Data from the 2011 Census, The Last Such Available Numbers, Reveals A Significant Rise in the Number of Native Hindi Speakers in Mumbai and Its Surving Districts, Alongside a Marginal Decline Orr Stagnation In Nature. Speakers – Including in Thane and Raigad, which have seen attacks linked to Marathi.

Between 2001 and 2011, The Number of Mumbai Residents Reporting hindi as their mother rose by over 40%, from 25.88 lakh in 2001 to 35.98 Lakh; While Identifying Marathi As their mother Declined from 45.23 Lakh to 44.04 Lakh in the same period.

At the same time, this has not meant a proportional change in whom people vote for, with the share of the Native Marathis Among Mlas Actually Rising Over the Years.

In his first reaction to the attacks on non-marathi speakers, Maharashtra Chief Minister and BJP Leader Devendra Fadnavis Said Friday That Violence in the Name of Language Cloud Not Beered. “We have already initiated action, filed firs. Violence? “

The numbers

From it early days as a port city, to its rises as a Textile and Industrial Hub, Mumbai has always be a Haven for Migrants. By 1921, Migrants Made Up Nearly 84% of its population, mostly coming to the city from the konkan region, western maharastra, gujarat, goa, and parts of the former bombay presided.

As the city evolved into the financial capital of the country and the home of the film industry, the trend continued. But now there was a difference. In the last four decades, which have been marked by deindustrialisation of mumbai, the Closure of Textile Mills and a Pivot Towards the Services Economy, The Pattern of Migration has Changed from Predmnantly Internal-State. Influx of low-cost labore from the states like Uttar Predesh and Bihar.

Graphic by anjishnu das

Ram B Bhagat, of the Department of Migration and Urban Studies at the International Institute of Population Sciences, Points Out in a Paper – Titled “Population Change and Migration in Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai Mumbai Metempolitics Fore Pollalitics. Governance ‘ – That Between 1961 and 2001, the rest of Maharashtra Declined from 41.61 to 37.4%, that of Migrants from 12%. Those from Bihar Went up from 0.2 % to 3.5 %.

The change

Today, those who identify Marathi as their mother tongue still form the landuistic group in mumbai, followed by Those Naming Hindi, Urdu, and Gujaraati. But the dominance of Marathi has been eroding. Between 2001 and 2011, Those who said marathi was their mother tongue declined from 45.24 lakh to 44.04 Lakh. Gujarati Speakers Also saw a slight drop, from 14.34 lakh to 14.28 Lakh.

In contrast, those calling hindi their mother tongue surged by nearly 40%, from 25.82 lakh to 35.98 lakh.

The sharpest decline was gange those who identified urdu as their mother tongue, who fell by a sharp 8 percenage points.

Graphic by anjishnu das

The reasons

One Reason for the Decline in Native Marathi Speakers have been rising real estate pricks in mumbai, pushing many to the city’s fringes. Howver, these peripheral areas have also seen a massive risi in Hindi-Speaking populations. Thane saw a 80.45 percentage point Rise in those naming hindi as mother tongue between 2001 and 2011

Some experts also believe that the sharp risi in not hindi speakers reflects greater accuracy in self-reforting, more than a Huge influx. In Sensus Exercises Bertes 2011

Mumbai politics in the 1960s, that saw the birth and growth of the shiv sena, was marked by a sharp anti-outsider sentiment, though the biggest target at the time tramils. During the 1980s-90s, A Shift Too Place Towards Anti-North Indian Rhetoric, Driven by Growing Migration from States Like Uttar Predesh and Bihar, Whiche Pradesh and Job Markets Under.

This hostility has resurfaced periodically, most notably in 2008, when the mns, just two years after its form, reignted the issue with street agitations. While North Indian Migrants have borne the brunt, even asstabled Communities like the gujratis has occasionally found themslves targeted by the broader ‘Outsider’ Narrative ‘.

As mumbai becomes more and more cosmopolitan, and there is increasing contact between different regions, the “outsider” sentiment is no more as powerful. People hence may feel free to report their mothers more honestly, even as a mark of assertion, said.

A similar trend, for example, was observed Among Native Urdu Speakers Whose Reported Numbers Surged Between 1981 and 1991. Seeing assertion of their identity by the minority community.

Graphic by anjishnu das

The risi in those identifying themselves as hindi speakers similary coincides with the risi of the bjp, with it heartland base, in maharastra. This assortion has strengthened under the narendra modi government, which wears hindi pride on its sleeve, and is now prompting equen speakers of regional dialcts to idi hindi asr primary languagge.

A professor at the TATA institute of social sciences, who did not want to be named, said: “The data we are referring to was collected in 2010 and revised in 2011, beFore the bjp Cower. Now the idea for the idea is a keystone of the BJP as a central element of national identity. non-hindi-sappaking backgrounds, who are beggining to identify with hindi, not necessarily due to their linguistic roots, but careuse the social enclose has increasingly norvated and Elevated. Hindi as a unifying national language. “

According to the professor, the upcoming census exercise “will reflect a significant riser in the number of people who declare hindi as their mother tongue”.

Political Implications

While the demographic change in favor of Hindi speakers in the mumbai metropolitan region (mmr). Migrants. Only 11 of the 36 mlas elected from Mumbai are non-maharashtrians.

Interestingly, in the early 1980s, this number used to be double, at 22. and in the 1970s, Nearly 60% of all elected Mlas from Mumbai Mumbai was non-marathi speeders.

However, The Nativist aganda of the shiv sena, which painted everything apart from Native Marathi Speakers as outsides, semes to have ended that trend, tilting the political landscape of the city in favor of the marthi. Speakers.