New Delhi: Former Union Minister of Minority Affairs and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday slammed those opposing population control in the country, saying some people "wish for God's mercy to continue to rain on them" in order to get more votes. Noting population control as an issue supersedes any caste-religion divide, Naqvi said "it was dangerous for any system".
"Population control is an issue which is not associated with any specific caste or religion. It is dangerous for any system, and everyone should work together to overcome this problem. It is improper to indulge in politics over this," Naqvi said while speaking to ETV Bharat. The former cabinet minister added that a change in mindset was crucial for the issue to be tackled.
"More crucial than any law is the necessity to bring about a change in thinking," he said. Speaking on the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, Naqvi stated: "There is a need to form a consensus among all the political parties as far as the UCC is concerned, it is a constitutional system and the government has to take a decision on it."
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This comes after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at the population control suggestions provided by UP CM Yogi Adityanath at an event wherein the latter remarked that 'population imbalance' should not take place. "Anarchy does not arise from the population, but from the destruction of democratic values," Yadav said in a tweet on Tuesday.
"Are Muslims not natives of India? If we see the reality, natives are only tribals & Dravidian people. In UP, without any law, desired fertility rate would be achieved by 2026-2030. 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. Country's demographic dividend is best among all countries," Owaisi said while speaking to news agency ANI earlier in the day.
