's art, essays, singing and quiz competitions,[83] and the topic of the elimination of racial prejudice was a theme in Baháʼí gatherings in several cities.
"[85] That fall and winter further gatherings were held, this time commemorating the United Nations Day (which highlighted the Commission for Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) and a talk by a professor of Superior Science College (see Government Colleges affiliated with the University of Karachi) which encouraged discussion on the elimination of prejudices.
[86] Before spring 1981, the youth of Karachi organized a conference recapitulating many of the same themes of games, quizzes, a poster contest and round of prayers.
[87] Come April and May there was a broad attempt at engaging several interest groups from primary and secondary schools, universities and colleges, professional publishers and the general public through a radio broadcast.
[88] Still that spring, president of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, wrote an executive order categorizing the Baháʼí Faith as a non-Muslim religion.
[89] That December the Baháʼís again held an observance of United Nations Day in several cities that received press coverage from print and radio.
[93] In February and April Baháʼís gathered for regional school sessions in Karachi, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Sibi.
[94] In August assemblies were formed for the first time in Sialkot, near Lahore, and Multan, the birthplace of Letter of the Living, Sa'id-i-Hindi.
[95] In September a symposium on Táhirih was held with presentations including Sahar Ansari, a professor of Urdu at the University of Karachi and Zahida Hina with the attendance of noted Pakistani poet, Jon Elia.
[98] Also in the early 1980s, Baháʼís in Pakistan started social and economic development projects like small-scale medical camps.
[100][101] The office attending to the refugees attracted visitors from governments and institutions including members of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (LSHCR) in Islamabad and Lahore; an official from the Ministry of Justice of the Nelherlands; a delegation from Finland that included the Ambassador from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ambassador of the Embassy of Finland in Tehran, and three senior officials of the Finnish government; and the Australian Immigration Officer from Canberra.
[103] In 1989 Baháʼís from Karachi moved to and elected the first local assembly in Muzaffarabad[7] while Baháʼís from Quetta sponsored a week long series of student competitions that were run in 11 schools in Baluchistan – each day different activities were run; The Elimination of Prejudice, national songs, a quiz game, and a drama contest were among the events held.
