DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A viral image depicts a highlighted news article with the headline “Hindus have been reduced to a minority in 200 districts,” accompanied by a caption expressing concern for India’s Hindu population. This post has been widely shared, with similar claims across various platforms.
Dear Hindus,
If this doesn’t Wake you Up then nothing can
Identify yourself as Hindus and not by your caste,creed,language and Region
Jayatu Sanatan pic.twitter.com/OKF2ZRgI1l
— Sheetal Chopra 🇮🇳 (@SheetalPronamo) April 12, 2024
‘Hindus have been reduced to Minority in 200 districts’.
India has 766 districts as of 2022, in 2001 it had just 593.
CONgress put the seed to decimate Hindu population with their ‘Hum Do, Humare Do’ where focus was always Hindus. Never did they use other faith families. pic.twitter.com/puGhfX95gb
— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) April 10, 2023
FACT CHECK
When Digiteye India received a request to fact-check the above claim, first we checked the image closely and found that it was morphed. The masthead of the news clipping indicates that it was the front page of any newspaper. But the report on Hindus begins with, “Continued from Page 1.”
Taking cue from the bold description below the headline, we checked on Google search found the news report was on the Supreme Court bench verdict on February 28, 2023 rejecting a petition by Supreme Court Advocate and former BJP Delhi Spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay seeking appointment of “Renaming Commission.”
The bench consisting of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna dismissed the plea and highlighted the focus on secularism. Justice Joseph said: “India is embedded in the rule of law, secularism, and constitutionalism. Article 14 stands on grand guarantee of the founding fathers to make the country a democracy, a Republic and involved all communities against discrimination by the state.” This text matches the bold description below the headline, which is unrelated. hence, the morphed headline on a different report has been circulated as a published news report to mislead people.
Secondly, according to the 2011 census, there were 640 districts in India and the district-wise demographic statistics reveal that in only 102 districts of the country, Hindus are in the minority. See the detailed report by Dainik Bhaskar here.
Dainik Bhaskar table on Hindu majority districts in India
Further, the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an NGO has brought out details about the demographic reality districtwise to refute the claim, made by Ashwini Upadhyay. It has questioned claim based on figures supplied by Upadhyay.
On the question of whether Muslims will ever ‘overtake’ Hindus in terms of population figures, Devendra Kothari, former chairperson of the national committee to review family welfare programmes in India, told media that based on existing mathematical models, the Muslim population cannot overtake Hindu populations in even a 1,000 years. This data and analysis refute any conspiracy theory of declining population figures for Hindu communities in the country as false.
Claim: Hindus have been reduced to a minority in 200 districts.
Conclusion: The claim is false. Census figures show 102 districts have Hindus in minority. Experts say it might take 1,000 years for Muslims to take over Hindus.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
