DELHI, INDIA, February 29, 2016: “Source” above has been providing an on-going analysis of the 2011 census of India data, which was released only recently. In this report, they begin discussing those states and regions where the Muslims or Christians have a significant and growing presence. As they have said earlier, for the purpose of analysis, they have divide the population into three groups, Muslims, Christians, and the rest, who they refer to as Indian Religionists (IR), though these may include a smattering of Jews, Parsis and atheists, etc. They discuss the communities included within the IR separately only when there are some significant facts to be underlined.
They begin this analysis from the northern-most State of India, Jammu and Kashmir. The State includes three distinct regions: Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. Indian Religionists form a large majority in the Jammu and Ladakh regions; in the former, they are mainly Hindus and Sikhs, in the latter, the IR are mainly Buddhists. The Kashmir Valley region is now almost exclusively Muslim. The IR do constitute 3.4 percent of the population of the Valley in 2011, but nearly all of them are adult males with only a few women or children among them. There are not many IR families in the Valley. Until 1981, there used to be 6 to 7 percent Indian Religionists in the Valley; and they are known to have been integral part of the Kashmiri society. After 1981, they have been excluded from this northern-most part of the country. This must count as a historic and cataclysmic change in the religious demography of India. Incidentally, after 1981, the share of IR in the Jammu region has also begun to decline.
Much more at “source” above.