The History of the Jews in Pakistan goes back to 1839 when Pakistan was part of British India.[1][2] Various estimates suggest that there were about 1,000 to 2,500 Jews living in Karachi at the beginning of the 20th century, mostly comprising Iranian Jews and Bene Israel (Indian Jews);[3][4][5] a substantial Jewish community lived in Rawalpindi,[1] and a smaller community also lived in Peshawar.
The Partition of British India along religious lines in August 1947 led to the establishment of two independent sovereign states: a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. Following this event, Pakistani Jews began to leave the new country for India, Canada and the United States before their persecution heightened in Pakistan after the establishment of Israel in 1948, which ultimately led to their exodus from the country; today, Pakistan-origin Jews are predominantly found in the Israeli city of Ramla (see Pakistani Jews in Israel), while the Pakistani government claims to host a modest Jewish population. According to Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), there are 745 registered Jewish families in the country.[6] However, the accuracy and transparency of the NDRA's database has been challenged;[7] Liel Leibovitz, an Israeli journalist, has doubted the correctness of the official numbers.[8]
It has been widely reported in Pakistani media that a man known as Fishel Benkhald, who preserves the last standing Jewish cemetery in Karachi, has claimed to be last Jew in Pakistan.[9][10] However, Benkhald's identity has been challenged by his brothers, who claim to be Muslims,[11][12] and he has been targeted and attacked in the country due to his activism for religious minorities in Pakistan. However, his Jewishness was formally recognized by the Pakistani government in 2017 after numerous appeals.[13]
Post-independence[edit]
1947–1970[edit]
Leading up to the time of the Partition of British India,[14] some 1300 Jews remained in Karachi, most of them Bene Israel Jews observing Sephardic Jewish rites.[15] The first real exodus of Jewish refugees from British India to Bombay and other cities in India came just prior to the creation of Israel in 1948 when antisemitism spread to Pakistan.[16][17] When Israel came into being in 1948, many Jews migrated to Israel, and after the Arab-Israel war a majority of them left Karachi.[18] By 1953, fewer than 500 Jews were reported to be in all of Pakistan.[19]
1971–present[edit]
The term "Yehudi" and its variants remains a word of derision when directed at a Bene Israel or anyone else as noted by Reverend John Wilson, one of the founders of University of Bombay (now University of Mumbai). In Urdu and Hindi, however, the word simply translates to Jewish.[20] The Bene Israel's prayers include intercessions on behalf of Her Majesty as in several Commonwealth countries.[21] The Jewish Chronicle of London reported on Karachi's Jews as recently as 2007.[22]
In general elections 2013, it was reported that 809 adult Jews were enrolled as voters. The number of Jewish women voters was 427 against 382 men in the community.[23] By 2017, according to the Election Commission of Pakistan around 900 Jews were registered as voters in the country.[24] Also in 2017 According to the National Database and Registration Authority, there are 745 registered Jewish families in Pakistan.[25]
See also[edit]
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References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tahir, Saif (23 February 2016). "The lost Jewish history of Rawalpindi". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. 2010 'Pakistan'; in Norman A. Stillman (ed.) Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Leiden:Brill.
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. 'The Jews of Pakistan', in M.Avrum Erlich (ed.) Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Diaspora, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC CLIO. 2008, (3: 1228–1230).
- ↑ "The Jewish Community of Pakistan". The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. "Jews of India" in Raphael Patai and Haya Bar Itzhak (eds.) Jewish Folklore and Traditions: A Multicultural Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2013, (1: 255–258).
- ↑ Hussain, Danish (27 March 2017). "Man of interfaith parents wins right to religion of choice". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
- ↑ [Pakistan's experience with identity management, M Ilyas Khan, BBC News,8 June 2012]
- ↑ Leibovitz, Liel (2013-04-04). "Where Are Pakistan's Jews Hiding?". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ↑ "'Last Jew in Pakistan' beaten by mob, arrested". The Express Tribune. 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ↑ "A passage to Pakistan". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ↑ Amanda Borschel-Dan. "Denounced by his brothers, Pakistani Jew says he's being thrown to an 'apostate lynch mob'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ↑ Frazer, Jenni (4 April 2017). "Brother of Pakistan's only registered Jew claims he is Muslim". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
- ↑ Pakistan’s ‘last Jew’ finally recognised by the government, Hindustan Times, MAR 27, 2017last jew
- ↑ Weil, Shalva (2012). "The Unknown Jews of Bangladesh: Fragments of an Elusive Community". Asian Jewish Life (10): 16–18. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. 2009 'Bene Israel Rites and Routines' in Shalva Weil (ed.) India’s Jewish Heritage: Ritual, Art and Life-Cycle, Mumbai: Marg Publications [first published in 2002; 3Arts, 54(2): 26–37.rd edn.], 78–89. Reprinted in Marg: A Magazine of The
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. 'The Jews of Pakistan', in M.Avrum Erlich (ed.) Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Diaspora, Santa Barbara, USA: ABC CLIO.2008, (3: 1228–1230).
- ↑ Daiya, Kavita (2011-02-04). Violent Belongings: Partition, Gender, and National Culture in Postcolonial India. Temple University Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-59213-744-2. Search this book on
- ↑ Salman, Peerzada (3 November 2013). "Role of Jews in Karachi's uplift highlighted". Pakistan: Dawn. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
When in 1948 Israel came into being a lot of Jews migrated to Israel, and after the Arab-Israel war a majority of them left the city.
- ↑ bataween. "Point of No Return: Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries". Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ↑ Platts, John T. (John Thompson) (1884). "A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
- ↑ Weil, Shalva. 1994 'The Secular & Religious Elite among the Bene Israel Jews in India', Pe’amim 60: 49–63. (Hebrew)
- ↑ Ghosh, Palash (16 November 2013). "Karachi Yahudi: Pakistan's Vanishing (Or Vanished) Jewish Community". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
The Jewish Chronicle of London reported on Karachi’s Jews as recently as 2007, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of Pakistan.
- ↑ The Newspaper's Staff Reporter. "Minorities' votes may decide fate of 96 constituencies". Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ↑ A. Khan, Iftikhar (8 January 2017). "Minorities' vote bank reaches close to 3m". Pakistan: Dawn. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
Among other religious communities, around 900 are Jews.
- ↑ Hussain, Danish (27 March 2017). "Man of interfaith parents wins right to religion of choice". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
