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News India Live, Digital Desk: Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has hit back at the narrative of population imbalance. He clearly said that the Muslim population in India will never exceed the number of Hindus, as the fertility rate is falling rapidly in all communities.
1. Main Arguments of Owaisi
Owaisi said the following important things in his address:
Decline in Fertility Rate: Citing the government’s own data (NFHS), he said that the biggest decline in fertility rate has been seen among Muslims.
Equal impossible: He argued that it is not statistically possible for the Muslim population to reach or surpass the vast population of Hindus.
Political Narrative: According to Owaisi, the fear of the population is spread only for polarization and electoral gains.
2. Reality of data (as per NFHS-5)
Government of India National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) The figures seem to support Owaisi’s arguments:
| community | NFHS-4 (TFR) | NFHS-5 (TFR) | Decline (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hindu | 2.1 | 1.9 | – |
| Muslim | 2.6 | 2.3 | steepest decline |
| Christian | 2.0 | 1.8 | – |
3. Importance of ‘Replacement Level’
According to population experts, India’s total fertility rate (TFR) is now 2.0 which is below the ‘replacement level’ (2.1).
This means that in the future, instead of increasing, India’s population will become stable and then start decreasing.
Using this ‘demographic trend’, Owaisi termed as ‘myth’ those claims which talk about population imbalance.
4. Owaisi targets the government
The MP also said that the government should focus on providing employment and education to the youth instead of spreading fear on the population. He also criticized the ‘Population Policy’ proposed in states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam and called it unconstitutional.
