By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The new book “The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India” by former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi is an interesting read on the politics of the Muslim population myth in India. The book discusses several myths about the population of the Muslim community that have been afloat for creating hostility among Hindus and Muslims in India.
These narratives are manufactured in the Muslim hate factories and handed to the media to make a juicy story for the consumption of the Hindutava audience. These myths which otherwise would have been nipped in the bud by the media are circulated through mass communication making them equal partners in the crime.
Myth one – Muslims produce too many children and are solely responsible for the population explosion in India. The comparative data shows that while Hindus’ family planning data is 54.4 %, Muslims’ family planning data is 45.3%. Secondly, the total fertility rate (TFR) among Hindus is 2.13% for Muslims it is 2.61%. Muslims are lagging due to their socio-economic status which is far behind the Hindus. As Muslims’ socio-economic profile improves, the gap also narrows down.
It is not the Muslim community or their religion that has to be blamed, but it is the indifference of the government of the day to develop the Muslim community that has to be blamed. The media narrative should not be against the Muslims but against the government. This conspiracy against the Muslims needs to be exposed.
Myth Two – The Muslim population growth is upsetting the demographic balance in India. The demographic ratio of India shows an increase in Muslims from 9.8% in 1951 to 14.2% in 2011, but this is an increase of 4.4 % in 60 years. The media talks about the decline in the Hindu population from 84.2% to 79.8 %, it does not talk about Muslims adopting family planning methods and their population growth rate is declining faster than Hindus. The media does not talk about the decrease in the fertility rate of Muslims. The gap in the number of children between Muslims and Hindus is reduced to only one child.
Islam is not opposed to family planning. It is a pioneer of the concept. Nowhere in the holy book Quran, there is any prohibition of family planning, there are only interpretations. There are numerous verses of the Quran and citations from Hadith that emphasize quality over quantity, the health of women and children, and the right of children to have a good upbringing. Hum dao “Hamare Baarah” is a myth that cinematic media has created regarding the population explosion among Muslims.
Myth Three – The allegation is that there is an organized conspiracy by Muslims to overtake the Hindu population to capture political power in India. There is no evidence for it. No Muslim leaders scholars or clerics have asked the Muslims to produce more children to overtake the Hindu population. Muslims will overtake Hindus in terms of population as mere “propaganda.”
Myth Four – Muslims are polygamous by nature because their religion permits them to have more than one wife. A government study in 1975 found that polygamy is present in all the communities in India. Among them, Muslims are the least polygamous. Muslim Polygamy is also statistically not possible in India as the gender ratio is (only 924 women per 1,000 men) that does not permit it. Moreover, Polygamy is related to the economic wealth of a man who can afford more women. Muslims are so poor that they can’t afford even one wife. Media instead of highlighting which are the Hindu communities that are more polygamous, is taking a dig at the Muslims are polygamous.
The book “The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India” breaks several other “myths” about the Muslim population in India. These myths are put into circulation by the enemy of the Muslims in India. The media is taking these myths to the masses to perpetuate these myths. The media instead of exposing the authenticity of these myths by giving correct statistics are partners in the crime demonizing Muslims in India.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai