Hindu population in Bangladesh increasing: Delhi

The Hindu population in Bangladesh increased to 10.7 per cent in 2017 from 8.4 per cent in 2011, the Indian government confirmed on Thursday.

The Indian Express newspaper quoted India’s external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj as telling the upper house of parliament that the Hindu population has risen instead of declining unlike what is often claimed.

Swaraj apparently counted the perception in India that the population of Hindus in Bangladesh was declining.

“A perception that Hindus are migrating from Bangladesh and that their population is falling, has been formed,” she was quoted to have said responding to questions in Rajya Sabha.

The Indian minister reportedly mentioned that the government had from time to time raised the issue of the plight of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries at the bilateral level and made efforts to take them to a logical conclusion.

“About the demographic changes in Bangladesh, as per statistics of the Bangladesh Bureau [of Statistics], in 2011 there were 8.4 per cent Hindus in the country, which has risen to 10.7 per cent in 2017,” Swaraj was quoted to have added.

According to the Indian Express report, the Indian minister urged members to pass the Citizenship Act amendment Bill, pending in the Upper House, to help resolve issues pertaining to atrocities and attacks on minorities, including those in Pakistan.