A book on ‘Religious Demography’ , a meticulous research work, by a Chennai(India-based socio-economic research body, the center for policy studies (CPS)disclosed that the share of Indian Religions- Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism - in the population of the Indian sub-continent, has come down from 79.32 per cent in 1881 to 67.56 per cent in 2001. A decline of 11.76 per cent in 120 years; and in the last decade, 1991 -2001, the decline is 1.16 per cent !



It is this declining share of Indian religionists, dis -proportionate in some areas, that brought about the partition of India in 1947. Such a steep decline of a religious group in a century, that is, by nearly 12 per cent, is extraordinary, says the CPS study.



The partition of India took place in 1947. Undeniably, It was based on religious demography . That is areas where the Muslim population was high became part of Pakistan, and wherever the Indian religionists were more, became part of Indian. See what happens, after partition, in Pakistan in the West and the East (which later became Bangladesh in 1971), The share of Indian religionists in West Pakistan in 1941, when the last census before partition took place, was 19.69 per cent. Want to know what is their share today? Hold your breath, just 1.84 per cent - it means nine out of 10 Indian religionists have disappeared from west Pakistan. Look at Bangladesh, which the Indian Army saved from destruction by West Pakistan. In 1941, the share of Indian religionists in what is now Bangladesh was 33.93 per cent. Want to know what is their share today? Again, hold your breath, just 10.3 meaning more than two out of three Indian religionists have disappeared from Bangladesh. Is this not religious cleansing?



If one needs more evidence of religious cleansing capabilities of religious intolerance, Just look at strife-torn Jammu & Kashmir state in India. Between 1981 and 2001, the share of the Indian religionists in the Valley has come down from 5.03 per cent to 2.77 per cent - a fall of nearly 45 per cent, which means almost half of the Indian religionists have disappeared from the region. Again, in Mizoram, in which the non-Indian religionists are in majority, the 50,000-strong Reang tribe has been driven out of the State and is living in refugee settlements in nearby States.



See the contrast in India. What has come down is not the share of other religionists, but, the share of the Indian religionists from 87.22 per cent in 1951 to 84.22 per cent -a decline of three per cent in five decades. And what has increased is not the share of the Indian religionists, but the share of the other religionists- from 12.78 per cent to 15.78 per cent. The Indian religionists have been almost cleansed out from Islamic Pakistan and Bangladesh and the only Muslim-majority state Jammu & Kashmir in India.



But consistent with India’s ancient traditions, which never looked at the religious profile of any one - Whether it were Parsis, or Jews or early Christians or Shia Muslims who sought refuge in India being driven away from their homeland due to religious bigotry - the other religionist grew in India. This is the measure of difference between ‘doctrinally-tolerant’ religions like the Indian religions and ‘doctrinally-intolerant’ religions, as the Encyclopaedia of Britannica Would classify them.



The concern is not that the share of other religionists is on rise. The concern is that history does not guarantee against the repetition of partition in those parts of India where the rise is disproportionate - like the border districts of Bihar, Bengal and Assam. The concern is that it might repeat what happened in Pakistan or Bangladesh after partition. The question is: Would that not lead to a Kashmir (where the Indian religionists are driven out ) or Mizoram (where a whole tribe has been thrown out). The concern should not be that of only the Indian religionists. The other religionists, too, should share the concern, and they will, if responsible leadership explains the issue to them.



Col. T.K. Tikoo (Retd.) says these concerns are real. Since secular India sweeps under the carpet these inconvenient facts - the hard realities of ‘doctrinally intolerant’religions- other have to talk. These issues cannot be ignored, as ignoring them has cost the nation before the very eyes of the present generation.