The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) will host a special screening of Demography is Destiny on August 14, 2025, to mark Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. The event will feature Shri Sunil Ambekar Ji, Akhil Bharat Prachar Pramukh of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as the Chief Guest, alongside TISS Vice Chancellor Prof. Badri Narayan Tiwari.
The screening is being jointly organised by the Rashtriya Patrakarita Kalyan Nyas and TISS. Directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Shri Kamakhya Narayan Singh and produced by Shri Ravindra Sanghvi, the documentary presents an in-depth examination of Bharat’s demographic trends, religious composition changes, and their socio-political implications.
Drawing on historical census data and regional case studies, the film traces shifts in the proportion of Bharatiya religious communities. According to the documentary, Bharat’s first organised census in 1881 recorded the majority community at around 82%. By 1941, on the eve of Partition, this had dropped to 70%. After Partition, the 1951 census saw the figure rise to 84%, but by 2011, it had fallen again to approximately 79%. Projections suggest that within the next 120–130 years, the majority proportion could decline further to 67%.
The film highlights demographic changes in regions such as the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, and Assam, noting an increase in the Muslim population from 14% to 42% in some areas — a trend partly attributed to illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. Similar patterns are observed in districts like Meerut, Moradabad, and Saharanpur in Western Uttar Pradesh.
Demography is Destiny also addresses sensitive topics such as infiltration, exodus, religious conversions, and the declining Total Fertility Rate (TFR) among Hindus. The documentary draws comparisons with demographic shifts in Europe and America, pointing to rising Islamic populations, cultural transformations, delayed marriages, smaller family sizes, and evolving social values contributing to lower birth rates both in the West and in Bharat.
Ultimately, the documentary argues that “while fertility rates play a key role, demographic changes are equally driven by ideological and political forces” and warns of “deep, long-term consequences for Bharat’s social and religious equilibrium,” urging a national conversation on the issue.
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