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The 2021 Census data for England was just released on the 29th November 2022 and it makes for really interesting reading. The top line information is this:

• Muslims now make up 6.5% of the population in England and Wales, up from 4.9% in 2011

• Christians now make up 46.2% of the population, down from 59.3% in 2011

• People with no religion increased to 37.2%, up from 25.2% in 2011

• The most common main languages, other than English or Welsh in Wales, were: Polish (1.1% , 612,000), Romanian (0.8%, 472,000), Panjabi (0.5%, 291,000), and Urdu (0.5%, 270,000).

• Minority ethnic people make up more than half the population in Leicester (59.1%)

Whilst it is difficult to determine the percentage of Muslims that would be of Indian descent from the 2021 census alone, it is fairly a priori to assert that as we have seen a marked increase in the Muslim population in England and Wales, we would expect that there would be proportionate increase in those Muslims that identify themselves as Indian (as part of the overall Muslim cohort). Estimates suggest that the overall Indian Muslim population in the UK would be around 300,000 to 400,000 (though this is annecdotal based on relative estimates). (1)

The Indian Muslim Contribution to the UK dates back as early as the scientific advancements of Al-Biruni (d.1050), a polymath and the first anthropologist, who's works in India are still used in textbooks the world over today. Ofcourse, Sir Winston Churchill himself recognised the value of Indian Muslims and in his letter to President Roosevelt highlighting the importance of Indian Muslims in the war effort:

‘We must not on any account break with the Moslems who represent a hundred million people and the main army elements on which we must rely for the immediate fighting.’ (2)

We know that at least 400,000 Indian Muslims were in front line of the Allied War effort in World War II and thousands gave their lives the services of Britain. (3)

The census data therefore should be welcome news in that Muslims and Indian Muslims in particular are amongst the most charitable, hard-working and patriotic citizens in the UK. We are Muslim, we are British, and we are Indian. We see no contradiction in that. (4)

Mohammed Kolia MrPharmS, MA

1. https://www.mcb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MCBCensusReport_2015.pdf

2. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1942v01/d506

3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/forgotten-muslim-heroes-fought-for-britain-first-world-war

4. https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/PEXJ5037_Muslim_Communities_FINAL.pdf