Population Control Bill : A Praiseworthy Act

Editorial

Yogi Adityanath’s Government in Uttar Pradesh has prepared the draft Bill of the Population Control Act and sought public opinion on it. According to this Bill, those who have 1 child will get special facilities, while those who have more than 2 children will not be able to avail the benefits of Government schemes, will not be able to contest elections and will not get promotions.

Those who undergo sterilization after 2 children will be given a low interest loan for house purchase. This is a very bold decision of Yogi Adityanath. The population of the country has crossed 125 crore, and is likely to overtake China in a few years. In this situation, it has become necessary to take steps for population control.

There are occasional calls for population control measures from various quarters in the country but it is not taken seriously. From this perspective, the decision taken by Yogi Adityanath needs to be congratulated. It is certain that the proposed legislation will provoke strong opposition but Yogi Adityanath does not care. By preparing such a draft Bill, UP has become the first State in the country to take concrete measures for population control.

Strong leadership

Yogi Adityanath’s tenure has always been tough after he became the Chief Minister. Before this, the situation in UP was chaotic. Murders, kidnappings, ‘Love Jihad’, communal riots were common. The fear of the local goondas had increased. To administer a vast State at such a time was a real test for him.

Yogi Adityanath started with breaking the back of these goondas. He dismissed over 100 incompetent Policemen from service. After cleaning up of the Police force, new Policemen were ordered to fire bullets directly to quell the terror of the goondas. This boosted the morale of the Police, and they killed several goondas in encounters. This time, as usual, the human rights activists gave unsolicited advice, tried to obstruct operations and instructed the administration not to kill the goondas; but Yogi Adityanath continued despite all obstacles. “If we are not to kill goondas, should we worship them ?”, he asked the human rights activists. The lives of Hindu girls are getting destroyed by conversions through ‘Love Jihad’. Realising that such cases are in large numbers, Yogi Adityanath enacted an anti-proselytising Law prohibiting ‘Love Jihad’. There was much opposition to this Law too, but Yogi Adityanath remained firm.

Control on rioters and criminals

Uttar Pradesh was notorious for riots. The decision to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and The National Register of Citizens (NRC) led to riots in major cities such as Lucknow and Kanpur; the rioters set fire to public and private property. Then Yogi Adityanath warned that he would not only take stern action against the rioters but also confiscate their properties and ordered the Police to stop the riots soon. The CAA and NRC Laws are clear – they will not displace any local Muslims; however, those who want to confuse people without understanding the Law were still adamant. Yogi Adityanath said, “We know how to make them understand the Law”.

He put up photos of criminals involved in riots and murders in UP at road intersections in UP. He filed stern criminal charges against them. He went to the Supreme Court after the High Court ruled against Yogi’s action but he remained firm on his decision. The draft Bill now prepared by Yogi is somewhat closer to the Uniform Civil Code. This will definitely discourage the tendency to have more wives and more children.

Yogi Adityanath, besides being a Chief Minister, is also the head of a Mutt. There were more Muslim women than Hindus in the Janata Darbar (Public court) which he used to hold for solving the problems of people. Yogi Adityanath used to also solve the problems of Muslim women. This is the faith they have shown in Yogi. There is no doubt that Yogi helped people by holding the principles of Hindutva aloft; he is more liked by the people than those who only try to appease Muslims with meaningless talk of Sarvadharmasamabhav (Inter-religious harmony).

Only Yogi Adityanath could say, ‘I cannot attend namaz because I am a staunch Hindu’. The first criminal case against Twitter for insulting Hindu Deities and Dharma was registered in Uttar Pradesh. At the Central level, Twitter was being only warned about action that could be taken. Yogi Adityanath issued a stern message through action against Twitter – ‘No matter how powerful the culprit is, no leniency will be shown in taking decisions in the interests of Hindu Dharma, Rashtra and the people’.

This work of Yogi Adityanath is exemplary and ideal. Yogi Adityanath is setting the standards of an ideal ruler through his actions. With inspiration from Yogi Adityanath, it is expected that there will soon be a Uniform Civil Code at the national level and its implementation will be expeditious.