India has a vast population that incorporates every religion, community, gender, and belief. Its constitution has some significant rules against discrimination based on any of the above and many more. It is the government that is liable to implement all these rights throughout the country and make sure that no such discrimination ever takes place on Indian grounds.
However, in the past few years, it is claimed that the government has itself been the major reason for this discrimination and partying away of two communities at a higher level. Speaking of government, the central government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has proved to be one of the significant narratives of such discriminating statements since it came to rule. The BJP government follows the Hindutva ideology which has been clearly mentioned in their statements and has a belief that if a constituency consists of a higher number of Muslims.
There are chances that most of the requests and demands of the minority groups in India would be permitted and met without much discussion. This will entirely deplete the chances of Muslims building bridges with the Hindu neighbors and thus degrading the quality and efficiency of India. The conclusion that they finally got to was that the Muslim conciliation is the reason for the communal disputes and violence that ever takes place.
Almost no role of Muslims in the BJP government
However, these statements are somewhat a result of the discussion and deliberations done by the BJP government collectively. This result in negative impacts on the minds of the general public who think of them as their idols.
The past discussions and reality have summed up the notion that, the Muslim community has been a significant part of the entire support base of the Aam Aadmi party while it had almost no say in the BJP government. The BJP government has been known to not include Muslims in constituencies in higher numbers and instead, they merely focus on the Hindus.
The present and the future proposals of the Bharatiya Janata party somehow speak for the same. The new population control policy that has been introduced by BJP member Yogi Adityanath seems to target the Muslim community through various sections and ideas incorporated in the same. This policy has control over the states like Assam and Uttar Pradesh which however aimed towards polarizing the entire society on the basis of communal lines.
The Hindutva record of the BJP has always been blaming the Muslim community for the growth of their population and allegedly pointing them for the reason of the ever-growing population in India. The BJP terms the Muslim population and its growth to be the appliance of the Muslims to take over the entire Indian territory someday.
BJP government is always a part of controversies related to the Muslim communities
BJP can never come to an end if a controversy has to be developed regarding the negative comments on the Muslim community. This discrimination that somehow grows from the roots of the BJP government well glances even in the instance that took place in the month of June.
The chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma gained tons of controversy by the statement that mentioned that the Indians could probably resolve most of the social issues, especially if the Muslim community that has immigrated follows a few basic family planning rules and look towards lesser population planning. He also met with about 150 intellectuals of the Muslim community before making a statement announcing the final incentives for the two-child policy in Assam state.
Recently when the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath is well known to be the major root cause of all the controversies and major happenings. He mentions in his statement regarding the two-child policy that it is a step taken in order to combat the major issues related to the overgrowing population among several communities.
This statement of the BJP government member again seems to mention the existence of the Muslim community as the reason behind the population explosion. However, the Muslims have always been a target of the BJP government since it was established.
The recent two-child policy and its major drawbacks
The recent two-child policy of the BJP government targets couples who have a plan to have more than 2 children. This policy would prevent them from exercising any other benefits that the government might provide to the ones with less than two children. They would be excluded and ejected from all the government jobs, promotions, and schemes that might affect their existence and livelihood.
However, there are several incentives that are planned for the people who have less than two children in order to motivate them to contribute to controlling the population of India. You are already aware that the Muslims who constitute the minority class in India already have fewer rights and say in the Indie. This policy might further affect their existence and beliefs.
We are all aware of the fact that India’s population is overgrown and has led to a population explosion which is somehow a drawback for the development of the entire country. But restricting the life cycle or the number of children a couple could have has several challenges and drawbacks of the lives of the common people. This policy of the BJP government released by Yogi Adityanath seems to attack the Muslim community at its base.
We are all aware there have been past instances where the Muslim community was said to have the largest population growth rate in India, was allegedly blamed to have an agenda to rule over the Indian constituency. They have been several reasons given by the BJP government and other fringe groups in order to support the statementt, the Muslims remain a major cause of population explosion in India which includes their practice of polygamy.
What are the various myths about Muslims being the reason for the population explosion in India?
Despite everything that takes place in India, there are a few facts, myths, and theories must be cleared out, in order to view the entire and clearer picture of what exactly is leading to population explosion. The nation should also be aware of what all statements are true and what all is made up, just to support the statements or blame the Muslim community.
Does the Muslim practice of polygamy lead to an increase in population?
To be clear with the well-known statement that mentions that polygamous practices are only practiced by the Muslim community, it is entirely false. In a study that took place in 1974 based on the polygamy activities in India, it was concluded that Muslims were least polygamous at that time and also, that the Hindus practiced it too.
Further, the former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi, mentions the two facts that are majorly ignored by the entire population, in his book named “The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning, And Politics in India”. The first asserted on the statement that the total fertility rate is counted in India, based upon the average birth per woman which cannot be affected by polygamy activities. The second one being the fact that the sex ratio factor is never hampered by such practices, and thus both the statements conclude that polygamy does not have a significant effect on the growing population in India.
Is there really a population explosion due to the Muslim community only?
Despite the fact that this has been taken as an argument end number of times by several political parties and fringe groups in India, the statement does not hold any truth. However, according to reports, the differences between the growth rates in the Hindu and Muslim communities are rapidly closing up. According to a census report established in 2011, the entire Muslim population in India constituted about 14.2 % of the population, and also that the decadal rate of growth for this community was a historic low.
The population growth rate in the Hindu population is somewhat near to that of the Muslim growth rate and thus blaming the Muslim community for the major population explosion is completely unjustified.
Population explosion: An issue since forever
The population explosion in India has always been a major concern for the low rate of development and growth. India has a massive population which is said to be the reason for India becoming the most populated country by 2027. However such policies of population control have been coming into existence forever and even the present ruling parties like the BJP government have released and proposed several population control schemes since they came into existence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also mentioned the problem and issues related to population explosion and termed it as a threat for future generations in the speech that he delivered in 2017 on Independence Day. however, no significant changes have been glimpsed even since then.
According to several reports, the population of India has grown about five times from 1901 to 2011 which is a great boost and will lead to future problems which makes it a great concern. This is an issue that should be dealt with, by considering all the existing facts and not just merely believing in the myths and false statements spread around the nation. This is yet another problem faced by India which should not be targeted as a topic for blaming each other but should be worked upon collectively in order to overcome the same.
The population decline doing no good to the explosions
For the fact, there have been several regions in India that have collectively shown a decent decline in population growth in the past few years. Uttar Pradesh which is the most populated state in the country has shown a severe decline in the growth rates from 25.85 % in 1991-2001 to 20.9% in 2001-2011. This is an extremely significant decline which should have been the reason for controlling the population but managed to do the opposite.
In spite of all the growth rate decline that India has been recording in the past few years, it is expected to add approximately 273 million people to the present population between 2019-2050.
Will the two children policy really help in controlling the population growth in India?
The programs related to family welfare are completely voluntary in India. There are several states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana along with Uttar Pradesh and Assam, who have proposed such schemes and policies in order to overcome the population growth explosion.
However, these policies might not help in an exact manner that the government is planning to. The center mentions the international experience that shows a negative impact on the demographics due to such policies of having a specific number of children, in an affidavit presented in the year 2020 to the supreme court.
The center also came to the conclusion that such policies could possibly have unintended and negative impacts on sex-selective and unsafe abortions. This could also lead to a further difference in the sex ratio which is already an issue in India.
What are the possible and realistic ways to overcome the population explosion issues?
One of the solutions that Shailaja Chandra provided for this issue is to not focus on the coercive plans to control the population but to design a policy that mentions the appropriate time to have a child and abolishes the ideas of early marriages. According to her, marriages should be done only when the girl completely turns into an adult and knowledgeable person. It would surely help us in controlling the population and allow the people to be voluntary for such measures.
If girls are allowed to study and pursue their interests, they would understand the need for controlling the population and get to know the advantages of a small family. Each of these factors is of great significance and could possibly bring an extraordinary difference in the present conditions for betterment.
Edited by Aishwarya Ingle
