Author(s)

Shakir Ullah^1*, Muhammad Zakriya², Naeem Ullah³

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Political Science, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.

²Government College & University Lahore, Pakistan.

³Faculty of Usuluddin, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan.

Corresponding Author

Shakir Ullah

ABSTRACT

This research paper is conducted to analyze the social position of Christians in the structure of social stratification of Pakistan under Galtung’s theoretical framework. The social stratification in Pakistan is not original to the state of Pakistan rather it has roots in Hinduism and also it is a colonial construct that at largely carried out by Great Britain; a colonial power in pursuing the policy of divide and rule. Unlike India, the demography of Pakistan is religiously homogeneous but ethnically diverse. Historically, Christians would not be only marked as a religious minority but a lower social class as well. Unfortunately, it always has been treated as a lower stratum in the hierarchy of social stratification in the Indo-Pak region. In earlier works, scholars and academicians have defined Christians as a suppressed religious minority and marginalized citizens of an Islamic Republic. So, in the earlier works of researchers, the issue of violence against Christians in Pakistan has been explored from a religious dimension only.  This research article aims to explore the socio-structural dimension of violence against the Christian community in Pakistan which mainly focuses on three points: the inherent structural position of Christians in Pakistan, the negligible role of Britishers in the improvement of their position, and the free will of Pakistani Christians as a problem. Furthermore, this article is very significant and insightful for policymakers and social researchers due to its theoretical framework and its historical analysis of the issue.

KEYWORDS

Social stratification; Structural violence; Christian minority; Free-will

CITE THIS PAPER

Shakir Ullah, Muhammad Zakriya, Naeem Ullah. Structural violence against Christian Community in Pakistan: an analytical view on their social status with reference to Islam. Trends in Social Sciences and Humanities Research. 2024, 2(5): 63-67. DOI: 10.61784/tsshr3049.

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