Owaisi criticises Yogi Adityanath over his comments on population imbalance among religions

|HT|

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said hit out at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his comments on population imbalance among religions. Owaisi, who is also the chief of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), said Muslims used the most number of contraceptives and the total fertility rate which was at 2.6 per cent in 2016, had now fallen to 2.3 per cent. A day ago, Adityanath said it was important to ensure that efforts to control population did not result in “population imbalance” between religionsbecause this could cause chaos and anarchy’.

“It should not happen that the percentage of population growth of any one class is more while we work on population control with awareness on the ‘mool nivasi’ (native residents). People should be made conscious to control the population through efforts of stabilisation,” the UP chief minister said.

“Are Muslims not natives of India? If we see the reality, natives are only tribals and Dravidian people. In UP, without any law, desired fertility rate would be achieved by 2026-2030,” Owaisi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“Their own health minister said that no law is needed in the country for population control. It's Muslims who're using most contraceptives. The total fertility rate which was 2.6 in 2016 is now 2.3. The country's demographic dividend is best among all countries,” the AIMIM chief further said.

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