Reversal of the imbalance in a difficult border region: JHARKHAND
Southeastern part of Bihar, comprising
the Purnia region, and Jharkhand mark the beginning of the eastern border
region of India that has been undergoing rapid religious demographic
transformation for several decades. In the latest decade of 2001-11, the share
of Indian Religionists in the population has declined much more rapidly than
the national average in parts of Jharkhand, and more so in West Bengal and
Assam to the east of it. Even so, in many regions and districts of Jharkhand,
Indian Religionists, particularly Hindus, have registered higher growth than the
Muslims and Christians during this decade. The growth rate of Indian
Religionists in Jharkhand has in fact slightly increased during 2001-11, while that of
Muslims and Christians has declined significantly from the very high levels
they registered in 1991-2001. That is why we are including Jharkhand with
Bihar, in the region of tentative recovery of the balance, rather than with
West Bengal and Assam, where the imbalance has worsened further.The recovery is perhaps even more impressive in Jharkhand than in Bihar.
In Jharkhand, persons counted under the
category of Other Religions and Persuasions (ORPs) form a significant
proportion of the population, and their share keeps varying widely from decade
to decade. In order to understand the direction of demographic change in the
State, it is necessary to work with the category of Indian Religionists (IRs)
which includes both Hindus and ORPs, as also Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and those
counted under RNS. We give detailed data for all these separately in a subsequent
post.
IR
share continues to decline but at a slower rate
Percent Share of Different Communities, 1951-2011
|
|||||||
1951
|
1961
|
1971
|
1981
|
1991
|
2001
|
2011
|
|
IR
|
87.79
|
86.45
|
85.30
|
84.75
|
84.10
|
82.09
|
81.17
|
Muslim
|
8.09
|
9.38
|
10.35
|
11.26
|
12.18
|
13.85
|
14.53
|
Christian
|
4.12
|
4.17
|
4.35
|
3.99
|
3.72
|
4.06
|
4.30
|
The headline story of Jharkhand is that the share of Indian Religionists (IR) in the State continues to decline, but the pace of decline has slowed down considerably. The share of Indian Religionists in
Jharkhand has gone down from 82.09 percent in 2001 to 81.17 percent in 2011.
This decline of 0.93 percentage points is more than the average decline of 0.74
percentage points that the IR have suffered in the country as a whole. But it is
much lower than the decline of 2.01 percentage points that took place in their share during the previous decade. As seen in the Table here, there has been a
long-term trend of decline in the IR share in the area that now forms Jharkhand.
In the six decades between 1951 and 2011, their share has declined by more than
6.62 percentage points. The decline that occurred in the previous decade of 1991-2001 was the largest since Independence; that trend of steep decline has been partly
arrested in 2001-11.
Corresponding to the decline of 0.93
percentage points in the IR share during 2001-11, the share of Muslims has
increased by 0.68 and that of Christians by 0.24 percentage points. Rise in the
Muslim share during the previous decade was much higher at 1.67 percentage
points. Since 1951, the share of Muslims in the State has increased by 6.44
percentage points; the share of Christians has been varying from decade to
decade, but overall it has remained nearly unchanged at around 4 percent.
Five
regions of Jharkhand
To comprehend the trends of religious
demographic change in Jharkhand, it is instructive to look at different regions of
the State separately. Jharkhand can be divided into five distinct regions,
corresponding to the earlier undivided districts of Palamu, Hazaribagh-Dhanbad,
Santhal Pargana, Ranchi and Singhbhum. The current districts comprising these
five regions are shown in Map V-A. Religious demography of the five regions is
quite different, though there are wide differences in some of the districts
within a region also. Below we discuss the spread and growth of Muslims,
Christians and Indian Religionists in different regions and districts of
Jharkhand.
Share
and Growth of Muslims
Share of Muslims in different regions
Share of Muslims in different regions
The share of Muslims in the districts
and regions of Jharkhand is shown in Map V-B below.
As seen in the Map, Muslims in Jharkhand are concentrated
particularly in Santhal Pargana, where their share in the population in 2011 is
22.73 percent. The region accommodates almost exactly one-third of the nearly
48 lakh Muslims in Jharkhand, while it has only one-fifth of the total
population of 3.3 crore. Santhal Pargana—especially the two districts of
Sahibganj and Pakur with the highest share of Muslims at 34.6 and 35.9 percent,
respectively—lies near the Bangladesh border and is separated from it only by a
thin strip of land lying in Maldah and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal.
There is significant presence of
Muslims in Hazaribagh-Dhanbad and Palamu regions also, where they form 15.6 and
12.6 percent of the population, respectively. Within these regions, their
presence is the highest in Giridih, which immediately adjoins Deogarh and
Jamtara districts of Santhal Pargana.
Share of Muslims in the Regions of
Jharkhand, 1951-2011
|
|||||
Palamu
|
Hazaribagh-
Dhanbad
|
Santhal-
Pargana
|
Ranchi
|
Singhbhum
|
|
1951
|
9.88
|
11.03
|
9.44
|
5.32
|
3.27
|
1961
|
9.69
|
11.41
|
13.77
|
5.74
|
3.75
|
1971
|
10.49
|
12.53
|
14.62
|
7.27
|
3.95
|
1981
|
11.13
|
13.04
|
16.44
|
7.78
|
4.56
|
1991
|
11.49
|
13.71
|
18.25
|
8.35
|
5.10
|
2001
|
12.51
|
15.00
|
20.59
|
10.72
|
6.32
|
2011
|
12.60
|
15.61
|
22.73
|
10.58
|
6.29
|
Rise
in Muslim share since 1951
The Table here gives the changing share
of Muslims from 1951 to 2001.
The share
of Muslims has been rising significantly in each of the five regions of the
State, even in those regions where their presence is not very high. In
Singhbhum and Ranchi, their share has almost doubled since 1951; in Palamu it
has gone up from 9.9% in 1951 and 9.7% in 1961 to 12.6% now; in
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, it has risen from 11.0% in 1951 to 15.6 percent in 2011.
The most spectacular rise in the share of Muslims, however, has taken place in Santhal Pargana: they had a share of just 9.4 percent in the population of the region in 1951; their share in 2011 is 22.7 percent. ince Independence and Partition, the population of Muslims in this region has multiplied by 7.3 times from 2.19 in 1951 to 15.84 lakh in 2011, while that of Indian Religionists has grown by a factor of 2.4, from 21.0 to 50.9 lakh.
The rise stalls except in Santhal Pargana during 2001-11
The most spectacular rise in the share of Muslims, however, has taken place in Santhal Pargana: they had a share of just 9.4 percent in the population of the region in 1951; their share in 2011 is 22.7 percent. ince Independence and Partition, the population of Muslims in this region has multiplied by 7.3 times from 2.19 in 1951 to 15.84 lakh in 2011, while that of Indian Religionists has grown by a factor of 2.4, from 21.0 to 50.9 lakh.
The rise stalls except in Santhal Pargana during 2001-11
The most remarkable aspect of the
data compiled in the Table above, however, is the stalling of the long-term rise in
Muslim share in at least 3 of the 5 regions of the State. In Ranchi and
Singhbhum, where the presence of Muslims is the lowest among all the regions,
the proportion of Muslims has actually declined between 2001 and 2011. In
Palamu, the Muslim share has remained almost unchanged. It is only in
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad and Santhal Pargana that the rise in Muslim share during 2001-11
seems to have followed the long-term trend.
But
the accretion of 0.61 percentage points in the former is much lower than the
rise of 1.29 percentage points in the Muslim share that occurred in this region
in the previous decade of 1991-2001. In Santhal Pargana, however, the share of
Muslims has increased by 2.14 percentage points, which is similar to the rise
of about 2 percentage points that the Muslims have been registering for the
past several decades.
Thus, we see the pattern of Bihar
repeated in Jharkhand. The growth in the share of Muslims seems to have stalled
in regions where the Muslim presence is relatively lower, but their growth has
remained considerably above others in the regions where they have established a
high presence.
Decline
in the Muslim Growth Rates
Growth Rates of Total Population and
Muslims
|
|||||
1991-2001
|
2001-2011
|
||||
T
|
M
|
T
|
M
|
||
Jharkhand
|
23.24
|
40.28
|
22.42
|
28.48
|
|
Palamu
|
27.85
|
39.24
|
27.31
|
28.23
|
|
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad
|
24.59
|
36.30
|
20.60
|
25.47
|
|
Santhal-Pargana
|
22.03
|
37.67
|
24.40
|
37.37
|
|
Ranchi
|
22.95
|
57.82
|
23.05
|
21.50
|
|
Singhbhum
|
19.55
|
48.06
|
19.57
|
19.00
|
|
Another way to look at the stalling of
the rise in Muslim share in regions other than Santhal Pargana is to look at
the change in the growth rate of Muslims in Jharkhand and in the five regions
of the State that we have been mentioning. In the Table here, we have compiled
the rates for 1991-2001 and 2001-2011 for the total and the Muslim population.
As can be seen, between these two decades, Muslim growth has declined
substantially in the whole State, as well as in all the regions except Santhal
Pargana. This is partly because of the excessively high growth of Muslims that
the State experienced during 1991-2001. But, what is even more significant is
that in the Ranchi and Singhbhum regions, the growth rate of Muslims has declined
below that of the total population, leading to the lowering of the share of
Muslims in these two regions. In Palamu, the growth rate of Muslims has come
very near that of the total population; the share of Muslims in that region has remained almost
unchanged.
In Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, the growth rate
of Muslims has declined substantially from 36.3 to 25.5 percent, but Muslim
growth in 2001-11 remains considerably above that of the total
population at 20.6 percent. In this region, the share of Muslims has increased from 15.0 to 15.6 percent.
Share and Growth of Christians
Share
of Christians in different regions
Share of Christians in the districts
and regions of Jharkhand is shown in Map V-C below:
Growth
in the share of Christians
Share of Christians in Different
Regions, 1951-2011
|
|||||
Palamu
|
Hazaribagh-
Dhanbad
|
Santhal-
Pargana
|
Ranchi
|
Singhbhum
|
|
1951
|
1.39
|
0.53
|
0.18
|
18.24
|
1.75
|
1961
|
1.67
|
0.34
|
1.14
|
17.71
|
2.07
|
1971
|
1.79
|
0.59
|
1.55
|
17.70
|
2.23
|
1981
|
1.88
|
0.53
|
1.64
|
16.57
|
2.26
|
1991
|
1.76
|
0.57
|
1.68
|
15.71
|
2.18
|
2001
|
1.91
|
0.63
|
3.24
|
15.42
|
2.41
|
2011
|
1.78
|
0.62
|
4.21
|
15.48
|
2.59
|
The Table here gives growth of
the Christian share in different regions since 1951. Christians in Jharkhand are
concentrated mainly in the Ranchi region; of the total of 14 lakh Christians in
the State, 8.6 lakhs are in this region. The share of Christians here has been
slowly declining since 1951; for the first time since Independence, they have
registered a slight improvement in their share in this latest decade of
2001-11. The decline was mainly because of the consistent increase in the share
of Muslims in this region that we have noticed above; the slight rise seen now
is because for the first time since Independence, the share of Muslims in this
region has shown a slight decline. As we shall see below, the share of Indian
Religionists in this region has also marginally improved in this decade.
Newly
formed high Christian presence districts
Within the Ranchi region, Christian
presence is high in Simdega (51.1%), Khunti (25.7%) and Gumla (19.8%). Simdega and
Khunti have been newly carved out of Gumla and Ranchi, respectively. Gumla was
carved out earlier in 1991 from Ranchi; at that time, Christians formed
nearly one-third of the population of this district. Bifurcation of Gumla has now created the first
Christian majority district in central India.
This process of carving out niche
districts with a dominating presence of either the Muslims or Christians has
been going on in different parts of India almost continuously. The more obvious examples are of Malappuram
in Kerala, Gajapati in Orissa, Mewat in Haryana, and now Simdega in Jharkhand.
Christians
in Santhal Pargana
After Ranchi, the highest presence of
Christians is in Santhal Pargana; and, unlike in Ranchi, the share of
Christians in this region has been consistently rising. The rise has been especially steep
after 1991; between 1991 and 2001, their share in the region rose from 1.68 to
3.24 percent and it has risen again to 4.21 percent in 2011. In 1951, there was
almost no Christian presence in Santhal Pargana.
Within Santhal Pargana, the Christian share is particularly high in Sahbibganj, Pakur and Dumka, the three districts where the Muslim share is also very high. In this region, the Indian Religionists have been loosing their share to both Muslims and Christians.
Within Santhal Pargana, the Christian share is particularly high in Sahbibganj, Pakur and Dumka, the three districts where the Muslim share is also very high. In this region, the Indian Religionists have been loosing their share to both Muslims and Christians.
Christians
in other regions
Christian presence has been slowly growing
in the Singhbhum region. During 2001-11, their share in the population has
increased marginally from 2.41 to 2.59 percent. Within this region, their
presence is the highest in Pashchimi Singhbhum; in this district, they now form
5.83 percent of the population compared to 5.13 percent in 2001.
In Palamu and Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, the
Christian presence is low and has been varying from decade to decade. During
2001-11, their share in both regions has marginally declined.
Within these two regions,
the Christian presence is significant only in the newly created Latehar district. The district has
been carved out from Palamu; and of the 54 thousand Christians in undivided Palamu,
48 thousand have come to the share of Latehar. Christian share in the
population of Latehar is 6.55 percent. Their share in all other districts of
these two regions is below 1 percent, except in Garhwa, where they
form 1.30 percent of the population.
Decline
in the Christian Growth Rates
Growth Rates of Total Population and
Christians
|
|||||
1991-2001
|
2001-2011
|
||||
T
|
C
|
T
|
C
|
||
Jharkhand
|
23.24
|
34.53
|
22.42
|
29.74
|
|
Palamu
|
27.85
|
39.19
|
27.31
|
18.48
|
|
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad
|
24.59
|
37.34
|
20.60
|
17.99
|
|
Santhal-Pargana
|
22.03
|
136.1
|
24.40
|
61.70
|
|
Ranchi
|
22.95
|
20.68
|
23.05
|
23.52
|
|
Singhbhum
|
19.55
|
32.07
|
19.57
|
28.70
|
|
Another way to comprehend the slowing
of the growth of Christian share in different regions of Jharkhand, except
Santhal Pargana, is to look at the changing growth rate of Christians over the
last two decades. As can be seen in the Table here, the growth rate of Christians
has declined substantially in Palamu and in Hazaribagh-Dhanbad. In both these
regions, the Christian growth in 2001-11 is below the average growth of the
total population of the region. In Santhal Pargana, also the growth rate has
declined from the unusually high 136 percent during 1991-2001 to 61.7 percent
in 2001-11. But the latter rate is still far above the average growth of
population in this region. Contrary to the trend, the growth rate of Christians
in Ranchi is higher in 2001-11 than in 1991-2001. Their growth rate was below
the average of the region in 1991-2001, it is slightly above the average now.
In Singhbhum, there has been some decline in the growth rate of Christians, but
it remains above the average of the region, which itself has increased slightly
as compared to the rate in 1991-2001.
Share and Growth of Indian Religionists
Changing share of IR since 1951
Share
of IR in Different Regions of Jharkhand, 1951-2011
|
|||||
Palamu
|
Hazaribagh-
Dhanbad
|
Santhal-
Pargana
|
Ranchi
|
Singhbhum
|
|
1951
|
88.73
|
88.44
|
90.38
|
76.44
|
94.97
|
1961
|
88.64
|
88.25
|
85.10
|
76.55
|
94.18
|
1971
|
87.73
|
86.88
|
83.83
|
75.03
|
93.82
|
1981
|
86.99
|
86.42
|
81.91
|
75.65
|
93.18
|
1991
|
86.76
|
85.72
|
80.08
|
75.94
|
92.72
|
2001
|
85.58
|
84.37
|
76.17
|
73.87
|
91.28
|
2011
|
85.62
|
83.78
|
73.05
|
73.94
|
91.12
|
The
share of Indian Religionists is rather low in Ranchi and Santhal-Pargana
regions, where they form 73.94 and 73.05 percent of the population. In Singhbhum,
their proportion is much higher at 91.12 percent. In Palamu and
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, their share is 85.62 and 83.78 percent, respectively.
IR share has been declining in all five
regions
In all five regions, the share of
Indian Religionists has been falling more or less consistently. The decline is
the most steep in Santhal Pargana, where the share of IR has come down from
90.38 percent in 1951 to 73.05 percent in 2011; of this decline of 17.33
percentage points, 13.29 percentage points have accrued to the share of Muslims
and 4.03 percentage points to the share of Christians. The fall of 3.91
percentage points in the share of IR during 1991-2001 was the steepest since
1951-61; during 2001-11 also, the loss in the IR share has been fairly high at
3.12 percentage points.
The decline in the share of IR in
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad region also has been significant and consistent from decade
to decade, though the volume of decline is not comparable to Santhal Pargana.
That trend of steady decline has continued during 2001-11 also.
In Singhbhum, there has been a slow
decline up to 1991. The IR share declined steeply by 1.44 percentage points in
2001. During 2001-11, there has been only a marginal decline of 0.16 percentage
points.
Reversal
of the trend in Ranchi and Palamu
In Palamu, as in Singhbhum, there was
an unusually steep decline of 1.18 percentage points in the share of IR during
1991-2001. During 2001-11, the IR share has actually registered a slight gain. In Ranchi region also, the IR share has slightly increased
during 2001-11; but in this region, IR share had shown a rising trend earlier
in 1981 and 1991 also, before undergoing a steep decline of more than 2
percentage points in the previous decade.
Share
and Growth of Indian Religionists
Changing
share of IR since 1951
Share of IR in Different Regions of
Jharkhand, 1951-2011
|
|||||
Palamu
|
Hazaribagh-
Dhanbad
|
Santhal-
Pargana
|
Ranchi
|
Singhbhum
|
|
1951
|
88.73
|
88.44
|
90.38
|
76.44
|
94.97
|
1961
|
88.64
|
88.25
|
85.10
|
76.55
|
94.18
|
1971
|
87.73
|
86.88
|
83.83
|
75.03
|
93.82
|
1981
|
86.99
|
86.42
|
81.91
|
75.65
|
93.18
|
1991
|
86.76
|
85.72
|
80.08
|
75.94
|
92.72
|
2001
|
85.58
|
84.37
|
76.17
|
73.87
|
91.28
|
2011
|
85.62
|
83.78
|
73.05
|
73.94
|
91.12
|
The share of Indian Religionists is
rather low in Ranchi and Santhal-Pargana regions, where they form 73.94 and
73.05 percent of the population. In Singhbhum, their proportion is much higher
at 91.12 percent. In Palamu and Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, their share is 85.62 and
83.78 percent, respectively.
IR
share has been declining in all five regions
In all five regions, the share of
Indian Religionists has been falling more or less consistently. The decline is
the most steep in Santhal Pargana, where the share of IR has come down from
90.38 percent in 1951 to 73.05 percent in 2011; of this decline of 17.33
percentage points, 13.29 percentage points have accrued to the share of Muslims
and 4.03 percentage points to the share of Christians. The fall of 3.91
percentage points in the share of IR during 1991-2001 was the steepest since
1951-61; during 2001-11 also, the loss in the IR share has been fairly high at
3.12 percentage points.
The decline in the share of IR in
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad region also has been significant and consistent from decade
to decade, though the volume of decline is not comparable to Santhal Pargana.
That trend of steady decline has continued during 2001-11 also.
Reversal
of the trend in Ranchi and Palamu
In Palamu, as in Singhbhum, there was
an unusually steep decline of 1.18 percentage points in the share of IR during
1991-2001. During 2001-11, the IR share has actually registered a slight gain. In the Ranchi region also, the IR share has slightly increased
during 2001-11; but in this region, IR share had shown a rising trend earlier
in 1981 and 1991 also, before undergoing a steep decline of more than 2
percentage points in the previous decade.
Rise
in IR Growth Rates
Growth Rates of Total Population and IR
|
|||||
1991-2001
|
2001-2011
|
||||
T
|
IR
|
T
|
IR
|
||
Jharkhand
|
23.24
|
20.28
|
22.42
|
21.04
|
|
Palamu
|
27.85
|
26.11
|
27.31
|
27.37
|
|
Hazaribagh-Dhanbad
|
24.59
|
22.63
|
20.60
|
19.76
|
|
Santhal-Pargana
|
22.03
|
16.07
|
24.40
|
19.30
|
|
Ranchi
|
22.95
|
19.59
|
23.05
|
23.18
|
|
Singhbhum
|
19.55
|
17.68
|
19.57
|
19.36
|
|
Unlike the Christians and Muslims, the
growth rate of Indian Religionists in Jharkhand has increased as
compared to the last decade, though it remains below the growth rates of both
Christians and Muslims and the average growth rate of the total population. The
growth rate of IR during 2001-11 has surpassed the growth during the previous
decade of 1991-2001 in all regions, except Hazaribagh-Dhanbad. It, however,
remains below the growth rate of the total population in Hazaribagh-Dhanbad,
Santhal Pargana and Singhbhum. In Palamu and Ranchi, the IR growth rate is
marginally above the growth of the total population. In Singhbhum, it is
slightly below. In Hazaribagh-Dhanbad, the IR growth is about 0.84 percentage
points below the growth of total population. The gap of growth between the IR
and the total population in Santhal Pargana is however quite wide. These
differences are reflected in the changes in the share of IR that we have
discussed above. But, the recovery of the growth of IR in this border and
difficult region of India is clearly visible in the Table above.
Summary
of the situation
The religious demographic profile of Jharkhand shows the three major communities, the Muslims, Christians and the Indian Religionists contending for space in different regions of the State. In Santhal Pargana, the share of Indian Religionists continues to decline rapidly, while both Muslims and Christians keep recording robust growth. In Hazaribagh-Dhanbad region, Muslims continue to grow faster than others, though the gap seems to be diminishing. In Palamu, the Muslim growth advantage has been largely neutralized and Christian growth has fallen behind others; as a result, the share of IR in the region has improved, though only marginally. In the Ranchi region also the growth of Muslims has slowed down, leading to a slight improvement in the share of both Christians and IRs. In Singhbhum, the share of both Muslims and Christians has increased marginally, while that of IR has slightly declined. In fact, the rise or decline in the share of different communities has only been slight in all regions, except Santhal Pargana. The rise of Muslim share and decline of IR in Hazaribagh-Dhanbad is also somewhat significant, though nowhere near what has happened in Santhal Pargana.
Thus, in Jharkhand, as in Bihar, the
Indian Religionists seem to have reversed the trend of continuous decline
in their share. The position of Jharkhand in this regard is even more
remarkable than Bihar, because in Jharkhand, the Indian Religionists have to
contend for demographic space with both the Muslims and the Christians. And, in
this contention, they seem to have begun reversing the long-established trend of continuous and
all around decline quite decisively.
Indian Religionists here include
those counted as adherents of Other Religions and Persuasions (ORPs), whose
numbers have been changing from decade to decade. In the next post, we shall
discuss the relative situation of different groups counted within the category
of IR. We shall also talk about some of the individual districts where the
share of one or the other of the major communities has undergone unusual
change.
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