The ORPs add to the religious demographic contention in Jharkhand
In the previous post, we have noted that the decline in the
share of Indian Religionists (IRs), and the corresponding rise of Muslims and
Christians, has stalled in all regions of Jharkhand, except in Santhal Pargana,
though the rise of the latter in this region is large enough to amount to a
considerable decline in the share of IR in the population of the State as a
whole. Indian Religionists in Jharkhand, however, include considerable
proportion of persons counted in the category of Other Religious Persuasions
(ORPs), and it is important to know about the changes in the relative share of
Hindus, ORPs and others falling within the larger category of IRs. In addition, the changes in the proportion of Hindus and ORPs on the one hand and of Muslims and Christians on the other have been much sharper in many of the
individual districts of the State than in the larger region
in which they are situated; these changes at the district level give a glimpse of the intensity of
the contention for demographic space among different communities that
seems to be going on in much of India. We discuss these two issues in this post.
Hindus, ORPs and Others in Jharkhand
Hindus,
Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, ORPs and RNS, 2001-2011
|
|||||
Population in 1,000s
|
Share in Percent
|
Decadal
Growth %
|
|||
2011
|
2001
|
2011
|
2001
|
2001-2011
|
|
Total
|
32,988
|
26,946
|
100.00
|
100.00
|
22.42
|
Hindus
|
22,376
|
18,476
|
67.83
|
68.57
|
21.11
|
Muslims
|
4,794
|
3,731
|
14.53
|
13.85
|
28.48
|
Christians
|
1,419
|
1,093
|
4.30
|
4.06
|
29.74
|
Sikhs
|
71
|
83
|
0.22
|
0.31
|
-14.32
|
Buddhists
|
9
|
6
|
0.03
|
0.02
|
50.77
|
Jains
|
15
|
16
|
0.05
|
0.06
|
-8.14
|
ORPs
|
4,236
|
3,514
|
12.84
|
13.04
|
20.52
|
RNS
|
68
|
25
|
0.21
|
0.09
|
169.20
|
Unlike
in most other States, there is a considerable number of ORPs in Jharkhand. In
2011, in the total population of 33 million, 4.2 million are counted in this
category; they form more than half of the 7.9 million ORPs counted in the
country. In Jharkhand, they form the third largest group after the Hindus and
Muslims, with a share of 12.84 percent in the population. Taking into account
changes in their numbers and share is, therefore, important while looking at
the religious demography of Jharkhand and its districts. Incidentally, ORPs of
Jharkhand are mainly the followers of Sarna Dharma, a religious practice
popular among the Scheduled Tribes. The detailed religious affiliation of ORPs
in the 2011 Census is not yet available. Of 35.1 lakh ORPs counted in 2001,
34.5 lakh were Sarnas; and 31.4 lakh of the Sarnas were from the Scheduled
Tribes.
Distribution of ORPs in Jharkhand
ORPs
in the State are concentrated mainly in the Ranchi and Singhbhum regions of the
State. Of the total of about 42 lakh ORPs in the State, 34 lakhs are in these
two regions. And within these regions, they are particularly concentrated in
certain districts and sub-districts, as seen in the Map VI-A below. Outside
these two regions, there is significant presence of the ORPs only in Latehar,
where their proportion has increased considerably during 2001-11, and to a
lesser extent in Pakur. In all other districts, their share in the population
is less than 10 percent and in many it is negligibly small.
Decline in the proportion of ORPs in
Jharkhand
One
of the more significant aspects of Census 2011 is the slight, but noticeable,
decline in the share of ORPs in the population, as seen in the Table above,
their proportion has gone down from 13.04 percent in 2001 to 12.84 percent in
2011. This is significant, because the number of ORPs in the previous decade of
1991-2001 had multiplied by two and a half times, from 14.4 to 35 lakhs. During
the last several decades, there has been much campaigning among the Scheduled
Tribes to get them counted outside the larger umbrella of Hinduism, which of
course has always accommodated the diverse religious beliefs and practices of
different groups. This time also, there was a vociferous campaign in this
direction carried out among the Janjatis across India during the preparatory
phase of Census 2011. The campaign has not succeeded, at least in Jharkhand.
This is also probably a consequence of the nascent Hindu resurgence that we
have been noticing in the religious demographic numbers of 2011. We shall
discuss the countrywide changes in the proportion of ORPs in the following
post.
Decline of Sikhs and Jains
Another
remarkable aspect of the data compiled in the Table above is the decline in the
absolute number, not merely the share, of Sikhs and Jains. Both these
communities have registered a negative rate of growth. The number of Sikhs has
declined from 83 thousand in 2001 to 71 thousand in 2011; that of Jains has
declined from 16 to about 15 thousand. The number of Buddhists has increased
from about 6 to 9 thousand. The change in the numbers counted as RNS (Religions
Not Stated) is also remarkable; this population has increased from 25 to 68
thousand. Such large changes in the population of Sikhs, Jains and RNS seem to
have happened across the country. We shall discuss these in due course. We
continue the discussion below, of district-wise changes in the religious
demography, especially from the perspective of the ORPs.
Changes across different districts of
Jharkhand
Changes
in the share of ORPs, and other communities, have not been uniform across the
districts. In several districts, the share of one community or the other has
increased considerably and in several others, there has been a sharp decline.
Below, we consider the districts that have undergone the most significant
changes:
Santhal Pargana Region
Percentage share of
different communities in Santhal Pargana
|
|||||||||
Deogarh
|
Godda
|
Sahibganj
|
|||||||
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
|
Hindus
|
78.09
|
78.12
|
-0.03
|
71.34
|
71.11
|
0.23
|
54.59
|
56.33
|
-1.75
|
Muslims
|
20.28
|
19.02
|
1.26
|
22.02
|
20.11
|
1.91
|
34.61
|
31.26
|
3.35
|
Christians
|
0.40
|
0.36
|
0.04
|
2.88
|
2.07
|
0.81
|
7.23
|
6.33
|
0.90
|
Sikhs
|
0.01
|
0.03
|
-0.02
|
0.01
|
0.04
|
-0.03
|
0.02
|
0.03
|
-0.01
|
Buddhists
|
0.01
|
0.02
|
-0.01
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
0.02
|
0.00
|
0.02
|
Jains
|
0.02
|
0.02
|
0.00
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
ORPs
|
1.08
|
2.34
|
-1.26
|
3.58
|
6.49
|
-2.91
|
3.34
|
5.95
|
-2.61
|
RNS
|
0.11
|
0.08
|
0.02
|
0.16
|
0.16
|
-0.01
|
0.18
|
0.08
|
0.10
|
Pakur
|
Dumka
|
Jamtara
|
|||||||
Hindus
|
45.55
|
45.70
|
-0.15
|
79.06
|
75.70
|
3.36
|
69.60
|
74.39
|
-4.79
|
Muslims
|
35.87
|
32.36
|
3.51
|
8.09
|
7.25
|
0.83
|
20.78
|
18.91
|
1.88
|
Christians
|
8.43
|
5.86
|
2.57
|
6.54
|
4.76
|
1.78
|
0.56
|
0.50
|
0.06
|
Sikhs
|
0.04
|
0.06
|
-0.03
|
0.02
|
0.05
|
-0.03
|
0.07
|
0.07
|
-0.01
|
Buddhists
|
0.03
|
0.01
|
0.02
|
0.02
|
0.04
|
-0.02
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
Jains
|
0.02
|
0.03
|
0.00
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
0.10
|
0.21
|
-0.11
|
ORPs
|
9.86
|
15.77
|
-5.91
|
5.95
|
11.97
|
-6.02
|
8.67
|
5.78
|
2.89
|
RNS
|
0.21
|
0.22
|
-0.01
|
0.31
|
0.22
|
0.10
|
0.21
|
0.14
|
0.07
|
As
seen in the Table above, the share of ORPs has declined in five of the six
districts of this region. The loss of ORPs in four of these districts, Deogarh,
Godda, Sahibganj and Pakur, has been almost entirely towards the gain of
Muslims and Christians, though in Godda, there has been a slight increase in
the share of Hindus also.
Of
these four districts, the largest change has occurred in Pakur. Here, the share
of ORPs has declined from 15.77 percent in 2001 to 9.86 percent in 2011. The
share of Christians and Muslims has correspondingly increased by 2.57 and 3.51
percentage points, respectively. The share of Hindus has declined only slightly
from 45.70 to 45.55 percent.
Jamtara
has been carved out of Dumka in the course of 2001-11. The changes in the proportion
of Hindus and ORPs in these two districts have been drastic. In Dumka, the
share of ORPs has declined by 6.02 percentage points, and that of Hindus has
increased by as much as 3.36 percentage points. The rest of the loss of the
ORPs has been towards the gain of Muslims and Christians, both of whom have
considerably improved their share. In Jamtara, on the other hand, the share of
ORPs has increased by 2.89 percentage points, while that of Hindus has declined
by 4.79 percentage points. The remaining loss of Hindus is towards the gain of
Christians and Muslims.
The
changes that have happened in Dumka and Jamtara districts can be seen happening
even more sharply at the sub-district level; for example, in Dumka taluk, the
number of ORPs has declined from around 17.3 thousand in 2001 to 7.4 thousand
in 2011, while in Jamtara taluk it has gone up from 18.8 to 31.0 thousand.
Thus,
Muslims and Christians have improved their share in every district of the Santhal
Pargana region at the cost of either the Hindus or the ORPs, and there seems to
have been much interchange between the latter two. This gives an indication of
the intensity of contention for demographic space that is happening at the
ground level in the country.
Singhbhum Region
Purbi
|
Pashchimi
|
Saraikela-
|
|||||||
Singhbhum
|
Singhbhum
|
Kharsawan
|
|||||||
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
|
Hindus
|
67.58
|
66.49
|
1.09
|
28.22
|
30.29
|
-2.07
|
66.57
|
60.91
|
5.66
|
Muslims
|
8.89
|
9.32
|
-0.43
|
2.54
|
2.87
|
-0.33
|
5.97
|
4.31
|
1.66
|
Christians
|
1.32
|
1.42
|
-0.10
|
5.83
|
5.13
|
0.70
|
0.76
|
0.76
|
0.00
|
Sikhs
|
1.68
|
1.91
|
-0.23
|
0.06
|
0.10
|
-0.03
|
0.10
|
0.20
|
-0.09
|
Buddhists
|
0.04
|
0.05
|
-0.01
|
0.03
|
0.05
|
-0.02
|
0.02
|
0.02
|
0.00
|
Jains
|
0.07
|
0.10
|
-0.02
|
0.00
|
0.02
|
-0.01
|
0.01
|
0.02
|
-0.02
|
ORPs
|
20.29
|
20.62
|
-0.33
|
62.96
|
61.47
|
1.49
|
26.33
|
33.59
|
-7.26
|
RNS
|
0.14
|
0.10
|
0.03
|
0.36
|
0.08
|
0.28
|
0.23
|
0.18
|
0.05
|
In
Purbi Singhbhum, the share of ORPs and all other communities, including
Muslims, has declined and the share of Hindus has increased by 1.09 percentage
points.
In
Pashchimi Singhbhum, the share of ORPs has increased by 1.49 percentage points;
the share of Christians has also increased by 0.70 percentage points; while the
share of all other communities, including Muslims, has declined. The Hindu
share here has declined by 2.07 percentage points.
In
Saraikela-Kharsawan, carved out of Pashchimi Singhbhum during 2001-11, the
share of ORPs has declined sharply by 7.26 percentage points; correspondingly,
the share of Hindus in this district has gone up by as much as 5.66 percentage
points. The share of Muslims has also increased by 1.66 percentage points.
The
sharp decline in the share of ORPs in Saraikela-Kharsawan seems largely because
of the number of ORPs declining from about 59 thousand to 27 thousand in the
three taluks of Ichagarh, Nimdi and Kukru. The number of Hindus in these has
increased from 1.17 to 1.79 lakh. The sharp increase in the share of Muslims in
this district seems mainly because of their number rising suddenly from 17.7 to
39.8 thousand in Chandil taluk.
Ranchi Region
Ranchi
|
Khunti
|
Simdega
|
|||||||
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
|
Hindus
|
55.32
|
54.61
|
0.71
|
26.11
|
26.65
|
-0.54
|
33.61
|
33.04
|
0.57
|
Muslims
|
14.09
|
14.27
|
-0.17
|
2.47
|
3.08
|
-0.61
|
2.52
|
3.59
|
-1.07
|
Christians
|
6.66
|
6.41
|
0.25
|
25.65
|
23.66
|
1.99
|
51.14
|
48.93
|
2.21
|
Sikhs
|
0.17
|
0.31
|
-0.14
|
0.01
|
0.04
|
-0.02
|
0.01
|
0.03
|
-0.03
|
Buddhists
|
0.03
|
0.06
|
-0.02
|
0.05
|
0.02
|
0.03
|
0.13
|
0.03
|
0.10
|
Jains
|
0.09
|
0.10
|
0.00
|
0.03
|
0.02
|
0.00
|
0.02
|
0.03
|
-0.02
|
ORPs
|
23.25
|
24.08
|
-0.83
|
45.37
|
46.42
|
-1.05
|
12.33
|
14.24
|
-1.91
|
RNS
|
0.39
|
0.17
|
0.21
|
0.32
|
0.11
|
0.21
|
0.25
|
0.11
|
0.14
|
Gumla
|
Lohardaga
|
||||||||
Hindus
|
30.19
|
32.49
|
-2.29
|
24.34
|
28.56
|
-4.22
|
|||
Muslims
|
5.02
|
4.96
|
0.05
|
20.57
|
20.11
|
0.46
|
|||
Christians
|
19.75
|
20.84
|
-1.09
|
3.63
|
3.98
|
-0.35
|
|||
Sikhs
|
0.02
|
0.04
|
-0.02
|
0.01
|
0.03
|
-0.02
|
|||
Buddhists
|
0.05
|
0.01
|
0.04
|
0.01
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
|||
Jains
|
0.00
|
0.01
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
0.00
|
|||
ORPs
|
44.62
|
41.54
|
3.08
|
51.10
|
47.20
|
3.90
|
|||
RNS
|
0.34
|
0.12
|
0.23
|
0.33
|
0.10
|
0.23
|
|||
In
Ranchi district, the share of ORPs has declined by 0.83 percentage points and
that of Hindus has increased by 0.71 percentage points. The share of Christians
has also increased by 0.25 percentage points; but that of Muslims and also
Sikhs has declined.
In
the newly created districts of Khunti and Simdega, the share of Christians has
increased considerably, by 1.99 and 2.21 percentage points, respectively. The
share of Muslims, on the other hand, has declined considerably in both
districts, though the decline is much sharper in Simdega. In addition, the
shares of both the ORPs and Hindus have declined in Khunti; in Simdega, the
decline in the share of ORPs has been much larger, but that of Hindus has
improved by 0.57 percentage points. Thus in these newly created districts,
which have the highest share of Christians in the State, Christians have gained
at the cost of both Indian Religionists and Muslims.
In
Gumla and Lohardaga, the proportion of ORPs has increased considerably at the
cost of both the Hindus and Christians. The rise of 3.08 percentage points in
their share in the former is compensated by a decline of 2.29 percentage points
in the share of Hindus and of 1.09 percentage points in that of Christians. The
rise of 3.90 percentage points in the share of ORPs in Lohardaga is compensated
by a sharp decline of 4.22 percentage points in the share of Hindus and a
slight decline in that of Christians. The district has also witnessed an
increase in the share of Muslims.
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad Region
Bokaro
|
Latehar
|
|||||
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
2011
|
2001
|
Diff
|
|
Hindus
|
79.35
|
83.92
|
-4.57
|
65.07
|
71.78
|
-6.71
|
Muslims
|
11.71
|
10.95
|
0.75
|
9.60
|
9.79
|
-0.19
|
Christians
|
0.67
|
0.72
|
-0.06
|
6.55
|
7.61
|
-1.06
|
Sikhs
|
0.20
|
0.32
|
-0.11
|
0.02
|
0.06
|
-0.04
|
Buddhists
|
0.09
|
0.02
|
0.08
|
0.02
|
0.00
|
0.02
|
Jains
|
0.10
|
0.11
|
-0.01
|
0.00
|
0.01
|
-0.01
|
ORPs
|
7.78
|
3.89
|
3.89
|
18.37
|
10.70
|
7.66
|
RNS
|
0.10
|
0.06
|
0.04
|
0.37
|
0.05
|
0.32
|
In this region, notable
changes in the religious demography have taken place in Bokaro and in the newly
created district of Latehar. In Bokaro, the share of ORPs has increased by 3.89
percentage points; that of Muslims has also increased by 0.75 percentage
points. Correspondingly, the share of Hindus has declined by as much as 4.57
percentage points.
In Latehar, the share of ORPs
has increased by 7.66 percentage points; this represents the largest change in
their proportion of all districts in Jharkhand. Correspondingly, the share of
all other major communities has declined. The greatest decline is in the share
of Hindus, which has come down from 71.78 percent in 2001 to 65.07 percent in
2011. There has been a decline of 1.06 percentage points in the share of
Christians also.
