After census, Muslim population of India will likely be same as Indonesia: Kiren Rijiju

The Muslim population of India will come out to be same as that of Indonesia after Census, Union Minister of Minority and Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday.

"After the census, the Muslim population of the country will likely come out to be the same as that of Indonesia... Everyone should know the real population of every community. No matter the numbers, every one is Indian," Rijiju told reporters.

As per the Pew Research Centre, a third of world's Muslim population lives in Indonesia, Pakistan or India.


Roughly 240 million Muslims, accounting for around 12%, reside in Indonesia, as of 2020. India is home to 213 million Muslims as of 2020, a segment that makes up 15% of the country’s overall population.

According to Census 2011, Muslim population is 17.22 crore which constitutes 14.2% of the total population of the country, Smriti Zubin Irani said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

"Accordingly, applying the same proportion of 14.2%, as was therein Census 2011, projected population of Muslims in 2023 would stand at 19.75 crore," the minister said.