Census Tells The Real Story – ‘Indian Currents’, Editorial

Dr Suresh Mathew.

The conversion bogey raised on and off by the Sangh Parivar has been exposed. The religion-based census figures put out by the government this week says: There is no change in the percentage of Christians in the total population of the country in the decade from 2001 to 2011. It remains stagnant at 2.3 per cent as it was in the decade from 1991 to 2001. The lie that there is large-scale conversion by Christian missionaries by fraudulent means has been nailed. In absolute terms, they number 2.78 crore.

The census figures have brought out certain other interesting aspects too. The growth rate of the population during the decade was 17.7 per cent. But the rate of growth of Christians during the same period was below this national average and stands at 15.5 per cent. If there was an abnormal increase in the Christian population due to conversion as alleged by the Hindutva forces, the growth rate of the community should have eclipsed the national population growth rate.

The population figures of the Muslims have also proved the Hindu fundamentalists wrong on another issue. Though their growth rate for the decade is 24.6 per cent, it is lower than the growth rate of 29.3 per cent in the previous census period of 1991-2001. The present growth rate is the lowest for the Muslims in India’s history. Another gladdening aspect is that the Muslim fertility rate — the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime — too is falling. It goes to prove that the community members are becoming aware of the need to keep small family for their progress and prosperity. However, it is a matter of concern that some of the districts in Assam which border Bangladesh have become Muslim majority during the census period giving credence to the argument that there is illegal migration from the neighbouring country.  

The Christian community has set an example with its highest sex ratio – number of females for every 1,000 males – of 1023. In a country which is known for its skewed sex ratio, the community has proved that it respects females as much as it values males. The sex ratio for the Hindus is 939, showing preference for male children among the community. It is all the more true in north Indian States where females are looked at with disdain and contempt.

The census figures, thus, send out the message clear and loud that Hindutva forces should stop minority-bashing in the name of alleged conversions. With the release of the new data, the Sangh Parivar’s Islamophobia should come to an end. Their diatribe against Christians too should stop forthwith. The propaganda that the Hindus will become a minority community has unambiguously been proved wrong. In fact, their growth rate is much more than the rate of growth of most minority communities. Though numbers and statistics cannot portray the entire picture, they present a reasonably dependable scenario.

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