As India explores the new paradigm after major political and strategic developments in the two newly created union territories, Prime Minister Modi, along with shedding light on the said legislative developments in his speech on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day, has also touched upon a multitude of domains relating to India’s sustainable development goals.
Along with focus on water conservation, call against single use plastics, announcement for the creation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), and a number of growth areas, PM Modi also diligently touched upon the critical issue of population explosion which has taken a back seat in the political discourse over the past few decades; nonetheless despite being in the back drop, several civil society organizations have not only being urging the government to intervene in a bid to mitigate the risks of uncontrolled population explosion but have also indicated towards the risk of instability regarding the demographics of India due to skewed population explosion. PM Modi in his speech has diligently addressed the reservations over population explosion and the underlying demographic risks.
PM Modi in his Independence Day speech has outlined the requirement of diligent family planning and said, “If the population is not educated, not healthy, then neither the home nor the country can be happy. If the population is educated, empowered and skilled and has adequate means available to achieve the right ambience to fulfill their wishes and needs, then I think the country can fulfill these things,” the Prime Minister said.
“In our society, there is a section which is very well aware of the consequences of uncontrolled population growth. They deserve our accolades and respect. This is an expression of their love for the nation. Before having a baby, they take a well-considered decision whether they will be able to take care of their child’s needs,” the PM added.
Further emphasizing his point, he added, “Not only do they (small households) contribute to the welfare of their family but also to the good of the nation. People who have played this huge role need to be honored, and by setting them as examples we need to inspire the segment of society still not thinking on these lines. We need to worry about population explosion.”
While India enjoys a deep diversity in unity, experts have raised concerns on rapidly changing demographics over the past few decades; which could have an overarching adverse impact on the socio-political situation in the nation. Strategic experts have claimed that demographics are now being used as a tool by political entities to forward their political agendas whether internal or international. Turkish dictator Erdoğan had given an example of induced population explosion agenda when he had called for Turks living in Europe to “have not just three but five children” in a bid to “Stake a claim to it.”
Similar demographic driven tactics were used by Pakistan based terrorist organizations like LeT, HM, JeM and others to force out hundreds of thousands Kashmiri Pandits out of their ancestral homes in the Kashmir valley which could not have been possible by just a few hundred militants without the support of local radicalized society.
While issues relating to population growth rates in different religious communities have been largely untouched, given the political implications of fiddling with such issues; religious leaders, have been given free ground to make calls for increasing birth rates within their communities, nonetheless this has also forced several majority leaders to make similar calls to counter the ulterior political motives behind these calls.
Population growth trends in India also provide us a statistical picture of the relating developments, while Hindu population grew at 16.8%, the Muslim population grew at 24.6%. Christian population grew at 15.5% in the period from 2001 to 2011. Interestingly, other than Islam, no other religious community posted a growth more than average rate of growth for the country as a whole. The total fertility rate (TFR) which measures the number of children per women also indicated the skewed population growth trend, While TFR for Muslim women was pegged at 3.1, for Hindu Women it was just 2.5. Though it is important to note that TFR Muslim and Muslim women has seen a decline from 2001 levels of 4.1 however this decline is mainly a result of increased awareness among Muslim women contrary to change in prevailing trend of demographic driven politics. Settling of illegal immigrants can also emerge as a catalyzing factor for a radical demographic change. Efforts towards maintaining the demographic stability are surely indispensable to nurture the diverse and inclusive Indian culture and discourage communal leaders from using demographic trends to further their political agendas.
Nonetheless, PM Modi by raising the issue of population explosion has not only brought this issue into mainstream political discourse but has also possibly initiated government machinery to safeguard internal and external interests in this regard. However it remains to be seen what steps the government take to tackle this problem which many past governments have refrained from addressing given the sensitive nature of the issue pertaining to political dynamics in the nation.
