Patna,(BiharTimes): With just 0.4 per cent Bihar is among the states which witnessed one of the slowest growth rate in the population of Muslims in India. The countrywide growth was 0.8 per cent. In 2001 the percentage of Muslim population in Bihar was 16.5 while in 2011 it increased to 16.9.What is strange is that while Assam registered highest growth rate of Muslim population, almost all the north-eastern states, some of them bordering Bangladesh, had a very slow growth rate of increase in population of Muslims.

Interestingly, Manipur was the only state to show a fall in Muslim population––from 8.8 to 8.4 per cent. In Nagaland the Muslim population rose from 1.8 to 2.5 per cent; in Meghalaya from 4.3 to 4.4per cent and Mizoram from 1.1 to 1.4 per cent.In Daman and Diu the Muslim percentage remained at 7.8 both in 2001 and 2011.Among major states Uttar Pradesh registered a rise from 18.5 to 19.3 per cent; Madhya Pradesh from 6.4 to 6.6 per cent; Odisha from 2.1 to 2.2 per cent; Gujarat from 9.1 to 9.7 per cent; Andhra Pradesh from 9.2 to 9.6 per cent and Maharashtra from 10.6 to 11.5 per cent.

According to the Census-2011 figures carried by the Times of India the population of religious groups, set to be released shortly, show a 24 per cent rise in the Muslim population between 2001 and 2011, with the community’s share of total population rising from 13.4 per cent to 14.2 per cent over the 10-year period.While the growth rate of the Muslim population has slowed from around 29 per cent between 1991 and 2001, it is still higher than the national average of 18 per cent for the decade.

The data showed that the most rapid rise in the share of Muslims in the total population was witnessed in Assam. Muslims constituted 30.9 per cent of the state’s population in 2001, but accounted for a 34.2 per cent share a decade later. West Bengal, another state bordering Bangladesh, registered a rise in the share of Muslims in total population from 25.2 per cent in 2001 to 27 per cent in 2011.

Uttarakhand showed a sharp rise in the share of Muslim population from 11.9 per cent to 13.9 per cent.Kerala from 24.7 per cent to 26.6 per cent, Goa from 6.8 to 8.4 per cent, Jammu & Kashmir from 67 per cent to 68.3 per cent, Haryana from 5.8 per cent to seven per cent and Delhi from 11.7 to 12.9 per cent also registered faster growth rate.