[3] Though Hinduism was one of the dominant faiths in the region a few centuries ago,[4][5][6] its adherents accounted for just 2.17% of Pakistan's population (approximately 5.2 million people) according to the 2023 Pakistani census.

[16] They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Vaghri,[17] and Gujarati.

[33] Various archaeological finds such as the Swastika symbol and Yogic postures from Indus Valley Civilization also point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism.

[35] Later, during the Vedic period, the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the Indus River around 1500 BCE.

[41] Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in 6th century BCE.

[citation needed] The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was provided on an individualistic basis.

[13] The reasons for this exodus were the heavily charged communal atmosphere in British Raj, deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities.

[52] Decadal censuses taken in British India revealed the religious composition of all administrative divisions that would ultimately compose regions situated in contemporary Pakistan.

[133] In one case, a landlord abducted a Hindu daughter from a farm worker and falsely claimed the teen was compensation for a $1,000 debt that the family owed him.

[134] Religious institutions and persons like Abdul Haq (Mitthu Mian) politician and caretaker of Bharachundi Sharif Dargah in Ghotki district and Pir Ayub Jan Sirhindi, the caretaker of Dargah pir sarhandi in Umerkot District support forced conversions and are known to have support and protection of ruling political parties of Sindh.

[135][136][137] According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) around 1000 non-Muslim minority women are converted to Islam and then forcibly married off.

[139] In 2019, a bill against forced conversion was proposed by Hindu politicians in the Sindh assembly, but was turned down by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers.

[164] The Kalasha people practice a religion which is based on an older set of Ancient Hinduism, but which has some Vedic influence, alongside animism and shamanism.

[180] In the modern times most of the Punjabi Hindus are settled in United States, Germany, England, Canada and Australia due to their mass migration (or diaspora).

[181] A small proportion of Afghan Punjabis are also there in Pakistan in Balochistan and Punjab, majority of them are Hindus who migrated from Afghanistan mainly after conflict due to the persecution of Taliban and religious fanatics.

The study found that majority (91.5%) of the respondents in Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them.

The city of Peshawar today is home to four Hindu tribes – the Balmiks, the Rajputs, the Heer Ratan Raths and the Bhai Joga Singh Gurdwara community.

[187] But in other parts of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa like Buner, Swat and Aurakzai Agencies, Hindu and Sikh families, have been targeted by Taliban for failing to pay Jizya (religious tax) and due to this more than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families in Pakistan's have moved to Hasan Abdal and Rawalpindi in Punjab in 2009[188] In central Punjab, Hindus are a small minority.

The survey noted that majority of the scheduled caste Hindu families do not send their girl children to schools due to the fear of forced conversion.

[193] Pakistan belongs to those nations who have the world's worst literacy rate, which is the main reason for its slow agricultural growth and sluggish economy.

However, there are no laws and amendments made to register a marriage between two Hindus – from one Province to another (Islamabad Capital Territory, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab).

In general, religious conversion was a gradual process, though it is mostly attributed to the works of Sufis, some converted to Islam to gain tax relief, land grant, marriage partners, social and economic advancement,[233] or freedom from slavery and some by force.

[241][242] Jogendranath Mandal, Pakistan's first minister of Law and Labour, left for India in 1950, 3 years after taking office, citing anti-Hindu bias by the bureaucracy.

[21][249] In December 2020, a mob in Karak District attacked and set fire to a Hindu temple which was originally demolished in 1997 before being restored by the Pakistan Supreme Court in 2017.

[260] In June 2023, the Pakistan Higher Education Commission banned the celebration of the Hindu festival Holi on institute campuses to preserve "Islamic identity" and "sociocultural values" which flared the issue of religious discrimination in the country.

[264] A Hindu temple was attacked with rocket launchers by a gang of dacoits in the Southern Sindh Province of Pakistan on July 16, in the second such incident of vandalism of a place of worship belonging to the minority community in less than two days.

The attack came after the Mari Mata Temple in Karachi's Soldier Bazar was razed to the ground by bulldozers in the presence of a heavy contingent of police force late on Friday night.

[265] As per a written response to parliament by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in December 2024, a total of 112 cases of violence against Hindus and other minorities have been reported in Pakistan in 2024 till October.

[266][267] According 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.

[273][274] In 2015, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government introduced Ethics as an alternative subject to Islamiat for non-Muslim school children in the province[275] followed by Sindh in 2016.