Kochi, 30 August(H.S): Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation had warned about the concerted move to influence the demography of the country through illegal means like infiltration and illegal migration. Centre for Policy Studies, a Chennai based think tank of population scientists have come out with a research paper cautioning the policy makers of the country about the unprecedented growth in Muslim population since 2015.

Dr J K Bajaj and his team of researchers have found out a startling information that the growth in Muslim population in Kerala during the last decade is disproportionate to their share of the State’s population. This is sure to create major imbalance in the distribution of nation’s resources, the team has warned the people.

The share of Muslims in the total live-births in Kerala has overtaken that of Hindus after 2015. Of the live-births in 2019, the Muslims accounted for 44 percent while the Hindus registered 41 percent. This is despite the Hindus having a share of nearly 54 percent in the total population compared to less than 27 percent of Muslim according to Census 2011.

The share of Muslim in total deaths in this period has remained below 20 percent, which is considerably less than their share of 27 percent in the population. The share of Hindus in the total deaths, on the other hand, has remained around 60 percent, which is about 6 percentage points higher than their share in the population.

If this trend continues, the day is not far off when the Muslims would eclipse the share of Hindu population in the State, said a CPS spokesman.

“The matter of the fact is that the growth in Muslim live-births is disproportionate to their share of the population in the State. But the Hindu population has not increased during the period and this is the root cause of the apprehension,” he said.

According to the study, the higher and rising share in live births and lower share in total deaths of the Muslims has led to their natural growth being much higher than their share in the population. Their share in the natural accretion to population of Kerala in this period has risen from 48 percent in 2008 to as high as 76 percent in 2019.

The share of Hindu population which constituted 54.73 per cent of Kerala in 2011 has come down to 52.61 per cent of the total population in 2021. The Muslim population share of the state which was 26.56 per cent in 2011 has shot up to 29.14 per cent, according to the CPS study.

Hindusthan Samachar / Manohar Yadavatti