The Sachar committee report seems destined to take the wind out of the sails of the Hindutva brigade. It demolishes a hypothesis — which has been turned into an inviolable truth — by showing that the procreative abilities of the members of the country’s largest minority community are in no way different from that of members of other communities. So far, the fear of being outnumbered has been diligently sown in the mind of the majority community by the saffron rabble-rousers. Every bit of statistics that seemed to lend credence to the allegation was painstakingly garnered, papering over historical facts, logic, sociological or regional variations that took away from this ‘truth’. And the groundswell was used to the hilt in exploits that ranged from bringing down a mosque to staging the most infamous carnage in the country’s history. All of which conveniently added to the political brownie points that helped break or make governments.

The committee’s findings will not take India far from this political nightmare. The sangh parivar is already trying to make a windfall out of the other fears (say of minority reservation) that the report has generated by highlighting the extent of Muslims’ alienation from the mainstream. But its disclosures about the Muslim birth-rate — low fertility in states with low fertility, more child mortality in states which record corresponding figures — show that the community is not the fearsome monolith it is made out to be. As with other communities, Muslim population growth too shows gender- and region-specific differences. Also, like that for other communities, these figures do not represent the social and economic variables entirely. The statistics, which are bound to be attacked, should be treated as pointers to areas that need greater attention from the administrators. They should not be used as tools to mislead and misguide, as such figures have been before.