New Delhi: Refuting the claims of some pro-Hindutva outfits that the Muslim population will exceed the population of Hindus in coming years, Former Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi has called such statements mere propaganda which is not backed by any facts.

Stating that some people are spreading canards about Islam on various issues including family planning, he made it clear that family planning is not a new concept in Islam.

Expressing concern that such false information about Muslims and Islam will only lead to the creation of vertical division among Hindus and Muslims in the country, he shared his views during a discussion on his book "The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India" at the India International Centre here.

Mentioning one of the canards being spread on family planning is that Muslims do not believe in family planning as they wish to have as many children as possible. He said that Muslims alone cannot be held responsible for the population explosion.

"Yes Muslims have the lowest levels of family planning (FP) -- only 45.3 per cent. Their total fertility rate (TFR) is 2.61 which is the highest. But the fact that Hindus are not far behind, with second lowest FP at 54.4 per cent, and second highest TFR of 2.13, is completely missed," Quraishi said.

He also refuted the allegations that the Muslim population growth is adversely affecting the demographic balance.

The demographic ratio of India indeed shows an increase in Muslims from 9.8 per cent in 1951 to 14.2 per cent in 2011, and a decline in Hindus from 84.2 per cent to 79.8 per cent, but this is an increase of 4.4 percentage points in 60 years, he pointed out.
Asserting that Muslims are adopting family planning faster than Hindus, he said the gap in their number of children is narrowing.

On the imaginary fear being spread by some right-wing elements that there is an organised conspiracy by Muslims to overtake the Hindu population to capture political power, Quraishi said no Muslim leader or scholar has asked Muslims to produce more children to overtake Hindus. He said that in the present ratio of population, practically it is not possible that the Muslim population will even be more than Hindus in India.