~ A footnote to the ongoing demographic changes in India: The most spectacular example of demographic change in the north-east comes not from Assam but another state whose name begins with the same letter. In a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal titled, A Competition for Converts in Arunachal Pradesh, Max Bearak observed that The 1971 census showed less than 1% of Arunachal Pradesh’s residents called themselves Christian, but in 2001, 19% of the state’s total population and 26% of the tribal population put themselves in that category. While religious data for the 2011 census has not been released yet, many observers say that it is likely that Christians now form a majority of the approximately 1.4 million people in the state, with some tribes almost fully converted. Not surprisingly, there are serious concerns that this demographic change, coupled with aggressive evangelization and conversions would erode tribal culture and endanger the local language and customs. South of Arunachal Pradesh lies Nagaland, a state referred to by a commentator as …the second biggest success story of evangelists after Philippines in Asia. I am reminded of East Timor – one of the only two Catholic countries in Asia today which, less than 40 years ago, had a population (that) was only about 35-40 percent Catholic. Today, more than 90% of East Timor is Christian. Nagaland is strategically significant and has been the focus of efforts made by American Baptists to bring all the different warring tribes on a single Baptist platform. The northeastern states of India have witnessed great changes in their religious demography during the last few decades. In the process, large parts of Assam have turned predominantly Muslim, and Nagland, Mizoram and the whole of Manipur except the valley districts have become predominantly Christian. In these areas, the changes are almost complete and the only issue of interest is whether the remnants of Hindus in these areas would continue to stay there or will their already negligible presence decline further. The issue is not yet fully settled in Arunachal Pradesh and to an extent in Meghalaya. For these two states, the figures of 2011 census shall indicate whether the process of change there is also going to be as complete as it has been elsewhere. The official website of the Office of the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner of India mentions that, Religion returns in Indian census provide a wonderful kaleidoscope of the country s rich social composition... It also proudly states that In fact, population census has the rare distinction of being the only instrument that collects information on this diverse and important characteristic of the Indian population. The site has a helpful and neat table of data from the 2001 census on the main page as well as the distribution of population in various states. In 2001, out of a population of 1,028million, just over 827million (80.5%) mentioned themselves as followers of the Hindu religion in the census form. 138million Indians (13.4%) identified themselves as Muslims or the followers of Islam. The Christian population was counted at 24million (2.3%). Barring the five North-Eastern states (Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya), Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Hindus were a numerical majority in all other states. Although Jammu & Kashmir was the only Muslim majority state (as well as Lakshadweep, which is a Union Territory), Muslims constituted a significant proportion of population in Assam (30.9%), West Bengal (25.2%), Kerala (24.7%), Uttar Pradesh (18.5%) and Bihar (16.5%) in 2001. Similarly Christians constituted a sizeable number in Manipur (34.0%), Goa (26.7%), Kerala (19.0%), and Arunachal Pradesh (18.7%) in addition to the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar islands (21.7%). All these are figures are based on data collected more than 13 years back. In 2011, India had its decennial census exercise. Although the Highlights of Census 2011 were released almost a year back, the data on count by religion has still not been released – more than 2 years since the completion of Census. Why? [compiled from various sources]
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 04:44:10 +0000