EMERGING CHALLENGES: NATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES

[Guest guest]

PRESS RELEASE

NATIONAL CONVENTION

CENSUS 2001 – EMERGING CHALLENGES

CENTRE FOR POLICY STUDIES

The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) Chennai organized a national

seminar on Census 2001 — emerging challenges in Delhi on 26-27 April

2005. Around 175 academicians, experts and social activists from

different parts of country participated in the seminar.

There was a consensus through the debates that took place in various

sessions about the fact that threats emerging from the change in

ratio of population is going to worsen in future in every field of

our social life, be that social, economic or security related.

 

Chief guest Sh. Joginder Singh former director CBI, quoted the

statement of the then Home Minister Indrajeet Gupta in the Parliament

about number of Bangladeshi infiltrators in the country which,

according to him was at that time 2.5 crore. By now it must have gone

to around 4.5 crores.

 

He termed it as objectionable that the country is bearing the burden

of illegal immigrants. He further said that policies must be framed

on the basis of priorities of nationals and not for infiltrators. He

said that there was nothing in Quran that forbids family planning.

Iran, inspite of being an Islamic country, adopts family planning, he

said.

 

In his presidential address former HRD Minister Dr. Murli Manohar

Joshi stressed the need to have indepth study on the pattern

undertaken by the CPS in different parts of country. He said the

credit goes to CPS for initiating a serious debate on the challenge

emerging from census-data. Dr. Joshi said that left oriented writers

have started propagating the feasibility of carving out Muslim

majority areas, and declaring remaining as Hindu Rashtra. In giving

rough estimates he explained that Bangladeshi infiltrators taken to

be 5 crores are consuming national wealth worth Rs. 4.5.-9000 crores

per day.

 

He informed that population ratio in several areas has changed to the

extent that it has affected the politics of those areas. He further

said religion based census was instrumental in bringing the problem

to forth.

 

Dr. Jeetendra Bajaj, the director of the CPS, in his impressive

presentation highlighted the fact that changes in religious

demography have reduced the numbers of the followers of the religions

of Indian origin and brought them to a minority status in North

Eastern states and Northern Western area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Showing figures he demonstrated that number of religionists of Indian

origin has been going down after every census and number of Muslims

and Christians has been increasing. That is why we see serious social

changes in Gujarat, Orissa; Tamilnadu, U.P., Bihar and W. Bengal.

These changes according to Dr. Bajaj, are significant for both

internal and external security of the nation.

 

There was a serious discussion for 2 days on issues like the the

socio cultural and economic on our society due to change in

population ratio which affects internal and national security of the

country.

 

Participating in the seminar Father Jimmy Dhabi, a Christian

intellectual from Indian Social Institute said that studying

demography was essential but its objective must be in larger national

perspective. He said that we love our country very much, but humanity

comes before nationality and our identity as Indians, Pakistanis or

Americans must not be an obstacle to our responsibility as

humanitarians.

 

A view which came up prominently pertained to ineffective government

policy which was primarily responsible for the present situation.

Conversion, infiltration, and growth rate was considered to be

responsible for increasing inbalance in population ratio. It was

opined that there was a well planned conspiracy behind this unnatural

change in population. There was a consensus on the need to have a

forceful mass movement against illegal immigration. It was felt that

the issue is not confined to any community only; it is a national

issue with security related ramifications. Uniform civil code, border

fencing and national citizens' register and national identity cards

were also suggested as effective steps to check the problem.

 

Need was felt to have a mass awareness campaign for taking the issue

to people.