Poison Myths
By Anil Chamadia and Subhash Gatade
The Indian Express
November 05, 2003The Hindutva Right sermonises to the minorities. It also propagates
myths. The alleged link between religion and population growth is one
such myth that has gained credence of late.The latest revelation that the population growth rate in Nepal, the
world's only Hindu rashtra, at 2.1, is more than that of Islamic
Bangladesh (2 per cent) should put such myth-makers on the defensive.
It may also shock them to know that the growth rate of Hindus in J&K
is twice that of the Muslims there. But, sadly, the Sangh Parivar
continues to flog its stereotypes. BJP General Secretary Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi, addressing a recent meeting of the party's minority
cell, gave Muslims the unsolicited advice that they should adopt
birth control measures urgently if they do not want to be left behind.But what does the data reveal? It shows that the growth rate for
different minorities remains almost the same. According to 1961
figures, Muslims were 10.7 per cent of the then population,
Christians were 2.4 per cent, Sikhs were 1.8 per cent and Jain and
Buddhists were 0.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. The 1991
figures corresponding to these different communities were 11.67 per
cent, 2.32 per cent, 1.99 per cent, 0.41 per cent and 0.77 per cent
respectively. If one compares the growth rate of Hindus and Muslims
then, one would find that in the year 1971 Hindus comprised 82.7 per
cent of the population whereas Muslims were 11.2 per cent and the
figures reached 82.6 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively, in the
year 1991.A comparison of growth rates reveals that while the population of
Hindus increased from 23.71 to 24.42 during the year 1961-71 and
1971-1981 the respective figures for Muslims were 30.85 and 30.20
respectively. This means that the population of Muslims actually
decreased as compared to Hindus. It is also incorrect to say that
Muslims abstain from family planning. A report published by the
Baroda-based Operations Research Group in 1981 found that the rates
of contraceptive use between Hindus and Muslims were comparable.The "Hum paanch, unke pachees" mythology also talks of polygamy among
Muslims. First, think of the practicality of such a situation.
Suppose every person in a particular community marries four wives,
will there be an enough number of women for everyone? Clearly not.
Coming to specifics, data shows that polygamous relations are more
prevalent in communities other than Muslims. A recent survey in eight
blocks of a Muslim majority area in Ahmedabad revealed that only two
people had four wives, two other people had three wives and 279
people had two wives. As opposed to this there were 20,950 cases of
"Maitri Karar" (friendship agreement) registered by Hindus with the
collector in this single district. This is a term specific to Gujarat
and is essentially a method to bypass the stringent provisions of the
Hindu Marriage Act and enter into an "undeclared second marriage".It needs to be understood, then, that there is no correlation between
the rate of growth of population and religion. Population growth
rates are influenced by socio-economic and cultural factors.
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Courtesy:Harsh Kapoor/
www.sacw.net