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Census figures allay fears of Kerala Hindus

The 2011 religious census discounts fears that the Hindus have become a minority community in Kerala. The data released on Tuesday showed that the Hindus constituted 54.72 per cent of the total population of 33.4 million in the state while the Muslims accounted for 26.56 per cent and Christians 18.38 per cent.
The decadal growth of the Muslim population between 2001 and 2011 was 1.9 per cent.
The population of Muslims in 2011 was 24.7 per cent. The Christian population dropped by 0.62 per cent during the period.
The Hindu population declined by 1.28 per cent during the period. This is in variance with the projections of 8 per cent fall in Hindu population made by certain quarters. According to the projection, the Hindu population should have dropped to 48 per cent and the combined Christian and Muslim population rose to 52 per cent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and various Hindu organisations had used these projections to consolidate the Hindus in the state.
The state BJP had tried to bring all Hindu outfits like the Nair Service Society (NSS) and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam under one umbrella saying that the Hindus had become a minority in the state.
BJP state president V Muralidharan termed the rise of the minority communities as a threat to the Hindus. He said that the Muslim and Christian communities were registering huge growth due to the minority appeasment by both the dominant political fronts in the state.
He called for unity of various Hindu outfits to meet the threat.
The SNDP, which champions the cause of the backward Ezhava community, had responded to the call. SNDP General Secretary Vellappally Natesan had met Amit Shah in Delhi and discussed their future political course.
He had also held discussions with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia. All-India BJP president Amit Shah has urged the party's state leadership to launch a campaign keep all Hindu organisations united so as to consolidate the Hindu vote bank.
which traditionally favoured the Communists.
The state unit is planning to set up a new political outfit Dharma Jana Sena (DJS) by bringing together a section of the SNDP, Kerala Pulaya Maha Sabha (KPMS) and a host of lower caste and community forums.
The party has also started expanding the National Democratic Alliance by including disenchanted parties from the UDF and the LDF.
A faction of the Kerala Congress headed by P C Thomas, which left the LDF, has agreed to join the NDA. Thomas, a junior minister in the Atal Behari Vjapayee government, is trying to woo some Christian outfits into the NDA. - IANS

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