After PM Modi pitches for small family, Shiv Sena targets Muslim community

PM Narendra Modi had said in his Thursday’s Independence Day speech that if left unaddressed, the growing population could pose problems for future generations.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the need to tackle the challenge of population explosion in the country, the Shiv Sena on Friday asked if a section of the Muslim community will pay heed to his message.

The prime minister had cautioned in his Thursday’s Independence Day speech that if left unaddressed, the growing population could pose problems for future generations. (HT photo)

PM Modi had said in his Thursday’s Independence Day speech that if left unaddressed, the growing population could pose problems for future generations. He also said those who have adopted measures to limit the size of their families have served the nation in their own way.

In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena asked when will the community understand how a “small family and national interest are beneficial”.

“The pace of growth and development will expedite with smaller families, the Prime Minister said. What he says is correct, but there is a big section of the society that is not concerned about the size of the family and population explosion, and its ill-effects,” the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally said.

“Here, some fanatical Muslims are not ready to come out of the mindset of ‘Hum Do, Humare Pachhis’. In this scenario, even when the Prime Minister says that keeping a small family is nationalism, will the country’s Muslims learn from it?” the Sena asked in the editorial.

This is not the first time the pro-Hindutva party from Maharashtra has expressed such a view. In December 2018, an editorial in Saamana called for immediate and stringent measures, including compulsory sterilisation, to control the Muslim population.

Before that, in 2015 the Sena had said the increasing population of Muslims in the country will cause language and geographical imbalance and asked Prime Minister Modi to ensure that Muslims accept the necessity of family planning.