A breakdown of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) membership by religious affiliation is currently unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa. However, the following information may give an idea of the religious composition of the PPP.

According to a professor specializing on Pakistan at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, the PPP includes members of every ethnic group and does not reportedly have a religious bias (19 Nov. 1992). A professor at Wake Forest University who also specializes on Pakistan says that the PPP has some support among the Shi'a community, which may lead to some confrontation with the Islamic Sunni parties (10 Nov. 1992). According to the Islamabad correspondent of the Far Eastern Economic Review, there is some hostility between the PPP and fundamentalist groups that oppose the PPP for its secular orientation and its perceived Shi'a bias (17 Nov. 1992). A spokesperson for the Pakistan Human Rights Commission indicated that the PPP is in general responding to the Shi'a community's discontent with the government (18 Nov. 1992).

In August 1992, the Pakistani minister of religious affairs declared Benazir Bhutto, the leader of the PPP, an infidel, a heavy accusation in a country like Pakistan. He later apologized for the accusation (AFP 11 Aug. 1992).

Additional and/or corroborative information is currently unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 11 Aug. 1992. "Pakistan Opposition Enraged by Minister's Remarks Against Bhutto." (NEXIS)

Carnegie Endowment, Washington. 19 November 1992. Telephone interview with a professor specializing on Pakistan.

Far Eastern Economic Review, Islamabad. 17 November 1992. Telephone interview with a journalist specializing on Pakistani issues.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Lahore. 18 November 1992. Telephone interview with a spokesperson.

Wake Forest University, Department of Political Science, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 10 November 1992. Telephone interview with a professor specializing on Pakistan.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 11 Aug. 1992. "Pakistan Opposition Enraged by Minister's Remarks Against Bhutto." (NEXIS)