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| 11 September 2004 | Saturday | 25 Rajab 1425 |
New Delhi releases new Muslim census data
NEW DELHI, Sept 10: Indian census officials have issued adjusted figures for the growth rate of the country's Muslim population after data this week stirred hard line Hindu groups.
Late on Thursday, the bureau quietly released "adjusted" data revising down the growth rate for Muslims between the 1991 census and the 2001 count to just over 29 per cent from almost 33 per cent.
The data triggered concern among hard line groups, including those allied to the former ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which have long claimed higher Muslim growth rates threaten India's 80 per cent Hindu majority.
But, the officials said, the original 2001 data included Jammu and Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state and strife-torn Assam, both left out of the 1991 count because they were too dangerous to collect information. The Hindu population grew about 20 per cent over the same period, or 20.3 per cent if Kashmir and Assam were included.
Muslims now account for about 13.4 per cent of India's billion-plus people, up from 11.4 per cent in 1981, including Kashmir. Over the same time, the proportion of Hindus has fallen to 80.5 per cent from 82.6 per cent. -Reuters
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