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Sangh rushes in to mine Muslim population data ???THREAT TO INTEGRITY??: We told you so, say RSS, BJP; VHP paranoia: Hindu rajya to Muslim country MANINI CHATTERJEE Posted online: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 at 0143 hours IST NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 7: As if on cue, the RSS-led Sangh Parivar today rushed in to seize upon the latest Census data on religion as ??????vindication???? of its claim that Hindus in India were ??????under threat???? from a rising Muslim population. It blamed both ??????infiltration???? and ??????the role of Muslim leaders???? for the high rate of growth among Muslims. Data released yesterday showed that the growth rate of the Muslim population was the highest, at 36 per cent, during the period 1991-2001. This was 1.5 per cent higher than the figure for the previous decade. The growth rate of the Hindu population declined to 20.3 per cent during 1991-2001 from 25.1 per cent during 1981-91. These results, RSS spokesman Ram Madhav claimed to The Indian Express, were not surprising ??????because our people have been studying demographic patterns and profiles and have been giving us reports from time to time.???? The official Census report has ??????only confirmed what we have been saying for a long time??that there is a continuous fall in the population of Hindus since 1961, and a corresponding rise in the Muslim population.???? In Bangalore, BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said the demographic trends were ??????a cause of grave concern for all those who think of India??s unity and integrity in the long run.???? The VHP, typically, was a lot more strident. At a Janmashtami function in Ahmedabad, Gujarat VHP leader Chinubhai Patel was quoted as saying: ??????The situation is alarming going by the 36 per cent growth in the number of Muslims in the country. The community is conspiring to convert Hindu rajya into a Muslim country.???? He appealed to Hindus to unitedly ??????defeat???? the purpose of the Muslims. Significantly, while discussing the reasons for the imbalance between the Hindu and Muslim rates of growth, RSS??s Ram Madhav said one reason for the declining rate among Hindus, ??????especially middle-class???? Hindus was the adoption of the one or two-child norm. Asked if that meant that the RSS agreed with the view that high rates of fertilty among Muslims was linked to their high rates of poverty and backwardness, Madhav was quick to disagree. ??????No, it is not about poverty levels but it is about educating the people. If the (Muslim) leadership encourages you to produce more, it results in higher fertility rates.???? ???It??s a national problem, not a communal one?? ??? ??????Venkaiah Naidu (BJP President) does not bother to examine all the surrounding factors, the social and economic indicators.???? Congress spokesperson ??? ??????The religion-based census is a good move but that said it should not be communalised and instead viewed as a national problem.???? Kamal Farooqi, member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) ??? ??????I don??t agree with the report. It is targeted at Muslims and aimed to divide different communities living in peace and harmony???? Mufti Mukarram Ahmed, Imam of Fatehpuri Jama Masjid That apart, illegal infiltration, too, was playing a role, he said. "There are between 1.25 to 1.75 crore infiltrators from Bangladesh. Most infiltrators have got ration cards and got their names onto the voters?? list, especially in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. We are not clear whether their numbers have been included in the Census.???? Naidu, too, referred to the "alarming" phenomenon of "demographic invasion" by Bangladeshi infiltrators, indicating that the Census figures would provide fresh fillip to the BJP??s campaign on that front. The BJP leadership would discuss the Census findings thoroughly and come out with a detailed response shortly, he said. The RSS, Madhav said, wanted the entire country to take the implications of the Census seriously and not see it as a "communal or secular" issue. "We are not saying that Hindus should have more children or Muslims should not be here. We are only asking for balance and stability." Population stability was in the overall interest of the country, and all communities should practise family planning uniformly, he said. http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=54692 |
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September09, 2004 - [India Thinkers Net]Relook at the census comments >> |
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