July 11, World Population Day: Today is World Population Day. In this background, a magazine associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) claimed that there is a growing 'demographic imbalance' with the increase in Muslim population in some areas of the country and said that a comprehensive national population control policy is needed. An editorial published in the latest issue of the 'Organizer' weekly has expressed concern over regional imbalance in terms of population and advocated policy intervention.

According to the editorial, 'Despite the population being stable at the national level, it is not the same in all religions and regions. There has been a significant increase in the Muslim population in some areas, especially in the border districts.' It is written that in border states like West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, and Uttarakhand, the population is increasing in an 'unnatural' way due to 'illegal displacement' on the borders.

Talking about Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee,

the editorial alleged, "Leaders like Rahul Gandhi may occasionally insult Hindu sentiments. (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can play the Muslim card even while acknowledging the atrocities committed on women by Islamists and Dravidian parties can take pride in abusing Sanatan Dharma because they are confident of the consolidation of the so-called minority vote bank developed due to population imbalance." 

The editorial further said, "Learning from the horrors of Partition and the politically correct but socially and culturally wrong displacement from West Asian and African countries, we must urgently resolve this issue, as stated in various resolutions of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and judicial decisions." 

Regional imbalance

The editorial further said that regional imbalance is another 'important dimension' that will affect the process of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in the future. The magazine wrote that the states of the West and South are doing a relatively better job in implementing population control measures but they fear losing some seats in Parliament due to changes in population after the census. According to the editorial, 'In a democracy when numbers are important for representation and demography decides fate, we should be even more cautious about this trend.'

According to the magazine, 'We need policies to ensure that population growth does not disproportionately affect any one religious community or region, which could lead to socio-economic inequality and political conflict.'

He said, 'Instead of being influenced by external agenda being pushed through international organizations, research institutes, and consultancy agencies, we should try to formulate a comprehensive national population policy keeping in view the availability of resources in the country, future requirements and the problem of demographic imbalance and implement it equally on all.'