Inside Our December Issue: India’s Demographic Changes

Where does the identity of a nation come from? The simplest and the shortest answer to that is - its people.

The debate over demographics is almost non-existent in India and it is alarming because of the rate at which certain parts of India are undergoing a demographic change.

The Swarajya December issue is our humble attempt to try and correct this anomaly.

To begin with, we have Dr J K Bajaj, the Director for Centre For Policy Studies, breaking down the data around a very curious phenomenon. Bangladesh, earlier East Pakistan, has witnessed a sharp fall in the population share of Hindus since the 1950s. Assuming that many of these Hindus crossed over to India, you would expect that the percentage share of Hindus in the states which border Bangladesh would increase, right? But that is not happening.

So what exactly is going on in eastern India? Let Dr Bajaj explain, with numbers.

From the east we dive down to south, where our Executive Editor, M R Subramani, gives both the data and the stories behind the likely irreversible demographic shift going on in Kerala.

But is nothing at all being done to check all of this? Has India reconciled itself to a demographic change and a cultural transformation?

Not really.

Converting to, or returning to Hinduism, is an exercise fraught with risks in India. And yet, there are many and more, who, while preferring to remain anonymous, are resolute on making this journey. Here is Swati Goel Sharma, with the stories of such people.

Beyond the numbers, and the stories, the debate around demographics is about questions of the identity of India. We at Swarajya take it as our responsibility to initiate the most important debates, however uncomfortable be the questions that they thrown up. We are accountable to you dear reader, not to watchdogs of political correctness.

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- Team Swarajya