Amid a debate over the increasing population of Muslims and decrease in Hindu populations, a prominent Sikh leader has urged people of his community to have at least five kids. The appeal was issued by Jathedar Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa, the head of Damdami Taksal, a prominent Sikh organization. He urged every Sikh couple to have at least five children and also said that if they cannot afford the expenses of the kids, then the four kids should be handed over to the organisation.
Jathedar Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa said that the organisation will nurture and raise all those children. He said that this would help Sikhs increase their population. He also appealed to Sikhs to make their children promote the Sikh religion, said reports.
"You should not limit yourself to one child, otherwise, in the coming times, Sikhs will be a minority and will suffer. A report from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) stated that there was a decrease of 7.82 per cent in the share of the Hindu population in India between 1950 and 2015. While there was an increase of 43.15 per cent in the share of Muslims. This indicates a conducive environment for promoting diversity in the country," he said.
Jathedar Giani Harnam Singh Khalsa's remark came after a report from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister stated that the share of Muslims and Christians has increased in India while that of Jains and Hindus has decreased. The jain population decreased from 0.45 per cent in 1950 to 0.36 per cent in 2015 while the share of the Hindus decreased by 7.82 per cent from 84.68 per cent to 78.06 per cent between 1950 and 2015.
The report said that the population of Muslims increased by over 43% from 9.84 per cent in 1950 to 14.09 per cent in 2015.
According to the report, the share of Christians in the population increased from 2.24 per cent to 2.36 per cent while the share of the Sikh population increased from 1.24 per cent in 1950 to 1.85 per cent in 2015. Meanwhile, there was a significant decrease of 85 per cent in the share of the Parsi population in India - from 0.03 per cent in 1950 to a mere 0.004 per cent in 2015.
