EAC-PM member Shamika Ravi responds to Asaduddin Owaisi’s claims on declining report on Hindus – Republic World

Arnab wondered if a decline of 7.8% is a precipitous drop for any community in the world, and would it mean that there are now about 10 crore or 100 million fewer Hindus compared to the post-independence era.

“These are shares, so in absolute terms, because for every religion the population is always growing… we’ve had a big expansion in the size of every demographic group in every religious group. It is the relative share of each religious group and also minorities, which becomes an interesting phenomenon,” Shamika said.

The economist further explained, “What India is following or the experience that India has had over the last 65 years is similar to most Western, liberal, plural democracies, where the majority share has fallen and the minority share has risen. , unlike the countries in the region. So our neighborhood is quite unique,” ​​says Shamika Ravi.

“In India we have had the second largest decline in the majority population, at about 7.82 percent – ​​so a proportionate increase in the minority as a group. All the other countries nearby – Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan – have all seen alarming declines in the share of minorities. In that sense, there is something new about this study,” explains Shamika Ravi.

To which Shamika replied, “It is a report by three researchers using publicly available data. I’m a little surprised that it surprised people. I am also surprised that it has taken us time to analyze things that are so obvious and that we should be doing routinely.”

‘India must measure population regularly’

The eminent economist further explained that India is one of the few countries that has a special ministry for minorities, and hence a study needs to be conducted.

“Very few countries actually define minorities or are interested in protecting minorities. But India has followed these UN norms, these progressive, modern norms. In fact, we are one of the few countries that have a special ministry for minorities. Given the kind of policy priority that minority welfare has, given the kind of resources being spent, don’t we want to assess what the outcomes are? Why don’t we measure these realities on the ground? In fact, this should become a regular, routine exercise. It really shouldn’t be left to interest rates. And that is it.”

What is the conclusion about the fate of Muslims in India?

Arnab sought Shamika’s opinion whether the plight of Muslims should also be measured. People might say that the EAC-PM has a vested interest in the report. Is it a lofty perspective?

“We do have other studies that have looked at the availability of services, even development indicators for religious and social groups, etc. So what you call ‘situation’, I think we should add an objective variable that can be measured . The condition of most minority groups has improved dramatically,” Shamika said.

She added: “Why don’t we look at the share of the minority population? It is the final outcome measure. In a discriminatory environment, if you have not just policies, but generally a community or a society, that leads to the fate of any group, or minorities in general, you will not see a significant increase. in terms of population. As is the case in many countries, and especially in our neighboring countries.”

“So it is a very good composite measure. It’s a very good variable,” Shamika further explained, adding, “Like, if you have a very skewed sex ratio, we know that women are discriminated against. So I think there is a scientific basis for saying that these are objective measures and we should look at them.”

What are the driving forces behind the change in population share?

Shamika Ravi spoke about an important point that needs to be looked into in this scenario. “But an important point we need to make is that we are not looking at the drivers of this change, because what leads to the changes in population shares will not just include fertility rates and birth rates… It is the difference in the numbers that will ultimately determine the share.” Shamika added that it is a very advanced point that is important for people to understand.

Is conversion the reason for the decline of Hindu population in India?

Shamika talked about factors like migration and conversion in population change. She explained: “But also migration – illegal or illegal – and then conversion. You see, in Europe, most countries have seen a decline in majority religion due to mass migration. But in Africa, 24 countries had animism as the majority religion. In 65 years, none of these 24 countries has had animism as the majority religion. So now we’re not talking about birth rates or migration, we’re talking about conversion. And of course it is a combination of all these factors that leads to the final result. This article (the EAC-PM report) is the first step to objectively reveal step number 1. Now we have to look more at the details.’