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area, India is the world's second
most heavily populated country (af–
ter China). The number of India's
people stands at around 750 mil–
lion, a figure more than
twice
as
many as at independence in 1947.
One out of every six persons in the
world today is an Indian.
To grasp the great density of
lndia's population, imagine all the
people of Canada, the United
States, Mexico, Central America
and South America- plus all the
inhabitants of France and Spain–
crammed into the United States
east of the Mississippi River.
That's the situation inside teeming
India today!
lf India's population continues to
grow at its present rate, it will
dou–
ble again
in the next four decades.
By the year 2000- just 15 years
from now- the number of Indians
will already have rcached one thou–
sand million.
India is basically a rural society.
About three quarters of India's
popu latíon lives in íts 600,000
farming villages. There, the deeply
rooted culture of traditional India
ftourishes as it has for more than
5,000 years.
Though only about one quarter
of the population lives in cities,
these cities are bursting at the
seams. The teeming port city of
Calcutta in eastern India has a pop–
ulation density of 85,000 per
square mile- virtually incompre–
hensible when compared to New
York City's "mere" 20,000 per
square mile!
Jndia's urban population contin–
ues to skyrocket as migrants from
the countryside flock in unabated.
This rural-to-urban migration is
seen as possibly the nation's
greatest concern .
Hand in hand with the prob–
lem of overpopulation goes that
of poverty. India's gross national
product per capita stands at only
$260, compared to the $13,160
of the United States, the $5,940
of the Soviet Union and the $690
of Egypt. Sorne 300 million
lndians live below l ndia's pover-
i
ty line. These desperately poor
~
are not starving as in decades
1
past, but are malnourished in
¡
varying degrees.
-
In the rural villages, illiteracy
runs at more than 75 percent. India
as a whole has an illiteracy rate of
more than 60 percent.
Communal Divisions
Also well-publicized among India's
problems are the antagonisms of
her diverse communities. l ndia's
people are divided by religion, lan–
guage, race and caste.
Practically all
religions
are repre–
sented in India, officially a secular
state. Four out of five Indians (83
percent) are Hindus. Muslims con–
stitute the biggest religious minority
{11 percent). Three percent are
Christians and 2 percent are Sikhs.
Countless other religions and
sects, including Buddhists, J ains
and Parsees, are also represented.
Though lndira Gandhi and
her father were both committed
to a secular state in which all
religions and sects could flour–
ish, religious antagonisms per–
sist, and interreligious violence
!
fiares at intervals.
~
The multiplicity of
languages
~
is equally problematic. The §
lndian Constitution recognizes
i
15 main languages. More than 250
additional dialects are spoken. Each
language is jealously guarded by its
particular speakers.
There
is
also in India a powerful
undercurrent of
economic
or class
envy. This is as strong or stronger
than any religious antagonism. The
post-assassination riot ing testified
to the depth of this animosity.
Most of the participants were
members of a deprived economic
class of rural migrants to the city,
long bitter against the prosperous
Sikhs. Social and economic factors
were more at issue than religion.
However, as one lnd ian daily
newspaper observed late last year:
"Large parts of India constitute a
social tinderbox that can easily be
ignited at any time, on one pretext
or another, for a real or imagined
cause."
The
caste
(status group) system
is alive and well in India. Most
1
ndians are still quite caste con–
scious. Castes transcend language
and religious barriers.
Though social discrimination has