2011 Census and Muslims of Bengal

Arindam Sarkar

Poverty and illiteracy are largely responsible for the growth of the Muslim population in Bengal. The 2011 census released by the Government of India shows that the population of Muslims in Bengal has grown from 25.2 per cent in 2001 to 26.94 percent in 2011. That is a growth 1.8 per cent in one decade.

In Bengal, majority of the Muslims are poor. They work as agricultural labours or factory hands. “Living in the rural areas, the Muslims believe that a large family helps to increase the income. Similarly, due to lack of education and awareness, the illiterate Muslims ignore family planning. Both contributes to growth in population,” explained President of the West Bengal wing of the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Mohammad Nuruddin.

Muslims primarily live in the districts of Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata in Bengal. And Muslims are in majority in Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur.

Secretary General of the West Bengal wing of the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Abdur Rafiq describes the growth of the Muslim population in the last decade as natural. “Lack of education, religious belief and unwilling to practice family planning led to rise in population,” said Abdur Rafiq.

However, Abdur Rafiq insisted that he does not consider infiltration through the porous Indo-Bangla to be a factor behind the rise in Muslim population. “I live in a border area. Most of the infiltrators and refugees are Hindus from Bangladesh. Impoverished Muslims cross over in search of work but they do not settle down in India. They go back to Bangladesh after working,” claimed Abdur Rafiq.

General secretary of the Maulana Shaukat Ali Foundation Ayaz Ahmed pointed out that the Muslims are now seriously spreading education among the brethren and that is paying off. No wonder, in the last decade the population of the Muslims grew by only less than 2 per cent. “Better education and awareness would introduce family planning and that would naturally bring the population down. It would also improve the socio-economic condition of the Muslims in Bengal,” said Ayaz Ahmed.

Speaking about the trend of the population growth of the Muslims in Bengal, the Head of the Dawaat Division of the West Bengal wing of the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind Mohammad Tahiruddin said the figures clearly show that there is a downslide. ‘Compared to 2001, the figure in 2011 is not much different. It seems the Muslims are becoming conscious of better living and birth control methods,” said Mohammad Nuruddin.

In fact, the Muslim intelligentsia and the Jamaat-E-Islami Hind leaders, who work among the Muslims in the sphere of education, health and moral development (religion), are unanimous that in comparison to the last three censuses, the 2011 census is an indicator that the growth of the Muslim population has slowed down significantly. “This is largely due to resurgence of education among the Muslims and realization that bigger unit is an economic burden on the family purse,” said Ayaz Ahmed.

Abdur Rafiq summed it up when he said that majority of the poor Muslims do not do family planning. He said it is only the educated that practice birth control methods. And once the entire community resorts to this scientific technique, the growth of Muslim population would further reduce.