Digvijaya Singh slams PM Modi & Owaisi for 'misleading public' over Muslim population rise

Triggering the population debate again, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday, blamed PM Modi and Asaduddin Owaisi for misleading the public over the 'rising Muslim population'. Addressing an event Sehore, the ex-Madhya Pradesh CM, pointed out that while the Muslims' fertility rate remained higher than Hindus, it was bound to equalise by 2028. Pew Research released its report of India’s religious composition, concluding that it has been fairly stable since the 1947 partition. 

Digvijaya Singh slams Modi & Owaisi

"These people are fearmongering that in ten years, Muslims will become majority as they marry four times, making Hindus a minority. Today's report based on the census shows that since 1951, the decline in fertility rate in Muslims has been more than that in Hindus. Today, the fertility rate in Muslims is 2.7% & 2.3% in Hindus. By this rate, it will be equal in Hindus & Muslims by 2028," said Digvijaya Singh.

He added, "The issue is they (BJP) are calling this a danger and mislead Hindus. On the other hand, Owaisi is terming this a danger to Muslims and trying to win their vote. Neither Hindus are in danger, nor are Muslims in danger, only Modi ji and Owaisi ji are in danger".

What does the Pew report say?

Covering six decades of population data from 1951 to 2011, Pew Research Centre's report found that India’s overall population has tripled though growth rates have slowed since the 1990s. Hindus grew from to 966 million from 304 million, Muslims to 172 million from 35 million, Christians to 28 million from 8 million, Sikhs to 20.8 million from 6.8 million, Buddhists to 8.4 million from 2.7 million and Jains to 4.5 million from 1.7 million. Growth among Hindus slowed from a high of around 24% to about 17% in the 2000s, while Muslim growth slowed to around 25% and the rate among Christians dropped to 16%.

The report also found Hindus make up 79.8% of India’s population and Muslims account for 14.2% - with the Muslim population growing by 4% while Hindus declined by 4%. Muslims' fertility rate has fallen the highest from 4.4 children per woman in 1992 to an average of 2.6 in 2015, while Hindus from 3.3 children in 1992 to 2.1 by 2015. It also noted religious switching, or conversion, appears to be rare in India.