Introduction

The coverage and content errors identified in Chapter 3 are not randomly distributed across Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Content errors are mostly confined to the data on non-scheduled languages and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The nature of content errors, though, changes across the three regions of the erstwhile state. Coverage errors, on the other hand, mostly affect the headcount of Kashmir and the STs. Since conventional explanations fail to account for the errors, we will have to explore the larger context, including the politicisation of census, that may have affected the reported headcount.

Panandiker and Umashankar (1994: 96–97) argue that in states where Hindus are a minority – for example, Muslim-majority J&K and Sikh-majority Punjab – the majority views population control as a measure to reduce their political strength. They add that this is not true of Kerala because of the higher literacy rate and per capita income. However, it is not true that all such provinces are suspicious of population control. Christian-majority states of the north-east are cases in point. Further, in Kerala, the population is divided among Muslims, Hindus and Christians of various castes and sects, with only Muslims having a clear geographical concentration in the north. The fractionalisation and geographical dispersion of communities and strong linguistic ties transcending religions check persistent communal polarisation in Kerala. Even in Punjab there is no region exclusively populated by only one religious community, and despite militancy both the communities share a linguistic and regional identity. Polarisation is further mitigated by the presence of heterodox sects and Scheduled Castes (SCs) among both Hindus and Sikhs in Punjab.

J&K is different. It has two major geographically separable religious groups (Tables 4.1a–4.1c). The exodus of Hindus from Kashmir in the 1990s further hardened this divide. The strongholds of Kashmiri-speaking Muslims and Dogri-speaking Hindus do not overlap even though they share the old Doda district of the Jammu division with other communities. STs are spread across all districts of J&K. They are almost entirely Muslim except in Ladakh and parts of Jammu. On the other hand, SCs are entirely Hindu and confined to Jammu.