DELHI, INDIA, September 9, 2004: Under attack over its methodology that reflected in “high growth” figures of Muslim population, the Census Commission today excluded the data of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam in the 2001 Census figures to show that the Muslim growth rate has actually declined over 1991 figures. In a damage-control exercise after Monday’s publication of the Census figures on the basis of “First Report on Religion” that showed a 1.5 percent increase in the Muslim population’s growth rate from 34.5 percent in 1991, the Commission today released two sets of figures classifying them as “unadjusted” and “adjusted.” “Adjusted” figures released show the growth rate of Muslims at 29.3 percent as against 32.9 percent in the 1991 Census and not 36 percent as brought out earlier. Monday’s “unadjusted” figures showed that the Muslim community was growing at a rate of 36 percent against 34.5 percent in 1991. Denying that the revision of data was done “under pressure,” Census Commissioner J K Banthia said there were several ways to interpret data and “the simplest is not to make any interpolation.” Since no census was conducted in Assam in 1981 and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1991, the Commission had deleted entire data for these two states from all the census figures conducted since 1961, he said. Under the “adjusted” data, Hindus recorded a decline of 2.8 percent in growth rate from 22.8 in 1991 to 20 in 2001 and Sikhs’ growth rate also declined by 8.6 from 25.5 in 1991 to 16.9 in 2001. PTI

DELHI, INDIA, September 10, 2004: Ridiculing the revised Census figures that show a decline in Muslim growth rate over 1991, the VHP on Friday demanded prosecution of the minister concerned “at whose behest the data reflecting high growth rate of Muslims was changed overnight.” It also threatened to take the issue to court. “Change in the figures because of exclusion of data of Jammu and Kashmir and Assam in the 2001 Census figures is bunkum, and we do not accept it. It is because of pressure from the Muslim League,” VHP leader Praveen Togadia told reporters. Demanding that the government immediately clarify the methodology behind the Census projections, he said the VHP would take the services of a demographic expert to get the Census report examined in detail. He also demanded that the Centre should adopt a policy to control Muslim population growth in Bharat and send back all Bangladeshi Muslims. He said persons having more than two children should not be allowed to hold any elected post from panchayat to Parliament and lauded the Maharashtra government for enacting such a law for panchayat. Apprehending that the Indian society was facing “threats of Islamization,” Togadia circulated statistics on Hindu-Muslim population saying as per current trends, the population of both the communities would be equal after 2051.

DELHI, INDIA, September 10, 2004: High growth in the population of Christians in North-Eastern region is another alarming feature of India’s compartmentalized demographic character. The Christians form a big chunk of the population in some of these states. The growth rate in this part is also considered significant. The community forms 2.3 percent of India’s population. According to the Census figure, Nagaland has almost emerged as a Christian state with as high as 90 percent of population being from the community while 87 percent of the people in Mizoram hail from the community. Meghalaya has 70.3 percent of people from this minority segment while Manipur has 34 percent. Arunachal Pradesh has 18.7 percent of Christians. The growth rate of the Christians in the North Eastern states, as shown by The First Report on Religion Data - 2001, is significant. The community in Nagaland was 1.057 million strong in 1991 and has grown to 1.79 million. The 1991 census registered the community’s strength in Mizoram as 591,000 and the same has in 2001 grown up to 772,000. In Meghalaya, the community has grown from 1.146 million in 1991 to 1.628 million in 2001. In Manipur, the same has grown from 626,000 in 1991 to 737,000 in 2001. The growth in Arunachal Pradesh has been appreciable in last one decade. The Christian population in the state in 1991 was registered at 89,013 and the same in 2001 stands at 205,548. Another interesting feature of high Christian population in the region is the high literacy rate among the community. The literacy rate in Nagaland stands at 66.2, in Manipur at 65.9, in Mizoram at 93.1, in Tripura at 67.9 and in Meghalaya at 65.3.

LONDON, ENGLAND, September 10, 2004: The growing popularity of Indian food is evident from the increasing number of Indian restaurants opening up across the UK. But it is not merely the lure of the palate that ensures the success of the cuisine, now health benefits will add to the charm of a well-cooked dish. Scientists have found that spicy food could protect the body against damage that leads to cancers, in particular leukemia. Most children in India grow up with the knowledge of the benefits of turmeric, but on Thursday, a childhood leukemia conference in London was told that the root that gives yellow color to Indian dishes is an antioxidant which can protect against environmental chemicals that damage DNA. Scientists now increasingly believe that lower rates of leukemia in Asia may be due to the difference in diet. Turmeric is also said to slow the rate of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and to possess anti-inflammatory properties that could help with Crohn’s Disease. Speaking at the conference, Professor Moolky Nagabhushan, of Loyola University Medical Centre in Chicago, said turmeric blocks some of the harmful effects of cigarette smoke, protects against chromosome damage and prevents dangerous chemicals forming after eating processed food. It has been seen that curcumin, the compound that gives turmeric its yellow color, stops leukemia cells multiplying. He said: “Our studies show that turmeric - and curcumin - in the diet mitigate the effects of some of these risk factors.” Ken Campbell, of the Leukaemia Research Fund, said leukemia was rare in people of Asian descent. He said: “This suggests that lower rates of childhood leukemia in India, China and Japan may, at least in part, be due to differences in genetically determined susceptibility.”

TORONTO, CANADA, September 10, 2004: About 100 protesters, many of them Muslims, gathered before the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday (Sept. to denounce proposed shariah-based tribunals in the province - an issue that has galvanized Muslims and women’s groups around the world. Homa Arjomand, the Iranian-born coordinator of the International Campaign Against Shariah Courts in Canada, said simultaneous protests were held in cities across the country and in European capitals in front of Canadian embassies and consulates. “We have gathered over 4,000 signatures on our online petition,” she told RNS. “This is not just a government issue. It’s a moral one.” Speaker after speaker representing Islamic, women’s, humanist and leftist groups condemned the proposed shariah panels as a tool to oppress women. Critics fear that women, especially new immigrants, would be coerced into using the panels and forced to accept rulings that would favor men in family matters. Others have expressed fear that should they reject shariah courts, women would face ostracism from their communities.



The issue is a divisive one. At least two Muslim groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada and the Muslim Canadian Congress, oppose shariah-based courts. Ontario’s 1991 Arbitration Act allows for voluntary faith-based arbitration, which permits Muslims, Jews, Native Canadians and members of other faiths to use the tenets of their religion to settle matters such as divorce, inheritance and custody issues outside the court system. These religious courts also settle business and commercial disputes, and their rulings are binding provided the litigants use them voluntarily. “Voluntary is a lie,” pronounced Isaam Shokri, an Iraqi-born member of the coalition opposing the panels. “I know firsthand about shariah. These women (would) live under the hand of mullahs and sheikhs. We say no to your misogynist ideas.” Arjomand, who fled Iran on horseback and now counsels abused women and children in Toronto’s Muslim community, said “many” of her clients have been victimized by shariah. “I have helped some to escape abusive relationships, polygamy and child marriages,” she said.



Amid the furor, the Ontario government has appointed a former attorney general, Marion Boyd, to examine the act and how it relates to religious courts. Her report is due Sept. 30. The country-wide protests occurred on the same day as B’nai B’rith Canada came out in support of shariah courts, but only if provincial laws are amended to introduce additional safeguards to ensure that participation is voluntary and informed. “We have tried to reduce the hype around the proposal to implement shariah law tribunals in Ontario,” said John Syrtash, a family lawyer with B’nai B’rith. “Shariah-based courts will not bring the Taliban to Canada.”