Also, your wiki quote is incorrect in stating there are separate electorates for minorities — these were abolished in 2002. (Now all voters have an equally useless vote).

As for the Dawn, it is what is claims to be, “Pakistan’s most widely-circulated English language newspaper”. Founded by Jinnah, its never been a mass paper — English literacy rates are very low. (I thought circulation was about 150K — where did you get your lower number?). I used to like The Herald magazine too. It’s not available on the net, but you could ask your academic friend to help you get it from a good library.

Very unfair allegation in # 79.

I have requested a Pakistani academic friend of mine to provide me with the numbers on Hindus in Pakistan and, of course, a report on their lot. Shall keep you posted.

Interim, here are some very revealing and, in my opinion, indefensible, not to mention, despicable tid bits. Quotes are from wikipedia. Link below.

“Hindus as a minority in Pakistan have had considerably fewer privileges, rights and protections in comparison to minorities in India, which constitutionally avows itself secular and giving of equal rights to its religious minorities including the Muslim, Christian and Sikh communities”

“Hindus are allotted separate electorates (in pakistan) to vote by, but their political importance is virtually nil.”

“The intense religious conservatism and politically charged environment in Pakistani Punjab offers limited freedoms for Hindus.”

“The increasing Islamization of Pakistan and antagonisation against a majority Hindu India has forced many Hindus to leave Hinduism and convert to other faiths such as Buddhism and Christianity.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_Pakistan

p.s. if i am not mistaken, the much quoted Pakistani newspaper, the dawn has a circulation of less than fifty thousand. just to put it in context.

But trying the point further, these right wingers seem to be obsessed with Muslim women. Muslim women are ofcourse fair skinned and I would rather have them. Did I tell you my love for Priyanka Gandhi

Dont be so freaking lame and change you god damn moniker! SM INTERN: Please ask this guy/gal to change the id so as not to create confusion with my id.

Like I meantioned before Minorities have decreased in Bangladesh and Pakistan because they migrated into India. The latest figures on illegal Bangladeshis in India are 20 million which is only about 2% of our total population. But the right wingers like their counterparts in the US like to raise hue and cry over the immigrants because they are muslims

Dude AMFD, that was way too overboard.

I should have clarified. I was referring to the attitudes of the people who are the source of these numbers and not SM commenters.

Idea of India is different than the idea of Pakistan / Bangladesh. One can argue that Indians have not fully realised the idea. Ignoring the differences in vision statements of India and Pakistan/Bangladesh and trying to rate them on the same scale is incorrect.. A typical retort for this argument from the ‘secular’/'liberal’ ‘South asians’ is that this is a Hindutvadi argument.

SMR and others – Check out these guys. I am not sure how representative the newspaper Dawn is, but I believe it is the largest circulated English daily in Pakistan. Personally I find Cawasjee too backward looking(Elderly Unclely , Ayaz Amir is just plain stupid and my favorite Irfan Hussian the most insightful and brilliant. Ofcourse I may be biased because his opinions are similar to mine.

Cowasjee Ayaz Amir Irfan Hussain

I was pointing out to Ikram that the people who post these numbers of diminishing Hindu population usually have extreme right wing Indian groups as their source who also happen to obsess with the sexuality of desi Muslim women.

Dude AMFD, that was way too overboard.