Row after Assam CM asks Muslims to work on population control

Earlier this week, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the Muslim community in his State needs to work on population control. He also called for the education of women on the occasion.

Soon after the BJP leader made the remarks, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that Assam has already achieved replacement levels of TFR 2.1. He added that the national TFR is 2.2. Saying that there is no population explosion, the Hyderabad MP quoted data from the Economic Survey 2018-19, which said that population is now growing below 1% in South India, West Bengal, Punjab, Odisha, Assam and Himachal Pradesh.

Since then, more voices have joined Owaisi. All India United Democratic Front MLA Hafiz Rafiqul Islam said, “Instead of saying that a particular community has more children, the Chief Minister should work on controlling it. Even he has 6-7 siblings, and the Speaker has got 8 siblings.”

But are Owaisi and other critics right? Not so. As per columnist Arihant Pawariya, Assam’s overall TFR is less because of less Hindu TFR. He added that, between 1991-2001, in Assam, Muslims grew almost two times faster than Hindus. And between 2001-11, they grew almost three times faster, he added.