Talk:Bengali Hindus in Assam

Number of Hindu Bengali

Read the article properly , it is written at the start

While KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi maintains a figure of one crore Hindu Bengalis in Assam, AASU chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharya says there 70-72 lakh Hindu Bengalis in Assam.

But this is a claim, the writer Nandita saikia clearly rejects the claim writes

The BJP's goal of cultivating the support of a large chunk of Bengali Hindus in Assam using the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 could very well be based on misconceptions if the available Census data is taken into account. Research reveals that the actual numbers of this community could be drastically less than imagined earlier.

From the Hindu Bengali Section

Due to the absence of a robust vital registration system, diverse opinions have been forwarded about the population of Bengali Hindus in Assam with estimates ranging between 40 to 70 lakh. As a demographer and having studied immigration in Assam for two years, it's difficult to accept these statistics on the Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh. A study on population composition of Assam reveals that the Hindu population in Assam has declined from 70.78 percent in 1951 to 61.47 percent in 2011 (see Figure 1).

Migration during 1951-1971---

the 1971 Census, and the consequent population increase in Assam, it can be concluded that about 12-14 lakh East Bengalis immigrated to Assam during 1951-1971. Out of this total number, Hindu immigrants would be around 4-5 lakh.

District wise population

The actual scenario about Hindu illegal immigrants in Assam also becomes clear when the religious composition of the population is analysed at the district level. Except in United Mikir and North Cachar Hills (currently Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao), there is not a single district that shows a jump in the Hindu population. In United Mikir and North Cachar Hills, there was an increase in the Hindu population in 1971 due to the shift in reporting from “other religion” (probably recorded as animists in previous censuses) to Hindu religion. If there had been a massive Bengali Hindu immigration as stated by some intellectuals in Assam, this would have been evident at the district level population of undivided Cachar district). On the other hand, out of the eight original districts in the state (currently divided into 16 districts), the Hindu population has been overtaken by the Muslim population in five districts at a rather fast pace, thus bearing ample testimony that immigrant Muslims have occupied a large chunk of the excess 50 lakh population in Assam (as estimated by this researcher).

IN Barak valley

In Barak Valley as well, the Hindu growth rate has been continuously declining, whereas the Muslim growth rate has increased. The Hindu population in the Valley also includes non-Bengali Hindus, all Hindus recorded in the 1951 and 1971 census and the natural increase of the Hindu population.Therefore, the population of Bengali Hindu immigrants in Assam can be safely estimated at about five lakh prior to 1971 and it can be concluded that nearly no Hindu immigration happened in the post 1971 period. Hindu Bengalis who landed in Assam from Bangladesh in the post 1971 census to Assam moved out of the state before the 1991 census.

There are no estiamtes of bengali hindu as claimed by the writer herself.