Of birth rates and Kerala Christians
Many of you must have read the recent news-reports on the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s recent call to Christians to have more children. It has also been pointed out in various discussions on this subject that Christians in Kerala have been at the forefront of family planning and have generally had fewer children than the rest.
However, a fact that has been conveniently ignored by most reports is that not only is ”the Christian and Muslim population in the state (is)…well above the national average”, it is also growing faster than the Hindu population (emphasis mine):
T.R. Dilip, demographer and faculty member at the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, says Christians in Kerala already have a higher average fertility rate that borders around two children, compared with 1.64 for Hindus. Muslims there have an average rate of 2.5%, he said, pointing to statistics from the National Family Health Survey. [ link ]
Another example of self-censorship by the mainstream media?
You decide.
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I was shocked to read this news item some days back and found it very stupid.
When everybody says, produce less children, these people come and say, lets have more!
A Hindu or a Muslim having more children should not make any sensible soul make such a statement.(though facts state otherwise)
Two wrongs still do not make a right.
Comment by Nikhil Narayanan | June 21, 2008
The degradation of media and journalism in Kerala is a reality and not a fiction.
Comment by Kumar | June 24, 2008
After the Church, it now seems to be the turn of Sh Abu Azmi (slightly dated news):
Comment by B Shantanu | July 12, 2008