‘Anarchy does not arise from population, but…’: Akhilesh Yadav’s veiled barb at Yogi Adityanath

Akhilesh Yadav's remark comes in the wake of Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath saying that population control programmes must not create an "imbalance" by focusing on "native" residents while the growth rate of "some community" remains high.

File Photo

New Delhi: Taking a veiled barb at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday (July 12) said anarchy is not caused by population but by the “destruction of democratic values." Yadav wrote in a tweet in Hindi, "Anarchy does not arise from the population, but from the destruction of democratic values." The SP chief’s remark comes in the wake of UP CM Adityanath saying that population control programmes must not create an "imbalance" by focusing on "native" residents even as the growth rate of "some community" remains high, a probable reference to Muslims, PTI reported. He also expressed concern over the possibility of  "anarchy" at some point if there are "imbalances" in a country.

अराजकता आबादी से नहीं, लोकतांत्रिक मूल्यों की बरबादी से उपजती है। — Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 12, 2022

On World Population Day on Monday, Adityanath said that "population stabilisation" should be uniform across different sections of people. "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," the UP CM and senior BJP leader said.

“Such situation could have an adverse impact on religious demography and after some time 'disorder' (avayvastha) and 'anarchy' (arajakta) could begin in that country,” he added. 

SP MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq also targeted the UP government accusing it of seeing the population growth from a "particular angle". 

“Giving birth to a child is up to the almighty. When a child is given by Allah, the risk attached with him are also sent by the almighty,” the Sambhal MP told reporters on Monday night. He also advised the Yogi Adityanath government to pay attention to education instead of mulling a law on population control. 

"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 are poor, big or small,” Barq added. 

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also attacked Yogi Adityanath over his remarks and asked if Muslims were not natives of India. "Are Muslims not natives of India? If we see the reality, natives are only tribals and Dravidian people. In UP, without any law, desired fertility rate would be achieved by 2026-2030," he was quoted as saying by ANI. 

(With agency inputs)