Tag: population control law

Madhya Pradesh: In Quest for Power, Is Congress Ready to Compromise on Secularism?

As assembly polls in the state draw near, the state Congress unit has announced that the Bajrang Sena has merged with it. The Sena is a Hindutva organisation that demands a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, spews venom against minorities and supports those who glorify Nathuram Godse.

“The progress of the country is possible only with the creation of a Hindu Rashtra. Keeping in mind the ancient culture and tradition of this nation, declaring it a Hindu nation is the biggest need today.”

These words were spoken not by a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or an organisation affiliated with it, but by the person who runs the organisation which recently merged with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh amid a lot of fanfare and publicity. The organisation is Bajrang Sena and it was its national president Ranbir Pateria who uttered the words above.

On June 6, many people might have mistaken the office of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) in Bhopal for the BJP. It looked like a Hindutva fortress with saffron flags, loud slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and incantation of the Hanuman Chalisa. Amid such fanfare, the Bajrang Sena rallied towards the Congress office and was welcomed by Kamal Nath, the former chief minister and state Congress president. Nath was presented with a mace, or gada, by the Sena chief. Soon after, the Sena’s merger with the Congress was announced.

The merger must be seen in the context of assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, slated for the end of the year. The Congress apparently wants to play the Hindutva card to match the politics of the ruling BJP. The party and Kamal Nath have actively been part of religious activities for a while now.

It appears that the party has abandoned the ideas of secularism or even ‘soft Hindutva’, which the Congress was promoting to outwit the BJP’s ‘hardcore Hindutva’. In its quest for power, it appears the party is eager to embrace the hardline version of Hindutva.

Seeking support from the Bajrang Sena, an outfit whose very existence hinges on building a Hindu Rashtra, exposes the desperation of the Congress. From the appointment letters of the organisation to the speeches of its leaders, ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is obsessively referenced by the outfit. Take, for example, this statement of the general secretary of the Sena, Ram Shankar Mishra:

“I want to tell all the demonic forces, who are engaged in turning our country into Pakistan, that after 2024…by about 2025…India will become a Hindu Rashtra.”

Mishra made this announcement in a Facebook live session on April 7, 2023, in the presence of the outfit’s national president, Pateria. Bajrang Sena had close ties with the BJP at the time and Mishra was perhaps alluding to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

An appointment letter from Bajrang Sena mentions the resolution to ‘build a united Hindu nation’ and bring a ‘population control law’. Photo: Facebook

Pateria calls controversial religious leader Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Chhatarpur’s Bageshwar Dham his idol. He claims that Shastri has entrusted him and the Bajrang Sena with the responsibility of running a nationwide campaign for the creation of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Bajrang Sena workers across the country are ready to join this campaign and follow Dhirendra Shastri, he added.

Interestingly, Pateria and his organisation’s office bearers are often seen with Shastri, who has been criticised by several Congress leaders. Less than a month before merging with the Congress, Bajrang Sena workers were administered an oath by national convenor Raghunandan Sharma to fully support “Peethadhishwar Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Bageshwar Dham in making India a Hindu Rashtra”.

Sharma has now joined the Congress.

But Pateria says the Bajrang Sena has not merged with the Congress. He told The Wire, “Our organisation has not merged with the Congress. We have extended support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. But reports of a merger are wrong. About a dozen of our office bearers have joined the Congress.”

Pateria’s statement contradicts the Congress’s claim that the Bajrang Sena has “merged” with the party.

Congress’s new ally has every attribute of a hardcore Hindutva outfit

Bajrang Sena has every quality to define it as a staunch Hindutva organisation, from insulting women and delivering hate speeches to spreading hatred against minorities. 

At the national level, the Congress has slammed the BJP for similar issues. But in Madhya Pradesh, the party is not practising what it preaches elsewhere in the country.

The Congress may claim that the Bajrang Sena has adopted its ideology after the merger, but in a conversation with The Wire, Pateria categorically said that the outfit will continue its efforts to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

A population control law is also a part of their agenda, regarding which the organisation says:

”Ever since India became independent, 80% of Hindus are being targeted by the Jihadi mentality. In such a situation, the number of other religions is continuously increasing, while Hinduism is decreasing in the only (Hindu) nation. If India is declared a Hindu Rashtra then India’s sovereignty can be saved. Because where Hindus become less in number, the Jihadis start demanding a separate nation. It is necessary for the integrity and sovereignty of India that it should become a Hindu nation. Population control law should also be implemented for the fast-growing population in India.”

Ranbir Pateria, whom Kamal Nath welcomed at the Congress office with open arms, was ‘waking up’ the Hindus of Madhya Pradesh a few weeks ago by giving the example of the film The Kashmir Files, which the Congress has called a ‘propaganda film’.

During a Facebook live, Pateria said, “We are safe in Madhya Pradesh today, but if we stay inactive, we will not remain safe for long. The way Hindus were chased away in Jammu and Kashmir became the subject of the movie The Kashmir Files. There is a similar situation in many other states including Telangana, West Bengal, and Kerala.” 

He urged Hindus to be prepared for a fight. During the same session, Ramshankar Mishra fiercely spewed Hindutva venom. Accusing the police of disrupting the organisation’s rally in Telangana, he said, “The entire government of Telangana and the ‘two dogs’ sitting there were engaged in preventing Bajrang Sena’s programme. 2,000 policemen were deployed. It seemed as if we were terrorists.”

It is not clear whom did Mishra address as ‘two dogs’, but it is usual for Bajrang Sena to resort to such language.

For instance, like several other Hindutva organisations, Bajrang Sena also protested against the song ‘Besharam Rang’ in the film Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan. In a letter addressed to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it said, “Hindu sentiments have been hurt with the depiction of the actress donning saffron colour, which symbolises the Hindu faith, while 90% of her body is in the nude. Seeing this obscenity, even bitches and cats would be ashamed.”

The Bajrang Sena also appears to have a special skill for finding ‘jihad’ in every major or minor incident. It has coined the phrase ‘Hindu jihad’, which it defines as thus:

“Vidharmi kuttey (heretic dogs) posing as Hindus are stopping people from joining the organisation. There is no need to tell what the Bajrang Sena would do to them the day it lays hands on them… Like ‘Love Jihad’, we will end ‘Hindu Jihad’ as well and will not spare these dogs.” 

Pateria adds, “These are the dogs that are getting funding from abroad. They are working to break our Hindu organisation. They are scared of seeing large crowds during Ram-Hanuman festivals.”

Pateria had recently shared a picture on social media in which actresses were equated with prostitutes. In another post, he called actress Anushka Sharma Bollywood’s nachaniya – a derogatory term for dancers. On the other hand, he referred to Rivaba, wife of cricketer Ravindra Jadeja and BJP MLA, who wore a saree at the IPL final, a symbol of Indianness.

Hatred of minorities

A few weeks ago, Pateria wrote on social media, “This is the last generation of Hindus who are getting a chance to fight for Hindutva… If we lose, the next generation will look for a chance to escape.” 

In another post, he said, “Shah Rukh (Khan) is going to glorify the same Tipu Sultan in his film who massacred Hindus… He should be boycotted.”

“Are Hindus safe in India?” he asked in yet another social media post. He cites ‘the murder of a Hindu youth by non-Hindu heretics’ in Karnataka and some other alleged incidents. He says, “They have all been sacrificed at the hands of the fundamentalist religion. I do not call for killing, but self-protection. You should at least be so strong that no jihadi dares to attack you.”

About the notorious Shraddha Walkar murder case, he wrote, “Their (Muslims’) aim is not only to kill the enemy, but to do so by causing maximum pain.” 

Many more such posts can be found on his social media accounts. Regarding Christmas, he states, “India is the land of saints, not of Santa. Santa doesn’t come to India to give gifts, he comes to convert.”

National president of Bajrang Sena Ranbir Pateria presenting the picture of Bharat Mata to Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Bageshwar Dham. Photo: Facebook

Several instances of hate speech

Bajrang Sena has the following views on Shirdi’s Sai Baba, who is a venerated figure for a large section of the country:

“What has Sai done to be revered as god? If he had so much faith in Hindu/Sanatan Dharma, why didn’t he convert? Why is his mazar built inside a temple? What did you get by paying obeisance to that mazar and bringing holy ash from there? There is no need to consider any ‘Chand Miyan’ as God.”

“Sai’s devotees are heretics,” says Mishra. “By looting the money of Hindus in the name of Sai, they are funding terrorism in foreign countries. It needs to be stopped.”

In a live session, he even urged Bajrang Sena workers to riot against the Sai temple in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. The organisation believes that ‘someone who does not believe in Ram should not be allowed to be revered as God in this country.’

The Bajrang Sena takes inspiration not from the so-called ‘secularism’ of the Congress, but from the suspended BJP MLA T. Raja Singh in Telangana. More than 100 cases are registered against Raja Singh, who spews venom against minority communities. Facebook has shut down his account. He was sent to jail for inciting communal tension in Hyderabad. Even the BJP suspended him owing to his communal remarks, which is quite unusual for the party.

After the Bajrang Sena’s rally was interrupted by the police in Telangana, Pateria and Mishra said:

“You (Telangana) have only seen one lion, Raja Singh, yet and you couldn’t handle him. This is India. There are innumerable lions here that are ready to die for Hindutva. Each and every soldier of Bajrang Sena is a Raja Singh himself. A thousand Raja Singhs are being prepared in Hyderabad.”

“A Hindu will not bow down,” he also said. “We are getting organised. No state of India will now become Kerala or Bengal.”

Bajrang Sena also held protests on the streets in support of expelled BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who stirred a nationwide controversy by making objectionable remarks on Prophet Mohammed and took a pro-Hindu stand on the Gyanvapi Masjid issue.

Followers of Godse

In a Dharma Sansad organised in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur in December 2021, self-proclaimed saint Kalicharan remarked, “Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi destroyed the country. We salute Nathuram Godse who killed him.”

On this remark, the Congress lodged an FIR against Kalicharan in Raipur, following which he was sent to jail.

Protesting the arrest, Bajrang Sena burnt the effigy of Congress leader and Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. Pateria also questioned Gandhi’s status as the father of the nation.

However, this is not the first time that Kamal Nath has embraced the followers of Godse in Gandhi’s Congress party. In 2021, Kamal Nath welcomed Babulal Chaurasia, the councillor of Gwalior Municipal Corporation from the Hindu Mahasabha, into the party by handing him flowers. Chaurasia was among those who tried to build a temple for Gandhi’s killer Godse and install his statue.

His induction into the party was defended by the Congress, claiming that Chaurasia had left Godse’s ideology of violence and decided to follow Gandhiji’s ideology of truth and non-violence. “When he was part of the Hindu Mahasabha and was associated with the BJP, he believed in the ideology of Godse. But now that he has joined the Congress, he has adopted the ideology of Gandhiji,” the party claimed.

Nathuram Godse. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Congress has offered a similar rationale now. Madhya Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ravi Saxena told The Wire, “He (Pateria) has joined the party unconditionally after being influenced by the ideas of the Congress.”

When asked about Bajrang Sena’s demand for a Hindu Rashtra, he said, “Hindustan is anyway a Hindu nation. 80% of its population is Hindu. A place where the majority are Hindus is a Hindu nation without a doubt. What’s any further need to make it a Hindu nation? Where Hindus are sitting on key posts, be it the chief ministers of states, the president of the country, or the prime minister, or the chief of the three armed forces, and 90% of the police and administration posts, is it not then a Hindu Rashtra?”

However, Ranbir Pateria doesn’t agree.

‘Congress has promised Hindu rashtra’

When asked about the difference in the Congress’s stance on the concept of Hindu rashtra and that of his organisation, Pateria said, “See, the Congress was neither chanting the Hanuman Chalisa nor carrying saffron flags earlier. But slowly things are going to change. We will take care of it.”

When asked whether the Congress would take measures to meet their demand for a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, Pateria said, “Of course, we believe so and we will keep trying. Just as we believed that the BJP will create a Hindu Rashtra, we have faith in them too. Now, we will make the same efforts with them also.”

Regarding the population control law, Pateria said that he will continue to demand it from the Congress. He also said that he has been given assurance of attempting to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra if the party forms a government at the Centre.

The Wire also tried to contact the party’s state in charge, J.P. Agarwal, to find out the stand of the party’s central leadership on this decision taken by the Madhya Pradesh unit but failed to get a response. Meanwhile, the party’s senior national spokesperson Salman Khurshid refused to comment, citing a lack of information in this regard.

Six Months Before Assembly Elections, Yogi Worries About Excessive Procreation

Narendra Modi’s praise of India’s “demographic dividend” notwithstanding, the right-wing via the Uttar Pradesh chief minister may have come up with an idea close to the heart of India’s chattering classes.

We must concede that the right-wing is the quickest with the polemical gun.

And its timing on the draw is immaculate as well.

For some years now, the honourable Narendra Modi has, in speech after speech, educated the republic and the wider world as to how India’s “demographic dividend” is among its biggest plus points.

But as the polling booth beckons in the all-important Uttar Pradesh, that Modi polemic now yields to its opposite.

Suddenly, population, the Yogi tells us, is India’s biggest curse.

Never mind that India’s population growth rate has nearly halved since 2001, and that our total fertility rate, across all communities, it needs to be emphasised, has similarly shown a sharp decline during the said period.

Indeed, reputed demographic studies suggest that India will soon reach a “replacement level” of population growth, with one birth compensating one death.

So, what explains the Yogi’s alarm?

Put simply, the following:

Whereas after the failure of the politics of Kamandal in the West Bengal elections, the social restructuring of the Union cabinet came rather brazenly to embrace the politics of Mandal (stealing the enemy’s weaponry as it were), the right-wing knows it must nevertheless foreground Kamandal in its campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

As the Indian Express puts it plainly, the call to population control is clearly intended as a communal “dog whistle,” to polarise the electorate along familiar lines.

The Yogi clearly states that the exercise is meant to restore the “balance between communities.”

More comprehensively, Narendra Modi’s praise of India’s “demographic dividend” notwithstanding, the right-wing via the feisty Yogi may have come up with an idea close to the heart of India’s chattering classes; and one that may be trusted to deflect a whole bunch of failures that beset the record of the BJP, both at the Centre and in the states that it rules.

Ergo, not the failures of governance but an alleged population boom is responsible for:

gruelling price rise;
unprecedented joblessness;
collapse of the health services during the pandemic, with the corpses in the Ganga testifying to population explosion;
the misery of migrant labour, the homeless, and the hungry;
unconscionable cruelties vented on women, Dalits and minorities;
collapse of management during the second phase of the pandemic;
the failure of the state to put money into the hands of the millions whom the virus-related shutdowns rendered destitute;

To name just the most blatant failures only.

In one word now – population – this litany of failures is sought to be fig-leafed with the canny knowledge that the base of the right-wing, which includes opinion-makers and media houses as well, may be trusted to say ‘yes indeed’.

And any reference to facts be damned.

Or argument, for that matter, however compelling.

For example, if population is at bottom responsible for economic woes, China ought to be the poorest nation in the world.

But guess what, they have a GDP five times that of Bharat, and forging ahead for more.

Indeed, having suffered badly from gender imbalance and consequent social ills, China, if anything, is encouraging its citizens to go for larger, three-child families.

And, please, let us not be told that this is because China is a totalitarian state and we are a democracy. In ordinary times this cliché may have washed, but not after what we have seen of India over the last seven years.

Think also that if an 80% Hindu majority pretends to worry about being overtaken by a 14% Muslim minority, how genuine must seem the anxiety of white Americans and English people at the prospect of being swamped by Asians and other non-white citizens, given that they now hover around just a half of their populations?

Clearly, extrapolating from Yogiji’s worry about “community imbalance” in Uttar Pradesh etc., White people in those countries must be thought to be more than justified in seeking a reversal of their demographic profiles?

Where may that leave the darling expatriate Indians, whom Narendra Modi so high-fives on his visits, thither?

One may of course put on record a more basic poser: how should it matter in a secular-democratic republic which community of citizens grow slower or faster, even if the ideological landscape of Bharat now may revile such a democratic and non-discriminatory argument?

Just to recall: the British cabinet currently has Britains of Indian and Pakistani origin in the most important portfolios, and America has an Indian-origin woman for its vice-president—all things that our right-wing never fails to laud.

What then of our own Muslim Indians, for a start?

Also Read: India Needs Employment Generation, Not Population Control

The nay-sayers

Yogi’s problems seem, however, to emerge from the right-wing itself.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, for example, has already expressed disagreement with the proposed law that the Yogi seeks to bring forth. And for a canny reason: if citizens are to be penalised for having more than two children, it is Hindus who would stand to lose most from the measure, since Muslim representation in government employment is forgettable anyway.

Nor would the measure help to further the call often made to Hindus by diehard right-wingers to have as large families as they can. Even the figure of 40 has been mentioned.

Allies

More sensibly, allies like the Janata Dal (United) have correctly pointed out that the most effective way to reduce family size is to invest heavily in women’s education, and in education generally, as well as in the health sector.

Everywhere in the world, history shows that family size comes down as purchasing power increases and living standards improve.

Consider that in the Kashmir province – population 68% of the Jammu & Kashmir state – the total fertility rate is 1.7, considerably less than the national average!

But that, most uncomfortably, is an argument for delivering better and more rational governance, when the whole point and purpose of the Yogi putsch is to deflect attention from governance issues across the board.

Given that the captive media will no doubt go to town with the “threat” of population explosion and laud the Yogi and his camp for the alacrity in the matter, it will be no easy task for the political opposition to meet this new polemic.

When a Trump or a Yogi says it is thus, it is thus, alas.

Opposition Parties Attack Uttar Pradesh Govt over Draft Population Control Bill

The Samajwadi Party termed it as an ‘election propaganda’ while a Congress leader asked the state government to tell how many ‘legitimate and illegitimate children’ its ministers have.

Lucknow: Opposition parties have hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the proposed draft bill on population control, with the Samajwadi Party (SP) terming it as an “election propaganda” while a Congress leader asked the state government to tell how many “legitimate and illegitimate children” its ministers have.

The remarks come a day after the Uttar Pradesh Population Policy 2021-2030 was unveiled by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to steady the growing population in the state and reduce maternal and infant deaths in a time-bound manner.

The 40-page policy document mentions that “attempts would be made to ensure there is a population balance among various communities in the state. Extensive campaigns would be run in communities, groups, and geographical areas where fertility rates were higher.”

A draft of the Uttar Pradesh population control bill has been uploaded on the state law commission website.

Terming the Bill as a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “election propaganda” ahead of assembly polls, SP MP from Sambhal, Shaqfiqur Rahman Barq said the state government should ban marriages if it wants to stabilise rising population.

“It (draft Bill) is an electoral propaganda. They (BJP) look at everything from a political angle. They just want to win elections and don’t take any decision in the interest of the people. Since assembly election is coming, they are concerned about it. By the grace of Allah, we will not let them win,” Barq said here on Sunday evening.

Also read: The Hypocrisy and Opportunism of the RSS’s ‘Outreach’ to Muslims

In Farukhabad, Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, “Before making the law government should tell how many legitimate and illegitimate children its ministers have.”

“Politicians should declared how many children they have. I will also declare how many I have and then it should be discussed,” he told reporters on Sunday.

When asked to elaborate on his statement on legitimate and illegitimate children, he said, “Those who consider it wrong should talk to me.”

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Ram Govind Chowdury charged that the state government had failed on all fronts be it law and order or providing employment.

“To divert attention from its failure, it is bringing a Bill. Population can be controlled through awareness. People are now themselves aware and considering two child norm,” Chowdhury told reporters in Ballia.

“If someone has two daughters, will he not go for the third in the hope that it will be a son. There is a population control law already,” he said.

Attacking the state government further, Barq said, It would be better to stop marriages. No one should be allowed to get married for the next 20 years and no children will be born”.

“Those who will challenge the law of Allah will get finished,” the MP from Sambhal said further.

Barq said while China was encouraging its citizens to have more children, India was doing the opposite which might backfire in case of a war.

“A lot of births are taking place in China and you (India) are stopping people from having children. A time will come when we will be very few. If there is a war, then from where will you bring people to fight,” Barq said.

He also alleged that the recently held block panchayat chief polls were rigged by the ruling BJP.

According to the draft of the population control Bill, people having more than two children in the state will be debarred from contesting local body polls, applying for government jobs or receiving any kind of subsidy.

The draft Bill, for which suggestions have been invited from the public till July 19, also prohibits promotions in government jobs for such people, while offering incentives to those limiting their children to two.

The draft says it is necessary to control and stabilise the population of the state for the promotion of sustainable development with more equitable distribution.

If enacted, the provisions of the proposed legislation titled The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021 will come into force after one year from the date of publication in the gazette, according to the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission (UPSLC) website.

Assam, which is another BJP-ruled state, too has announced that it will gradually implement a two-child policy for availing benefits under specific schemes funded by the state.