STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: State BJP vice president Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Monday that the Muslims of East Bengal origin (Immigrant Muslims) will be the majority in Assam by 2037/38 if their decadal population growth rate is allowed to continue unabated.
Addressing the media here on Monday, Baruah, who is also the political secretary of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, said, "According to the Census report, from 1991-2001 the decadal population growth rate of the Hindus in the State was 14.9 per cent against 29.3 per cent of the Muslims. That is, the decadal population growth rate of the Muslims was twice that of the Hindus in that decade.
"From 2001-2011, the decadal population growth rate of the Hindus reduced to 10.9 per cent. On the contrary, the decadal population growth rate of the Muslims in that decade rose to 29.6 per cent, i.e. almost thrice of the Hindus'.
"According to census reports, the Hindu population in the State was 71.51 per cent against 24.56 per cent Muslim population in 1971. However, in 2011 while the Hindu population in the State reduced to 61.46 per cent, the Muslim population rose to 34.22 per cent. In 1971 the number of Muslim-dominated districts in the State was only 2 that rose to 11 in 2011."
Baruah further said, "According to the NFHS (National Family Health Survey) report-5, from 2005-06 to 2019-20 the reproductive rate of Muslim women fell from 3.6-2.4 and that of Hindu women fell to 1.6 from 2. These figures show that even though the reproductive rates of both Muslim and Hindu women fell, the Hindu women reproduced less than those of Muslim women.
"The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) keeps fluctuating. However, the TFR of Muslim women is 0.8 per cent more than that of Hindu women. If the decadal growth rate of the immigrant Muslim population in the State keeps rising at this pace, by 2037/38 the Hindus will be reduced to a minority in Assam. The rise in the number of Muslims voters in the Assembly polls in 2011 and 2016 and the Lok Sabha poll in 2019 in the State is quite glaring."
Baruah said that the State has some forces that don't want the development of Assam. "They're out to wrest the political power in the State. And the AIUDF and Congress have been advocating for these people. We can't let our social identity lost, nor can we let such forces wrest political power from the indigenous people of the State. The crux of the problem is orthodox religious fundamentalism, not lack of education," he said.
The press meet was also attended by Dewan Dhrubajyoti Moral and Pabitra Margherita.