India’s Muslim population is growing slower than it had in the previous decades, and its growth rate has slowed more sharply than that of the Hindu population, new Census data revealed. The decadal Muslim rate of growth is the lowest it has ever been in India’s history, as it is for all religions. The Muslim population still grows at a faster rate than the Hindu population, but the gap between the two growth rates is narrowing fast.
India now has 966.3 million Hindus, who make up for 79.8 per cent of its population, and 172.2 million Muslims, 14.23 per cent. Among the other minorities, Christians are 2.3 per cent of the population and Sikhs 1.72 per cent. The Registrar-General and Census Commissioner released the data on Population by Religious Communities of Census 2011; the distribution of data is divided by the six major religious communities, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain, besides “Other religions and persuasions” and “Religion not stated.” The data are released by sex and residence up to the levels of sub-districts and towns.
“This is completely along expected lines, and has been an ongoing process,” P Arokiasamy, demographer and Professor at the International Institute of Population Sciences, said. “With rising education and changing family expectations, declining fertility is an expected demographic phenomenon. It begins among better educated groups with better access to health care, as in India’s southern States, and then other groups catch up and converge,” Arokiasamy explained. In Kerala, for instance, the Muslim fertility rate (while higher than among the Hindus) is extremely low, especially compared with all communities in the northern States, he said.
The Census data on religion was put on hold for quite some time. While the 2001 Census data on religion was released in 2004 and the 2011 round results were expected in 2014. the numbers weren't released, even as a draft of the key data was selectively leaked. RSS thinkers have conveniently used the data as proof for the end of Hindus.
Muslim sex ratio improves further
The sex ratio among Muslims now stands at 951 females for every 1,000 males, substantially better than 936 in 2001, while among Hindus, it is 939 females for every 1,000 males, a slight improvement over the 2001 value of 931. Assam remains the State with the largest Muslim population as a proportion (34.22 per cent) and saw the largest increase in the Muslim proportion between 2001 and 2011, followed by Uttarakhand and Kerala.
As has been the case since Independence, the rate of increase of the Muslim population is higher than that of the Hindu population as a result of higher Muslim fertility, higher child mortality among Hindus and a greater life expectancy among Muslims, demographers say.
