Hindu nationalist press: Muslims have too many children, limit births
The initiative proposed in the official newspaper of the Shiv Sena party. Nationalists fear the growth of the Muslim population on the border with Pakistan.
New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Muslim population has too many children and for this "needs a family planning policy", that is, birth control. This is the request launched by the Shiv Sena, a far-right Hindu regional party, rooted above all in Maharashtra and an ally of the Hindu nationalist party BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) currently in central government. In an editorial published in the official press agency, the Saamana newspaper, it is stated that "the family planning program for Muslims serves to ensure stability in the country and maintain national security".
The article was published on December 4 in the newspaper in the Marathi language. The initiative is addressed only to Muslims, not to other religious communities that populate India, renowned for its multi-culturalism and coexistence among religions. The article betrays an attitude that has spread in recent years: the fear of Hindu radicals regarding the growth of minority communities.
According to the most recent data, 1.3 billion people live in India. The last census on religions was carried out in 2011 and traces an unprecedented religious demography with respect to the past: if compared to the 2001 survey, the Muslim community grew by 0.8%, the Hindu 0.7% growth, the Christian one of 15.5%.
The BJP party ally claims that "the population of Indian Muslims is proliferating at the speed of the bullet-train. Implementing family planning on them is the only solution ". The group is especially concerned about the growth of Muslims on the border with Pakistan in the Indian state of Rajasthan. "The national president of the BJP - he reads - continues to make speeches on how to get rid of illegal citizens and expel the intruders, but why not talk about the 'green invaders' [from the color of the Pakistani flag, ed] on the border with Rajasthan?".
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