The RSS-BJP led Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is set to register its place in the far right Hindutva politics in the country. The population policy of UP, proclaimed on the World Population Day, signifies the new agenda of the political Hindu right. Several weeks in advance, a draft bill named The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill 2021 in this regard was notified for public hearing.
The objective of the new legislation was stated to be population control. The bill proposes to bring down the fertility rate to 2.1 by 2026 and 1.7 by 2030. No one would say that the population control measures are unreasonable for a country like India. But the subtle and coercive measures incorporated in the bill can have disastrous and far reaching consequences.
Mass awareness through education and campaign is the proven way for population control. The Chief Minister of the NDA government in Bihar Nitish Kumar himself has come forward with such a proposal. Expressing his disapproval with the UP bill, Nitish Kumar underlined the need to educate girls so that they could convince the family.
Instead of adopting a reasonable policy, the Adityanath government intends to deny basic rights for those who have more than two children. They will be prevented from applying for government jobs and acquiring rightful promotion in government service. Benefits of social welfare measures are also set to be denied to them. Their right to contest elections are threatened.
When the bill talks about ' certain sections of people' and 'certain areas', its real purpose is unmasked.
Muslims are once again targeted by this bill as the ‘root cause of population growth’. As part of their political campaign, the Sangh Parivar has been spreading this anti-Muslim propaganda. The demographic transformation statistics prove that this stands far from the truth. In fact, the fertility differential, which was never more than one child, has now come down to 0.48. The strategists behind the bill purposefully kept their eyes shut to these facts. They aim at the forthcoming elections and try to fan up Islamophobia, aiming at majority votes. Hatred and clashes as witnessed in Muzaffarpur are hidden behind the bill.
The aggressive Hindutva ideology has always tried to depict the Muslims as a hindrance to the country's progress. Through every possible means, they attempt to divide the society, spitting anti-Muslim venom. The recent events in Assam and Lakshadweep also had the same politics of Hindutva forces with their anti-Islam tirade. This can only be expected from RSS-controlled regimes with their fascist ideology of racial supremacy.
The developmental crisis in India is a systemic one. Its roots lie not in population but in poverty. The political economy that guides the ruling class is wedded to the greed of the super-rich. Wellbeing and welfare of the masses is not in their agenda. The people have became poorer and ill-informed because of this.
Level of literacy, social awareness and population growth are all intertwined. If people are educated and empowered, their level of understanding and awareness will be developed. That would automatically lead to birth control without any coercive measures. The experience from states like Kerala should be taken into account in this regard.
The protagonists of profits and their failed policies are clearly always in search of issues to hide their policy paralysis. Right extremists have become champions of this evasive and escapist strategy. The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill 2021 is the classical example of the strategy of a government that has failed. Hindus and Muslims alike are victimized by the pro-rich policies of the government.
To oppose the government and its policies, people should be united on a broad platform of secular, democratic, left forces. The fight against the present population bill should be one of the catalysts for intensifying initiatives in that direction.
