NEW DELHI, Sept 7: An Indian census based on religion has shown rapid growth in the number of Muslims and Christians, a trend an analyst warned could exacerbate friction with the majority Hindu community.

Census data showed the number of Muslims jumped by more than a third in the decade through 2001, while the number of Christians rose 23 per cent - outpacing the growth rate among Hindus.

Four out of five Indians are Hindus and the religion plays a large role in the political life of the officially secular state. An analyst said the figures could provide fodder for Hindu hard line groups, who fear an increase in Muslim numbers could threaten their dominance.

"This will give rise to another controversy. The Hindu hard liners may use it to their benefit," said analyst Achyut Yagnik, who runs a non-government organization in Ahmedabad.

Differences between followers of the two religions have triggered riots in the past. Nearly 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed after 59 Hindu activists were burnt in a train in February 2002. It was the worst communal bloodshed in a decade.

India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which lost power in elections in April, expressed concern at the rapid increase in the population of Muslims and Christians.

"The growth rate of the Hindu population is decreasing. The growth rate of the Christian and the Muslim population is increasing. This imbalance is not good for the country," BJP president Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.

The census figures show the Muslim population grew 36 per cent to 138 million people in the 10 years to 2001, accelerating from 34.5 per cent growth in the previous decade.

The much larger Hindu population grew 20.3 per cent in the decade, slowing from 25.1 per cent growth between 1981 and 1991. Muslims account for about 13 per cent of India's more than one billion people, up from 12 per cent a decade earlier.

The census data, issued late on Monday, showed Christians were the third-largest religious group with 24 million people, while Sikhs accounted for 19 million. It also revealed the tiny Parsi community dwindled to just under 70,000 people, from about 76,000 a decade earlier.

Census authorities urged the government to take steps to stem the decline of the Parsis, or Zoroastrians, who fled to India from Persia more than 1,000 years ago. Though Parsis account for less than 1 per cent of India, the community controls more than 15 per cent of the market value on the main stock exchange.But the highly educated community is on the verge of extinction as its population ages, thanks to a low birth rate and strict rules about admitting people to the fold. -Reuters