During a rebuttal speech on the Citizen Amendment Bill of 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah gave a speech about the controversial bill which has attracted a lot of criticism from the opposition. Shah, in his speech, said, “The number of minorities in Bangladesh were around 22 percent in 1947 and have fallen to 7.8 percent in 2011.” He also added in his speech, “You want to know why this bill is necessary? If Congress had not divided this country on the basis of religion, there would be no need to bring in this bill. It was the Congress that divided the country on religious lines, not us”.

Fact Check

The first census of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) took place in 1951. During that time, there were 22 percent Hindus. Amit Shah has misquoted the year 1947. Also, in 2011, the number of Hindus was around 10.7 percent. Hence, the quote is wrong.

Also, as Shah quoted that the Nehru Government divided India on the lines of religion, the fact is not true. It was because of the demands of the Muslim League that India was partitioned on the lines of religion. Many historians contested the same on social media.

You say such things on the floor of the house because you never ever cared to read or understand history based on facts. https://t.co/bKQsPmdSKb

— S lrfan Habib (@irfhabib) December 9, 2019

Srinath Raghavan, a former infantry officer in the Indian Army and former member of National Security Advisory Board who is also a noted historian, questioned Amit Shah on such a white lie. Pointing to RSS, he said they are behind the creation of Pakistan. “Let there be no doubt about it. Those who have shouted loudest about Akhand Bharat, the present Jana Sangh and its predecessors of the curiously un-Hindu spirit of Hinduism, have helped Britain and the Muslim League partition the country,” he tweeted.

The plan stipulated that Punjab and Bengal would be partitioned if the representatives of either the Muslim-majority districts or the rest of the province voted for it. Sind’s assembly would decide which state to join . Referenda would be held in NWFP & Sylhet distt of Assam(2/7)

— Srinath Raghavan (@srinathraghava3) December 9, 2019

Lohia: ‘The opposition of fanatical Hinduism to partition did not and could not make any sense, for one of the forces that partitioned the country was precisely this Hindu fanaticism. It was like the murderer recoiling from his crime, after it had been done.’ (4/7)

— Srinath Raghavan (@srinathraghava3) December 9, 2019

Conclusion

While the number of minorities in Bangladesh have come down, current number of Minorities in Bangladesh were 10.7 percent, and not 7.8 percent. Moreover, the first census of West and East Pakistan was conducted in 1951, and not 1947. Hence, the facts provided by Shah are misleading and factually wrong.

Also, he is completely wrong when he says that Congress is behind India’s partition on religious line.

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