Decline in Hindu population
IN a series of articles recently contributed by Lala Lajpat Rai to the press, he drew attention to what appears to be a state of decline in Hindu population in Bengal as compared with the Mahomedan population. The matter was explained at some length by Dr PC Ray, who presided over the Provincial Hindu Conference at Faridpur, when he drew an alarming picture of the fate of Hindus living in that province. Rai quotes the views of Dr Ray and says that he holds a similar view of the condition of Hindus; he urges the necessity of adopting measures to arrest the decay of the Hindus. The danger threatening the Hindus of Bengal was pointed out nearly 20 years ago by one of the leading Bengalees, but obviously the warning then given was not heeded and no organised attempt was made to remove the serious obstacles that lie in the way of the increase of Hindu population in Bengal. What is really observed in that province is not an actual decline in Hindu population but a smaller rate of increase as compared with that of the Mahomedans. During the last five census periods from 1881 to 1921, the number of Hindus out of a total population of 10,000 steadily decreased from 4,882 to 4,767, 4,700, 4,523 and 4,372, whereas the Mahomedan numbers increased in the same period from 4,909 to 5,088, 5,119, 5,234 and 5,345. These figures, at first sight, show that the Hindu population of Bengal has been actually declining, whereas in reality the Hindu numbers have been growing but at a small rate of less than 4 per cent in a decade as compared with 7.5 per cent among the Mahomedans.
