Oppn accuses govt of trying to create communal divide over EAC-PM paper on population

New Delhi: Opposition leaders on Thursday accused the BJP of trying to create communal divide over a report that claimed the share of Hindu population in India decreased between 1950 and 2015.

CPI general secretary D Raja and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav slammed the union government for not conducting the census, and called the working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) an attempt to get votes by creating strife.

Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh meanwhile used the report to target the Congress, and alleged that Hindu population in the country has gone down due to its politics of appeasement.

Asked about the report, Yadav said the BJP is trying to spread hatred.

"The census that was to happen in 2020-21 has not been done till now, it's 2024... Their aim is only to mislead the people of the country, and to spread hatred. This is the agenda of prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP. They have fooled people of this country for ten years, and they want to do that again," he alleged.

Raja questioned the timing of the report and said, "Why has the PM's economic advisory council come out with this report at a time when the country is going for elections? The prime minister is already trying to polarise people in the name of Muslims, talking about handing over keys of Ram Mandir to Muslims... he is taking up all such issues. That means there is an attempt to polarise people by bringing out such data. People should be cautious of such reports."

He said it is a "study between 1950 and 2015. Mr Modi came to power in 2014. This government has not conducted any census, has not given any data for those who died due to Covid. They have not given any data on migrant workers, or prevailing poverty. But how was this data collected?" Singh, the Union Rural Development Minister who is fighting from the Begusarai seat in Bihar, said some people want to mislead the nation, but the truth cannot be hidden.

"In 1947, we had around 88 per cent Hindu population, now we are 70 per cent. Muslims were eight per cent, now government figures say they are 15-16 per cent, I would say they are 20 per cent..." Singh claimed.

"Congress made this country a 'dharmshala' (inn). In 1971, the Bangladeshi infiltrators who came, made India and Bihar a sanctuary for Rohingyas, Bangladeshis... They were converted into a vote bank, it was a conspiracy to finish Sanatan. Now they are giving reservations through the backdoor...," he alleged.

"Hindu population is decreasing, Muslim population is increasing... It shows that in the days to come, they want to make India an Islamic state," Singh claimed.

According to the working paper "Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015)", share of the Hindu population decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 (from 84.68 per cent to 78.06 per cent).

The share of Muslim population in 1950 was 9.84 per cent and increased to 14.09 per cent in 2015 -- a 43.15 per cent increase in their share, it claimed.

The paper said the data indicates that "there is a conducive environment to foster diversity in the society," adding that it is not possible to promote better life outcomes for the disadvantaged sections of society without providing a nurturing environment and societal support through a bottom-up approach.