Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said anarchy is not caused by population but due to the destruction of democratic values. Yadav’s statement was in an apparent reference to chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s comments on “population and demographic imbalance” made during a World Population Day event in Lucknow on Monday.
The SP chief said this in a one-line tweet in Hindi. Yogi had said population control programmes are necessary but they must not lead to an “imbalance” by focusing on “native” residents while the growth rate of some communities remains high, a possible reference to Muslims.
Meanwhile, another Samajwadi Party leader and Sambhal MP, Shafiqur Rahman Barq, too accused the Uttar Pradesh government of seeing the population growth from a “particular angle” which is being done to get votes in the 2024 general election.
He told reporters in Sambhal on Monday night that the rapid growth in population can be effectively dealt with by paying attention to education for everyone instead of contemplating a law to check it. “Giving birth to a child is up to the Almighty. When a child is provided by Allah, the risk attached to him is also sent by the Almighty,” the MP added.
“Instead of contemplating a law to check population growth, the government should pay attention to education and make proper arrangements for everyone, be they poor, big or small,” he said. “If they get a complete education, the issue will be solved,” Barq added.
{{/usCountry}}“Instead of contemplating a law to check population growth, the government should pay attention to education and make proper arrangements for everyone, be they poor, big or small,” he said. “If they get a complete education, the issue will be solved,” Barq added.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, CM Yogi Adityanath said, “’Population stabilisation’ should be uniform across different sections of people.” He had also expressed concern over the likelihood of “anarchy” at some point if there are “imbalances” in a country.
“It should not happen that the speed of population growth or the percentage of some community is high and we stabilise the population of the ‘moolnivasi’ (natives) through awareness or enforcement,” the CM said.
The UP law commission had submitted a draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 to the state government in the last few months of Yogi Adityanath’s previous term in office.
The proposed legislation incentivised families to follow a two-child norm and some critics suggested it targeted the state’s Muslim community. The government, however, rejected the charge. (With PTI inputs)