New Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the population of Hindus was reducing in India.
“Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around,” Rijiju said on Twitter.
On the micro-blogging website, Rijiju posted a series of tweets along with a screen grab of a news report that quoted the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee as saying that the Narendra Modi-led BJP government is “trying to convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu state”.
The minister lashed out at Congress for making “provocative statements”, and questioned the party’s motive behind these allegations.
“Congress should not make such provocative statements. India is a secular country. All religious groups enjoy freedom & living peacefully.”
“Why is Congress making such irresponsible statements? People of Arunachal Pradesh are unitedly living peacefully with each other.”
Rijiju hails from Arunachal Pradesh and is a practising Buddhist.
Reacting to his statement, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said he should remember that he is a “minister of India for all Indians not for Hindus only”.
“Remember your oath as minister,” the Hyderabad MP said.
“Wht have the minorities India got to do with minorities of ‘other’ countries. It is Constitution which guarantees rights (sic),” he tweeted.
According to the 2011 Census, Hindus make up India’s 79.80 percent of population, Muslims 14.23 percent, Christians 2.30 percent, Sikhs 1.72 percent, Buddhists 0.70 percent and Jains 0.37 percent.
The country’s Hindu population, as per the 2001 Census, was 80.5 percent, while that of Muslims was 13.4 percent, Christians 2.3 percent, Sikhs 1.9 percent, Buddhists 0.80 percent and Jains 0.4 percent.
