Yatish Yadav By

NEW DELHI: Majority of districts in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh have witnessed a decline in proportion of Hindu population. When parties across the political spectrum are engaged in mudslinging over Hindu-Muslim population in the state to gain electoral mileage, the district as well as tehsil-wise data of the Census Office, exclusively accessed by The Sunday Standard, presents the true picture of the state’s changing demography.

According to 2011 Census, Uttar Pradesh has a population of 199,812,341, of which Hindus are 159,312,654 and Muslims 38,483,967. In 2001, Hindus constituted 80.61 per cent of the state’s population while Muslims were 18.50 per cent. In 2011, the proportion of Hindus declined to 79.73 per cent while that of Muslims it went up to 19.26 per cent.

“Proportion provides the real demographic scenario or pattern. The decline in proportion shows the growth is not at the same rate as it was in 2001 and went into negative during the gap of 10 years when the two censuses, 2001 and 2011, were conducted. It is a government data and reported by the District Magistrate so there should not be any politics over it,” government sources said.

For example, data of Saharanpur district shows 2.74 per cent decline in proportion of Hindu population between 2001 and 2011. The proportion of Hindus in the district was 59.49 per cent in 2001 which went down to 56.74 per cent in 2011. Muslims comprised 39.11 per cent in 2001 which shot up to 41.95 per cent in 2011.

As political parties desperately try to cash in on the caste and community equations in Uttar Pradesh, situations on the ground show a seismic change. Deoband tehsil in Saharanpur district witnessed a decline of 10.39 per cent in proportion of Hindu population from 70.19 per cent in 2001 to 59.80 per cent in 2011. On the other hand, Census data says the proportion of Muslim population in Deoband went up by 10.68 per cent in 2011 compared to 2001. In 2001 the proportion of Hindu population in the district was 59.49 per cent, which slipped to 56.74 per cent in 2011. Over all in Saharanpur district, Muslim population increased by 2.84 per cent, reveals the Census figure.

As many as 57 districts of 70 districts analysed by the Census Office show that the proportion of Hindu population is on decline. In communally-charged Muzaffarnagar, Hindu population declined by 3.20 per cent in 2011. According to 2011 census, Muslim population in the district grew by 3.22 per cent. Kairana tehsil, which led to a heated political debate over alleged exodus of Hindu families, witnessed 4.16 per cent decline in proportion of Hindu population. According to 2001 census data, Kairana’s Hindu population was 49.54 per cent which plunged to 45.38 per cent in 2011. However, proportion of Muslim population went up to 52.94 per cent in 2011 from 48.61 per cent in 2001 census.

In Bijnor district, the decline in the Hindu population proportion was 1.23 per cent while the fall was 1.70 per cent in Moradabad and 1.07 per cent in Rampur district. During the same period, proportion of Muslim population grew by 1.33 per cent in Bijnor, 1.58 per cent in Moradabad and 1.44 per cent in Rampur district. The demographic narrative is more or less similar in Jyotiba Phule Nagar or Amroha, which has three tehsils. Hindu population declined in 2011 by 1.45 per cent with maximum decline of 2.38 per cent in Amroha tehsil.

“There could be various reason for decline in proportion of Hindu population, including migration to cities. Similarly, the growth in Muslim population could be because of several factors, including lack of education, healthcare etc. The data needs to be analysed at micro level with other indicators to figure out whether one community is deprived of the fruits of development,” an official said.

The proportion of Hindu population witnessed a fall in all three tehsils of Meerut district. In Sardhana, the decline was 3.58 per cent in 2011.

Baghpat witnessed 3.02 per cent decline in Hindu population. In Baghpat tehsil, the decline was 7.49 per cent, and in Baraut tehsil, the rate was 2.21 per cent in 2011.

All five tehsils of Allahabad district registered decline in proportion in Hindu population with maximum 2.24 per cent in Allahabad and 1.28 per cent in Handia. Rath and Maudaha tehsils of Hamirpur district show a fall of 2.86 per cent and 1.69 per cent respectively.