Get real
RSS chief Bhagwat must discard phony issues like that of population and focus on the real ones like inflation
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on population control, “religion-based imbalance,” and “forced conversions” were gratuitous. Speaking at the annual Dussehra rally of the RSS, which is the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s mentor body, he said, “Along with population control, balance on religious basis is also a matter of importance which cannot be ignored.” But population has ceased to be a threat; India’s population has stabilised. According to data from the National Family Health Survey-5, which was released almost a year ago, the country’s total fertility rate (TFR) had come down to 2. TFR means the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime. As per experts, TFR of 2.1 is the replacement rate, implying neither an increase nor a decrease in population. More importantly, from the RSS perspective, considerable decline has been noticed in the Muslim population growth rate. In the decade 2001-11, the rate declined by 4.7 per cent, as compared to the decline of 3.1 per cent in the Hindu population growth rate. Evidently, the overall decline is the result of growing prosperity and spread of education and awareness among all communities. Against this backdrop, concerns over population rise and “balance on religious basis” appear to be overblown. Similarly, religious “conversions by force, lure or greed” are not such big problems that a major organisation should be worried about. Especially because the BJP is in power at the Centre and in many states; many states also have laws prohibiting forced conversions.
Such remarks are also not in consonance with the Muslim outreach efforts made by the RSS, including Bhagwat, in the last few weeks. Recently, he met a group of eminent Muslims from various walks of life. In June, he had also tried to rein in the saffron zealots not to “look for a Shivling in every mosque (har masjid me Shivling kyun dekhna).” This statement was made as the controversy over the Gyanvapi mosque raged. In a nutshell, Bhagwat should avoid making statements which may further anger the excitable saffron enthusiasts. As it is, their words and actions have had a chilling effect on Muslims. Government machinery, especially those who are expected to uphold the law, doesn’t make things easier. A video doing the rounds on social media is that of cops in full public view thrashing a few men, said to be Muslims, in Gujarat’s Kheda district. The men, who allegedly attacked a Garba event, were held against an electric pole in the village square and beaten. Worse, the cops were cheered on by the onlookers. Human dignity, civil rights, innocent until proven guilty, the rule of law—such concepts seem to be vanishing. The RSS website talks about “keeping aflame the spirit of freedom.” Accordingly, it should condemn the Kheda incident. Also, it must regularly focus on such real issues as inflation and unemployment, as its leader Dattatreya Hosabale did, instead of raising the bogeyman of growing Muslim population.
Source: The Pioneer News
