Can population ‘imbalance’ lead to anarchy? Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath battle it out

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said anarchy is not caused by population but due to the destruction of democratic values.

Yadav said this apparently referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement on Monday, which pinned blame on population imbalance for it.

Adityanath on World Population Day said population control programmes must not lead to an “imbalance” by focusing on “native” residents while the growth rate of some communities remains high, a possible reference to Muslims.

In a Hindi tweet, Yadav said, “Anarchy does not arise from population, but from the destruction of democratic values.” Another Samajwadi Party leader and Sambhal MP, Shafiqur Rehman Barq, too accused the Uttar Pradesh government of seeing the population growth from a “particular angle”, which is being done to get votes in the 2024 General Election.

He told reporters on Monday night that the rapid growth in population can be effectively dealt with by paying attention to education for everyone instead of contemplating a law to check it.

Giving birth to a child is up to the almighty, he said. When a child is given by Allah, the risks attached with him are also sent by the almighty, the MP added.

“Instead of contemplating a law to check the growth in population, the government should pay attention to education and make proper arrangements for everyone, be they poor, big or small,” he said.

“If they get complete education, the issue will be solved,” Barq added.

Adityanath on Monday had said “population stabilisation” should be uniform across different sections of people, and expressed concern over the likelihood of “anarchy” at some point if there are “imbalances” in a country.

“It should not happen that the speed of population growth or the percentage of some community is high and we stabilise the population of the ‘moolniwasi’ (natives) through awareness or enforcement,” he said.

The UP law commission had submitted a draft Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilization and Welfare) Bill, 2021 to the state’s BJP government in the last few months of Adityanath’s previous term in office.

The proposed legislation incentivised families following a two-child norm, and some critics suggested that it targeted the state’s Muslim community. The government, however, rejected the charge.