Share of minority population in India increased significantly compared to neighbouring nations: EAC-PM member

Professor Shamika Ravi is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM)

The share of the majority Hindu population declined by 7.82% in 65 years while that of minorities, including Muslims, increased between 1950 and 2015, according to Professor Shamika Ravi, member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

In an exclusive interview with Rahul Shivshankar, Consulting Editor of CNN-News18, Ravi shed light on demographic shifts in India based on the working paper titled "Share of Religious Minorities: A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015)". Shamika Ravi is one of the authors of the paper which studied 167 countries during this period.

"As against the common trend among South Asian countries where minority populations have shrunk alarmingly (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Afghanistan) - in India the share of minorities has increased significantly from 1950-2015," she said.

Emphasising on the country's comprehensive policies towards defining and supporting minority communities, Ravi said the paper aims to document ground realities in India. "The changes that are happening in India are similar to what is happening in liberal democracies of the world," she told CNN-News18.

Speaking about the Population Replacement Theory, Ravi said the demographic shift in India is "relatively modest" as compared to France which witnessed a 39 percent decline in the share of the majority population.

Ravi said there is no specific factor driving this shift. However, she said migration, fertility rate and conversion may be the probable reasons. She described the study as "flies in the face of attempts to call India majoritarian and particularly inhospitable". "India is clearly conducive. Not every country legally defines a minority, that is how India is different and a true liberal plural democracy," Ravi told CNN-News18.

Speaking about Opposition parties questioning the timing of the release of the study, she said it is "election noise". "How can not knowing be better. I think not knowing is not a good option. In scientific inquiry as researchers when we find something exciting we are motivated to analyse and put it out in public. It is a working paper and public welcome is welcome. Motivation and intentions are left to the political space," she said.