In yet another controversial statement, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, said that the Hindu population in India was shrinking while minorities were flourishing.
"Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around," Rijiju tweeted on Monday.
Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around. pic.twitter.com/W4rZnk1saM
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 13, 2017
According to the Census data 2011 and 2001, the percentage of the Hindu population fell only by less than 1% (.7%) over the decade.
Rijiju was commenting on a media report in which a Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was trying to "convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu-majority state".
Rijiju also said: "The Congress should not make such provocative statements. India is a secular country. All religious groups enjoy freedom and live peacefully."
Reacting to the statement, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted, “MOS Home should remember he is a Minister of India for all Indians not for Hindus only,remember your oath as minister.”
@vijaita @KirenRijiju MOS Home should remember he is a Minister of India for all Indians not for Hindus only,remember your oath as minister
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) February 13, 2017
Rijiju made news in November 2016 at the time when the Bhopal jailbreak was reported.
He had asked the public and the media not to question authorities and had said that questioning authorities was not “good culture”.
“First of all, we should stop this habit of raising doubt, questioning the authorities and the police. This is not a good culture. But what we have been observing in India is that the people have developed this habit of raising unnecessary doubts and questions,” Rijiju had told the media.
The MoS was responding to questions asked by the media on why eight undertrials had been shot dead by the police after they had fled prison.
A new fashion has developed in India. A student or a film person can put a question or speak against PM without any logic to get into news.
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 17, 2016
The Census data shows that while the Christian population remained the same over the decade, the percentage of Muslims grew by .83%. The percentage of Sikhs, Buddhists and Jain fell by the percentage of Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains fell by 0.18, 0.1, and 0.03 respectively.