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KOCHI, INDIA, February 14, 2005: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) on Monday said there has been “abnormally high” growth of Christian population in the North East, especially in districts bordering Bangladesh, and the commission had sought details from the Christian leadership. While the proportion of Christians in India has remained the same for both decades– 1991 and 2001 at 2.3 per cent, in terms of percentage, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have the highest percentage of Christians at 90 per cent, 87 per cent and 70.3 per cent respectively, NCW chairman S. Tarlochan Singh told reporters here. The Commission on Monday held a meeting on scientific analysis of census data of 2001 of Christian community in India, in which church heads, including Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church participated. The report, Christians in India, presented by Prof Ashish Bose, chairman, NCM expert committee on Census data on religion, was discussed at the meeting. Later, addressing a press meet, Singh said given the ethnic demands and socio-cultural diversity in north-eastern states, it would be “unscientific” to make hasty generalizations. “We believe that the possibility of illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh reporting as Christians cannot be ruled out,” Singh said. There was every possibility of the migrants recording their religion as Christian as a survival strategy, he said, adding this needs to be looked into. Singh said the commission had urged the Christian leadership to discuss the report.

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