Media reports and political rhetoric have misconstrued findings from the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) working paper on religious minorities, leading to sensationalized claims about the growth of the Muslim population in India. These interpretations fuel a divisive narrative that obscures the truth. The paper’s assertion that the growth in the Muslim population indicates a thriving minority community is flawed. Fertility rates are influenced by socio-economic factors, and a high population growth rate highlights shortcomings in human development. The EAC-PM study relies on the RCS-DEM dataset, which provides limited context. A more comprehensive analysis reveals that the absolute increase in the Hindu population between 1950 and 2015 was significantly higher than that of the Muslim population. The marginal decline in the Hindu population’s proportion or increase in the Muslim population’s proportion is not a cause for concern, given the initial population disparity. The EAC-PM study’s focus on the rate of change in shares is misleading, as it fails to account for the initial population proportions. A decline in the rate of change for a small population group, such as Parsis, does not imply persecution.