Dispur: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday retaliated over Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's statement on population control of minorities. Owaisi said that the Assam Chief Minister has once again started the debate over 'population control'. Owaisi said that it is not Sarma but his Hindutva which is speaking and holding the poor and minorities responsible for everything.
The AIMIM chief said that though Himanta Biswa Sarma is speaking about population control but the reality is that Assam has already come down to TFR (Total Fertility Rate) at 2.1 while the nation's TFR is 2.2. In simple words, there is no population explosion.
Owaisi further said "your government should worry about the skewed sex ratio due to the barbaric practice of sex-selective abortion. It is predicted that in 2036, the sex ratio of Assam will deteriorate and the number of males will increase significantly. There is a need to fight against a fundamentally anti-gender culture."
What did Himanta Biswa Sarma say on population control of minorities?
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday urged a section of the Muslim community in Assam to adopt “decent family planning norms” to overcome social ills such as poverty and illiteracy. Sarma made the remarks at a press conference here to mark the completion of one month of the government led by him.
Speaking in the context of the recent eviction of unauthorised settlers, Sarma said those criticising his government should instead think of “how to practice small family size”.
“We can solve numerous social ills in Assam, if immigrant Muslim community adopts decent family planning norms. This will be my appeal to them,” he said. “For their poverty to end, Muslim women need to be educated, population needs to be controlled. I appeal to them to work together with us. We are there for all of you, to support women’s education and reduce poverty. But poverty will never be reduced unless you control your population