Exploring Association of Economic Ties and Social Interaction Between Minorities and Muslims in Pakistan

Abstract

Financial The socio-political adjustment and economic well-being of minority groups has been reported as one of the important issues in the recent time in Pakistan. The study was conducted to know the adjustment issues of Christians and Sikhs minorities in District Peshawar and Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. More specifically, the aim of this study was to explore how Sikhs and Christian minorities in Pakistan are adjusted in the social fabric of Muslim majority areas and to what extent their economic ties with Muslims are strengthening their overall social interaction in the area. A total of 372 respondents from the targeted locales were selected through proportional allocation through Sekaran table and data was collected based on five-point Likert scale. The economic activities of the minorities were selected as independent variables while the level of social interaction was obtained as dependent variables. The collected data was analysed at uni-variate level through frequency distribution and Chi square test was performed at bi-variate level. It was found that minorities are fully enjoying participation in the economic activities which results in strong social ties and interaction in their daily lives with Muslim majority in the study area. However, it was also found that the minorities are still underprivileged in the area of economic and business activities in Pakistan.