Giriraj Singh made a video statement on the occasion of World Population Day
Patna:
Union Minister Giriraj Singh today delivered a new speech in support of a tough law to control the country’s population, which he likened to the ever-expanding mouth of the mythical female demon’ On his”.
The incendiary BJP leader released a video statement on World Population Day and shared it on Twitter.
Mr Singh, who represents the Begusarai Lok Sabha headquarters in Bihar, said that over the past three decades, India had lost to China in terms of the pace of economic progress, but had overtaken its neighbor in terms of of population growth.
“We have limited resources. Our population is growing like the mouth of Sursa. The evil state of mind (vikrit mansikta) in which one person begets 10 children cannot be allowed,” Singh fumed.
He added that the need of the hour was a strict law (“kada kanoon”) for population control, “applicable throughout the country and to people of all religious affiliations”.
“The demand for such a law must be high, from parliament to the streets (‘sansad se sadak tak’),” the BJP leader said.
Mr Singh’s rant contrasts sharply with the view of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) is the BJP’s biggest ally domestically.
Mr. Kumar has often disapproved of a legislative route to achieving population stabilization and cited the state’s own experience where fertility rates have shown a decline corresponding to increases in women’s education.
Moreover, political parties have often taken the view that the BJP raises the bogeyman of population explosion to hiss at Muslims whom it accuses of trying to change demographics by procreating more.
Interestingly, concerns about “demographic change” often led “fringe elements” to appeal to Hindus to produce more children.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)