A paper prepared by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has revealed that while the share of Hindus in India’s population decreased by 7.8 per cent from 84.7 pc in 1950 to 78.1 pc in 2015, the share of Muslims increased by over 43 per cent from 9.8 pc in 1950 to 14.1 per cent in 2015. No absolute numbers were given in the paper titled “Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015) by Shamika Ravi, Abraham Jose and Apurv Kumar Mishra. The paper also disclosed that the share of Jains decreased from 0.4 pc to 0.3 per cent in the last 65 years, while share of Christians rose from 2.2 pc to 2.4 per cent, and that of Sikhs rose from 1.2 per cent in 1950 to 1.9 pc in 2015. Soon after the disclosures in the paper were made public, a public debate has begun over social media, mostly over the imbalance between Hindus and Muslims in society. While BJP leaders attributed this to “appeasement policies” during Congress rule, Congress described it as a ‘ploy’ to divert people’s attention from other pressing issues in the current general elections. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi said, more such ‘ploys’ are in the pipeline, because, according to them, BJP leaders have realised that their party is going to lose the elections. OPINION | HINDU-MUSLIM POPULATION IMBALANCE: OPPOSITION MUST RESPOND
A paper prepared by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has revealed that while the share of Hindus in India’s population decreased by 7.8 per cent from 84.7 pc in 1950 to 78.1 pc in 2015, the share of Muslims increased by over 43 per cent from 9.8 pc in 1950 to 14.1 per cent in 2015. No absolute numbers were given in the paper titled “Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015) by Shamika Ravi, Abraham Jose and Apurv Kumar Mishra. The paper also disclosed that the share of Jains decreased from 0.4 pc to 0.3 per cent in the last 65 years, while share of Christians rose from 2.2 pc to 2.4 per cent, and that of Sikhs rose from 1.2 per cent in 1950 to 1.9 pc in 2015. Soon after the disclosures in the paper were made public, a public debate has begun over social media, mostly over the imbalance between Hindus and Muslims in society. While BJP leaders attributed this to “appeasement policies” during Congress rule, Congress described it as a ‘ploy’ to divert people’s attention from other pressing issues in the current general elections. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi said, more such ‘ploys’ are in the pipeline, because, according to them, BJP leaders have realised that their party is going to lose the elections. 
