This article explores the relationship between religion, caste, infant mortality and fertility across Hindus and Muslims in India using recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey. The analysis shows that Muslims exhibit lower infant mortality rates relative to Hindus, and that this difference is not adequately explained by socio-economic status, location and policy variables. We ar...

deccan was under the control of six muslim ruling dynasties, i.e. the bahmanîds and their successors from the second half of the eight century to the end of the eleventh century (a.h.). most of the ruling class, the aristocrats and courtiers in that period were muslims. but the state particularly villages and small towns were dominated practicing hindus and they still form the majority in decca...

Law of karma In Hinduism your perpetual soul’s future and the quality of your rebirth and progress towards liberation depend on your actions in life. The law of karma states that every event has a cause and effect, and every cause has a destiny. It signifies the interplay between fate and free will. Hindus are not fatalists who believe that humans have no freedom, are subject to preordained for...

In India, Muslims face significantly lower child mortality rates than Hindus, despite Muslim parents being poorer and less educated on average. Because observable characteristics would predict a Muslim disadvantage relative to Hindus, previous studies documenting this robust and persistent pattern have called it a “puzzle” of Muslim mortality. This paper offers a simple solution to the puzzle i...

This paper offers a set of nuanced narratives and a theoretically-informed report on what is the driving force and motivation behind the movement of Hindus and Sikhs from one continent to another (apart from their earlier movement out of the subcontinent to distant shores). What leads them to leave one diasporic location for another location? In this sense they are also ‘twice-migrants’. Here I...

This paper offers a set of nuanced narratives and a theoretically-informed report on what is the driving force and motivation behind the movement of Hindus and Sikhs from one continent to another (apart from their earlier movement out of the subcontinent to distant shores). What leads them to leave one diasporic location for another location? In this sense they are also ‘twice-migrants’. Here I...

It will be seen that the incidence of stone is much lower in Sikhs than in the other two communities, being only half that in Hindus and less than one-third of that in Muslims. The figures for cataract were obtained partly to serve as controls and partly to find out whether any significant differences existed in the prevalence of cataract among the members of the three communities. The percenta...

The dietary customs of people of South Asian origin living in Britain are important determinants of health but have been relatively little studied. As part of the Coventry study of diabetes carried out in the Foleshill ward of the city, subjects undergoing oral glucose tolerance tests provided information on this aspect of lifestyle. A questionnaire was completed by all of the last 612 subjects...