It's interesting to see the post-Cold War search for a New Enemy (Islam is unfortunately the prime target) bring Rightwingers and Islamophobes of all kinds onto the same side.
In India too, such thinking is not new, and claims have been made -- believe it or not -- that India would become a Muslim country in a certain number of years. The links below are self-explanatory. So is the ideological bias. http://www.sanghparivar.org/forum/when-muslims-will-become-absolute-majority-in-india-india-will-be-declared-islamic-country-if- http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090401042710AAgqpCS Unfortunately, if we go on at it at this rate, this 'Clash of Civilizations' will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, built on mistrust and hate (promoted by those who push such theories). Snopes has an interesting debate on this: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/demographics.asp ORIGINS: The notion that "Christendom" (primarily western Europe, but also North America) is in danger of being overwhelmed within a few generations by Muslim immigrants with compratively high birth rates (while the natives of the countries they are emigrating to are reproducing at or below mere replacement level) has been a common topic of western press articles in the last several years. However, such articles (and examples like the video linked above) often suffer from flaws that tip them more towards being alarmist rather than accurate and sober analyses. They cherry pick a few gloomy-sounding statistics without presenting them within a larger context, they assume that current demographic trends will remain static even in the face of future political, economic or social changes, and they don't acknowledge that fertility rates are influenced by a number of complex, interrelated and volatile factors. The last point is especially important, as even small changes in fertility rates can have a significant impact on the future size and nature of populations. Or, as Martin Walker noted ina Spring 2009 Wilson Quarterly on the subject, "the detailed work of demographers tends to seep out to the general public in crude form, and sensationalist headlines so become common wisdom." CLOSEQUOTE There is another rationale take on the issue here too: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/2/6500/70482 Not long back, following the Western perspective on the issue, everyone spoke of a "population bomb" in India. Today, we realise that a productive population (if well educated, clothed and fed) is a productive one. Fertility rates don't remain consistently high all the time. They stabilise after a point. South India is already on this path (with states like Kerala and Goa leading). The north with take some time to stabilise. FN 2009/5/10 Mario Goveia <[email protected]>: > > Date: Sat, 9 May 2009 23:46:05 -0400 > From: Roland Francis <[email protected]> > > An undeniable trend, or skewed statistics designed by fundamentalist > Christians to scare. > Which is it? > > See the seven and a half minute YouTube video. > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU > > Mario responds: > > Do you have some facts to show that the statistics are skewed, or are you > trying to obfuscate or deny the undeniable trend?? -- FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/fn M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 http://fredericknoronha.multiply.com/ http://goa1556.goa-india.org "There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on senators." - Will Rogers
