INCREASING POPULATION OF ISLAMIC FAITH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

India is a vast country with many official and unofficial languages, regions, religions, social disparities, cultures etc.  The country despite its 70+ years of independence is not yet able to have a common language from its own except using English as the link language, though slowly Hindi is getting some foot up thanks to official patronage.  Still in many of the semi-urban or rural pockets in many non Hindi speaking states, the acceptance or understanding of Hindi is very limited or non existent.  The state of Tamilnadu had become a beacon to many of the non Hindi speaking states, in that in mid 1960s and early 1970s to till about early 1980s it had successfully warded off Hindi as a language taught in schools and colleges and in official communications.  Its law makers were able to extract a promise from the then prime minister in the floor of the parliament that English will continue as long as non Hindi speaking people wish.  The effects of these on three generations of people of Tamilnadu is matter for a separate write up and not within the purview of this.

The population which stood at approximately at 390 million in the pre-partition days, became about 350 million in the immediate aftermath of partition and today it stands at a staggering 1.32 billion.  Of this in 1947 the Hindu constituted about 84% and about 10% Muslims and the balance was comprising of Christians, Jains, Budhists and others. The religion wise population distribution in 2011 (after 6 decades after the first census in 1951) showed that the Hindu population has decreased to a little under 80% to 79.8% and at the same time the Muslim population has increased to 14.2%, though there had been no significant increase in the population of other faiths. 

The Muslims had been setting up their religious schools in all the places and teach the tenets of Quran with Urdu and Arabic as the languages of choice irrespective of the local language of the state.  In all the states, there is a sizeable population with Islamic background and the religious schools run by their places of worship teach their children from a very young age both Urdu and Arabic so that the children can inculcate the essence of Quran very easily.  This early teaching of Urdu and Arabic makes these children excel in those languages better than those who start studying either in their school or college as an optional language.

There are pockets in some states where the religious practices of majority population are looked down upon by the people of this faith citing disturbance to their religious freedom.  There were cases of creating trouble or banning in entirety the processions during the Ganesh Chathurthi immersions, or during Durgashtami celebrations etc.  There are some places in many states where it is a mockery of rule of law as the local population profess by their own law. The exodus of the Kashmiri Hindus is a reminder to many to understand the problems faced by the rest in the event of the people of this faith reaching a critical percentage with the passive administration being a silent spectator. 

Armenian Christians prior to the first world war who had a losing fight with Turkish Ottoman empire which later ruled part of the Armenia and Lebanon of early to mid 1970s are lessons in history for those who are interested to understand the problems faced by the others when dealing with the increasing population of the people of this particular faith.  Though there are many rich countries in the world which are predominantly Islamic, when it comes to migration of the 'refugees' of this faith, it is predominantly to non Islamic countries in Europe, north America and some in Asia like India.  This refugee influx also add to the population in these countries and skewering the demographic distribution based on religion.  This is amply evidenced in the scenario being witnessed in the agitations in parts of European nations and in Britain.  The recent protests in the country against an act of parliament in terms of grant of citizenship to migrants is an eyeopener to the increasing threat of illegal migration into the country. Even those who are well educated and who occupied high offices in the country and belonging to this faith demand either repealing or modifying of the act. 

With the population religious distribution having a unique characteristic of people who profess by Islam is spread across India though in some states in large numbers and in a few in limited numbers.  Still their religious schools teach Urdu and Arabic to children.  When these children graduate and try to enter all India services through the competitive selection examinations, it is natural for them to choose the Urdu medium which is one of the options. Whether the candidate is from far off Kerala or from the Hindi heartland of UP or Bihar or north eastern states, these candidates may choose to write the exam in Urdu and excel in that and stand a better chance to get selected for the services.  Therefore, it is but natural to assume that there will come a time when the percentage of people from that religious background getting selected for all India services is higher than the rest. 

In this background, it is a matter of safety, security, and concern for the rest of the population if the percentage of population of this faith increases manifold in the coming years. It will also be equally disturbing if the administrators who profess by this faith also increase exponentially who will be facilitating the aspirations.