The history of Baha’i Faith in Pakistan begins prior to its independence when it was still under British colonial rule. In 1844 Sheikh Sa'id Hindi, who was from Multan, was the first to introduce the Faith. During Baha’u’llah’s lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to the area that is current-day Pakistan.
In 1957, East and West Pakistan elected a separate National Baha’i Assembly. Later East Pakistan became Bangladesh with its own national assembly in the year 1970 - a year prior to the formation of Bangladesh. This has put many research scholars in amazement. How could a National Spiritual Assembly be formed prior to the formation of that country? Did the Baha’is have prior information of separation of East from West.
CENSUS
Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report all are hand in hand to exaggerate the Baha’i population in every country, and Pakistan is no exception to it.
1- “Encyclopedia II - Demographics of Pakistan - Nationality and ethnicity” have estimated over 79,000 in Pakistan .
2-The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2002, a mouth piece of Baha’i Administration, estimate Baha'is at 50,000-100,000 in Pakistan.
One might think that this should make Baha'i records fairly straightforward. These figures are absolutely false and purposefully intended to deceive the world population that Baha’i Faith has become a major religion of the world and well accepted by the masses.
As with most religious groups, organizationally reported adherent counts include significant numbers of nominal members, or people who no longer actively participate, yet still identify themselves as adherents. There are valid arguments that some of the "mass conversions" have resulted in adherents with little or no acculturation into the new religious system. As is typical with a religious group made up primarily of converts, Baha'is who drift from active participation in the movement are less likely to retain nominal identification with the religion - because it was not the religion of their parents or the majority religion of the surrounding culture.
Pakistani people are poverty stricken and they do not have much time to go after a religion not followed by their ancestors. Pakistani people follow Islam as their religion and the concept of “Mohammed is the Last Prophet of God” is so strong that it acts as a barrier for any deceptive way of corrupting the beliefs of the Muslims. At this moment it looks that the Muslim population throughout the world, especially in Pakistan, is satisfied with Islam and is not in the mood of accepting any new false man made beliefs.
The ones that eventually may accept the Baha’i Faith are not the sincere ones, but have different motives like,
1-Deception conversion mechanism adopted by the Baha’is.
2-Economic consideration ( like of Mehardads, Shamsheers etc)
3-Impetus of being called broad minded and advanced people. Usually the people from villages are attracted by this concept.
4-The apparent feigning good behavior of the Persian Baha’is.
5-Accepting that Baha’i Faith is an NGO, it has nothing to do with the Religion.
6-False propagation of the Baha’is that once you accept Baha’i Faith you remain a Muslim too.
7-Escaping from the strict Islamic Laws.
By all estimate the Baha’i population in Pakistan is not more than 1200. This is the reason that the Official Census of Government of Pakistan has never mentioned about the Baha’i population. Not even in “OTHERS”.
With such a less number, the Baha’is in Pakistan have the right to hold public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils. Their Eid Rizwan is granted a Holiday by the Government. All these facts indicate the influence of Western powers in Pakistan.
Whatever may be the encouragement that the Baha’i Faith may enjoy, it is sure to meet its doom considering the Pakistani ethnicity feeling and their die-hard support for Islam. It’s only a matter of time…..