Numbers are important but they are not Supreme

Dear Readers, 
The heading of my column this week may have confused you. No, this article has nothing to do with maths. Allow me to explain. As you already know, most of my articles are products of my daily deliberations and musings. This too, is one such creation. During my recent trip to India, I had the good fortune of meeting several esteemed leaders and businessmen. During my short stay at Gujarat's Vallabh Vidyanagar, I met not one, but seven prominent lawyers. As conversation took place organically, and with natural ease, two of them informed me that they and their families are considering migrating abroad. 
I was oddly surprised and asked them why they would want to uproot themselves from their perfect lives? Their answer was shocking, to say the least. Both of them said they believed their children and grandchildren may grow up in an India that is dominated by the Muslim community. 
Yes, I am aware of the underlined absurdity of the statement. Now, you may be wondering where numbers come into play here. Well, owing to my incessant habit of reading, I bumped into an article published by the Financial Times. It said that every single month, a few hundred financially well-off Indian families migrate abroad. It went on to say that on an average, these people bring around £5 million with them, and considering UK's legal provision that allows migrants with certain financial privileges to set up businessesin the country, the rich creates more enterprise here. 
Now assuming more and more people feel inclined to leave India owing to “increasing” Muslim presence, I decided to debunk a couple ofmyths. World population is touted to be 7.7 billion at present. Out of these, there are about 2.2 billion Christians, predominantly divided into two groups. Christians in the first world nations are prosperous and widely known. However, those in the Africa, Latin America, and in Asian countries like Philippines, Vietnam, and others, are not so well off. 
Then come the Muslim community around the world. They account for approximately 1.8 billion people. The GreaterMiddle East, with its Muslim-dominated countries, is blessed with oil and minerals. While their GDP is large, their per capita income is suprisingly low. Countries like the Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Kuwait, and Iraq areloaded with money, but at the same time, the gap between the rich and poor is phenomenal. 
My point here is that one has to accept that nor wealth, nor numbers give you either power, influence, or quality of life. What about the mighty Sheikhs and Emirs of the Middle East ? Whether they would like to admit it or not, they are dependent on the West, especially USA for security.
Also, how can we forget the persecution of Muslims by their fellow community members? The terrorism, the violence, the killing of their own citizens happen overwhelmingly in the region on a daily basis. More and more Muslims are killed by fellow Muslims every day than anything else.
Saudi Arabia, since the 1973 war, when the oil prices rose four times iscompletely awashed with wealth, used bulk of the money to spread Wahhabi Islam. Preachers of this doctrine either misinterpret Islam, or deliberately usedit to spread brutality. More and more Muslims know about it but certain intimidation or fear does not let them publicly speak against it. 
Meanwhile, Muslims within the Indian subcontinent – your Bohras, Ismailis, Ishnasaris, Memons,Ahmadiyyas, they are all well educated and highly revered. They know the values of tolerance, education, professionalism, entrepreneurship, and consequently not only are their numbers more on the level of Hindus, there is a certain stability with the Islam they practice.  
I have also noted that other minorities within the Indian community, like the Lohanas, AnavilBrahmins may be a million or less in numbers. The Jains, who are just 10.3 million in population, are highly educational, entrepreneurshiprepresented in Indian diplomatic services, civil services, philanthropy, etc. They are not only successful in India, but in East Africa, Canada, the UK, USA,and other countries too. 
The Patel community, which isbroadlydivided between Kadva Patidar and Leuva Patidar, has literature written on its success. They are building huge temples and memorials in Gujarat costing millions of pounds. The Patidar community accounts for some20 per cent of Gujarat's population.  They havemigrated in large numbers to North America, UK, East Africa, and other countries and have progressed in the line of other migrants, if not more. 
Let us look at the Jewish community for a minute. There are some  16million Jews across the world. There are as many Jews in North America as in the State of Israel, but Israel with determination and dedication of its own population and help of the World Jewery has a very high capita income, much more than Saudi and Emirates. This small state is politically so powerful that they can withstand more than200 million Muslims surrounding them. This is enough proof that numbers alone are not enough.  
As poet Allama Iqbal said in his 'Saare Jahan Se Achcha' poem : 
“ Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma Sab Mit Gaye Jahan Se, Ab Tak Magar Hai Baki Naam-o-Nishan Hamara; Kuchh Baat Hai Ke Hasti Mit’ti Nahin Hamari.” It means, so many civilisations, the Roman, Greek, Persian, Egyptianall were demolished by the onslaught of Muslim invasions, but Hindustan continued to stand strong. Why do you think that is? The concept of Sanatan Dharma is much more than just idol worshipping. While it has several deities and worships all of them, in reality, these deities representvalues and virtues. Like Ganesha, who represents wisdom, Laxmi, Saraswati represent wealth, knowledge respectively. Sanatan Dharma has survived and will survive as our faith is not just rituals, or deities or idols – its values and virtues. 
The decentralisation of sub-sects in Hinduism further helps peopleconnect to faith through gurus. Take Swaminarayan dharma for example. There are 22 different sects within the belief, and each Sampraday teaches one to have faith in its own way. 
My submission is that poverty, ignorance, and eternal warfare by Muslims over fellow Muslims hascreated one of the biggest problems of bloodshed in modern world. There are refugees making a beeline to Europe and other countries every day. My whole message is that sheer numbers are not everything. 
People constantly ask me why does India keep voting Narendra Modi into power despite its economic problems and other issues? The truth is, for centuries Hindus have been threatened in one way or the other, and for the first time in years, a man who not only promotes Hinduism, but supports it as well, has taken the country's reins in his hands. Modi is not anti Muslim, orpro-Hindu. It is important that one learn the difference.