History of the Jews in Pakistan

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]