Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that if leaders who get votes from the Muslim community campaign for population control, it will show better results. Addressing a press conference on the upcoming Amrit Brikshya Andolan 2.0 in Assam, the CM said that if Rahul Gandhi becomes the brand ambassador for the population control campaign, it will show fatafat results, if not khatakhat results.
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that people who are not adopting birth control measures will listen to Rahul Gandhi, and they will not listen to him or PM Modi. He said, ‘go to a Muslim village and ask whom they will listen, Rahul Gandhi or me, or Rahul Gandhi or PM Narendra Modi, obviously they will say Rahul Gandhi.
The Assam CM said this while talking about the rising Muslim population in the state. He said that while Muslim leaders themselves adopt birth control measures, they don’t encourage the same in the Muslim community. He said that people who are considered friends by Muslims should come forward to increase birth control among Muslims, adding that they will not listen to people considered enemies by them.
Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that at the present rate of population growth in Assam, the state will become Muslim majority by 1941. He said that Muslims are growing at around 29% per decade, while the Hindus are growing at around 16%. “By 2041, Assam will become a Muslim-majority state. It’s a reality and nobody can stop it,” he said.
Citing statistical sample analysis, he said that the share of Muslims in the Assam population has reached 40%. The CM said that anyone can derive this by looking at population data from past censuses. By using the past growth rates, the future population shares can be projected, he said. Sarma added that the data shows that the Muslim population grows by around 22 lakh every decade, and accordingly the community will become majority by 1941.
When asked whether the rising population shows the failure of population control awareness campaigns, CM said that awareness campaigns don’t work in sandbars, inhabited by Bangladesh-origin Muslims. He said that awareness programs don’t work if leaders closer to the Muslim community don’t endorse it. The CM said that instead of awareness campaigns, the requirement is to educate Muslim girls, ban child marriage in the community etc, highlighting his government’s initiatives towards these efforts.
He added that had the previous governments focused on these aspects, the situation would have been better now. Himanta Biswa Sarma added that such initiatives will take time to show results, it is not like PWD road which can show results immediately.
He said that not everyone likes to have 8-9 children, but there are some enabling factors and political angles, that result in population growth. “If you consider them to be only votes, and if the political leaders don’t get involved in the population control movement, how can we achieve results,” he asked.
He said that Muslims will not listen to his advice on birth control because they consider him to be an enemy, therefore this has to be said by those leaders who are considered friends by the Muslims. If people who seek votes from them don’t get involved in this, we can’t achieve much, he added.
The Assam CM said that the Congress party must take a leading role in the control of population growth because Muslims listen to them. He said, “The Congress should lead in controlling the birth rate of suspicious citizens. Rahul Gandhi, known for securing votes with false claims, should take responsibility as a brand ambassador. Congress is the party that those opposing Indian culture listen to.”
He added that if Rahul Gandhi becomes a population control brand ambassador from tomorrow, it will show results fatafat (fast) if not khatakhat, referring to the phrase used by Rahul Gandhi while promising money to women ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
When a reporter asked how an unmarried person can be a population control brand ambassador, he said that it is not needed to marry and have 12 children for this. People (who don’t use birth control) listen to him, not me, that’s why it will be effective, the Assam CM said.
