Today noted Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar in a tweet claimed that as per Census 2011, the divorce rate amongst Hindus was 0.76% and that of Muslims was only 0.53%.
A little search on Google reveals that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board is also making similar claims about divorce rates being lower than Hindus, especially in the context of the Triple Talaq matter being heard in the Supreme Court.
The National Herald website is also doing its bit to peddle this claim further. It says divorce rates amongst Hindus is 0.76% while the same for Muslims is 0.56%.
Secular newspapers such as Times Of India and The Hindu have also added their bit to this issue.
Now, let us look at the reality.
Source: Census 2011 – C-3 Marital Status By Religious Community And Sex – 2011
Table 1: Data for Total Population
Marital Status | Total Persons | Males | Females
Total | 1210854977 | 623270258 | 587584719
Never married | 570833969 | 322870527 | 247963442
Excluding never married | 640021008 | 300399731 | 339621277
Divorced | 1362316 | 452743 | 909573
Divorced + Separated | 4897518 | 1615191 | 3282327
Divorce ratio | 0.002128549 | 0.001507135 | 0.002678198
Divorced + Separated ratio | 0.007652121 | 0.005376806 | 0.009664668
Percentage Divorced | 0.21 | 0.15 | 0.26
Percentage D + S | 0.76 | 0.53 | 0.96
Table 2: Data for Hindus
Marital Status | Hindu Total | Hindu Males | Hindu Females
Total | 966257353 | 498306968 | 467950385
Never married | 444973597 | 253100795 | 191872802
Excluding never married | 521283756 | 245206173 | 276077583
Divorced | 962810 | 344281 | 618529
Divorced + Separated | 3833495 | 1310576 | 2522919
Divorce ratio | 0.001846998 | 0.001404047 | 0.002240417
Divorced + Separated ratio | 0.007353951 | 0.005344792 | 0.009138442
Percentage Divorced | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.22
Percentage D + S | 0.73 | 0.53 | 0.91
Table 3: Data for Muslims
Marital Status | Muslim Total | Muslim Males | Muslim Females
Total | 172245158 | 88273945 | 83971213
Never married | 92081730 | 50970832 | 41110898
Excluding never married | 80163428 | 37303113 | 42860315
Divorced | 269609 | 57535 | 212074
Divorced + Separated | 654347 | 154655 | 499692
Divorce ratio | 0.003363242 | 0.001542365 | 0.004948027
Divorced + Separated ratio | 0.008162662 | 0.004145901 | 0.011658617
Percentage Divorced | 0.33 | 0.15 | 0.49
Percentage D + S | 0.82 | 0.41 | 1.2
Comparison table:
Status | Total H | Total M | Females H | Females M
Separated | 0.55 | 0.48 | 0.69 | 0.67
Divorced | 0.18 | 0.34 | 0.22 | 0.49
D+S | 0.74 | 0.82 | 0.91 | 1.17
Observations:
The percentage of divorced amongst Hindus is 0.18 while it is 0.33 for Muslims.
Percentage of divorced + separated amongst Hindus is 0.73 while it is 0.81 for Muslims.
The divorced and separated percentages are extremely high for Muslim women, with the latter crossing the 1 percentage mark.
If you look at only the divorce rate then it is more than double among Muslims as compared to Hindus.
Conclusions:
Mainstream media, once again, has picked up random numbers and stitched together a narrative.
Some of the other numbers quoted in the above referenced articles are all based on random surveys done in a few select districts.
The problem of divorce is much more amongst Muslims than Hindus. It is especially so amongst Muslim women.
Note: The author tweets @pranasutra
Image Source: http://www.factriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/talaq-divorce2.jpg