India won’t be a Muslim country.
Myth of Muslim growth in India
Malthusian fears of a Muslim takeover of India have been a core part of the Hindutva agenda for almost a century now.
There
were strong but misguided media debates on the differentials in
population growth by religion in reference to Census 2001. The debate
was so intense, and often so malicious, that the Union government
established a committee to find out the “social, economic and
educational status of the Muslims”; it published a report, popularly
known as the Sachar report, which has dispelled misunderstandings about
Muslim population growth, as well as the status of social, economic and
educational conditions according to major socio-religious categories.
Now, over a decade later, it is appropriate to ask what has changed that
pertains to the Muslims of India.
Many
often wonder whether the release of census data coincides with some
political activity, like elections. The answer seems to be in the
affirmative. Further, the data is released in a context where, for over a
year, the sadhvis and sadhus occupying a “place of pride” within
Parliament have been yelling urgency in containing the growth of
Muslims. It is time to find out if such rhetoric — “paanch beevian aur
un sabke 25 bachche” — has finally yielded results.
India
is projected to have 311 million Muslims in 2050 (11 per cent of the
global total), making it the country with the largest Muslim population
in the world.
In the nearly 70 years
since Independence, religious violence has claimed thousands of lives,
including those of modern India’s founder, Mahatma Gandhi, and former
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A recent Pew Research Centre report on
religious restrictions found India to have one of the highest levels of
social hostilities involving religion in the world.
With this background, let us get into the specific highlights of the Census 2011 population by religion data.
If we assume both communities continue to grow at this rate, Muslims will catch up with Hindus by 2220 ‒ in around 200 years.
At
these rates, for Muslims to overtake Hindus, India’s population would
need to be almost five times the current global population. In other
words, this is clearly an impossible scenario.
First,
the total population growth rate declined from 21.5 per cent to 17.7
per cent, which is a continuation of the decline of the population of
all religions since 1981. The decline has been somewhat faster than what
many experts expected, which is reassuring since population
stabilisation will occur earlier than projected estimates.
Second,
the Muslim population has increased from 13.4 per cent of the
population to 14.2 per cent, which is 0.8 percentage points higher. But
the rate of growth is considerably lower than in previous decades.
Muslims are expected to grow faster than Hindus for a couple of more
decades because they have the youngest median age and relatively high
fertility among the major religious groups in India. In 2010, the median
age of Indian Muslims was 22, compared with 26 for Hindus and 28 for
Christians. Muslim women bear an average 3.1 children per head, compared
with 2.7 for Hindus and 2.3 for Christians.
Third,
in 2011, Hindus constituted 79.8 per cent of the population, compared
to 80.5 per cent in 2001. This is the result of a rate of decline over
the decade of 3.5 percentage points. It is the difference between the
decadal growth rate of Hindus in 2001, which was 20.3 per cent and their
growth rate between 2001 and 2011, which is 16.8 per cent. Compare
these with the ratios for Muslims, who had a decadal growth rate of 29.5
per cent in 2001. This growth rate, between 2001 and 2011, has declined
steeply to 24.6 per cent. This decline works out to be a high 4.9
percentage points.
Fourth, when these
percentage point declines are compared between Hindus and Muslims,
Muslims have shown a 50 per cent higher decline in growth rate than
Hindus. This positive higher decline of Muslims compared with Hindus has
been occurring since 1981, and is expected to continue in a manner such
that the Muslim growth rate will soon be similar to that of the Hindus.
The fast pace of decline in Muslim women’s fertility rate is occurring
while they have a much lower mean child-bearing age, which in itself is
evidence that falling Muslim fertility is choice-based and irreversible
in the near future.
Fifth, overall,
there is considerable improvement in the sex ratio in 2011 — 943. This
improvement has been phenomenal among Hindus. This is a very positive
story of Census 2011. Yet, Muslims have better sex ratios compared to
Hindus, which is also a contributing factor in the relatively higher
number of births.
Sixth, it has been pointed out since the mid-1980s that the prevalence rate of contraceptives among Muslims has been increasing faster than among Hindus and is likely to catch up with the national average earlier than expected. The rate of increase in contraception among the Muslim community, even in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, has been high.
Sixth, it has been pointed out since the mid-1980s that the prevalence rate of contraceptives among Muslims has been increasing faster than among Hindus and is likely to catch up with the national average earlier than expected. The rate of increase in contraception among the Muslim community, even in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, has been high.
The
sadhvis and sadhus in Parliament would be better-off shouting slogans
that favour the establishment of national- and state-level equal
opportunity commissions in India. Also, it is time the Union government
established a committee to review the improvement in the social,
economic and educational situation of the 175-million strong Indian
Muslim community since the Sachar Committee turned in its report.
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