After CAA, ‘2-child policy’ may haunt Indians next

Amid pan-India unrest over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), RSS has once again pushed for ‘two child policy’, a move which may create fresh round of controversy. Citing the ‘two child policy’ as next on its agenda, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said in Moradabad that his organisation seeks a law to restrict number of children born per couple to two. “Two-child law was next on the RSS agenda and the government had to decide on it,” Bhagwat was quoted as saying by the local media. He made the comments while interacting with his cadre. RSS is ruling BJP parent organisation and has been pushing for the population control policy for years. Bhagwat had officially called for a population policy in his annual Dussehra address at the Nagpur headquarters in 2015.

The BJP govt in Assam has already decided to make those with more than two children ineligible for government jobs from January 1, 2021. Population control has been a tricky issue for the Sangh Parivar. While some of its members called for enacting laws to curb what they allege is the fast growth in population of Muslims, others have called on Hindus to produce more children. Bhagwat’s own stand over the issue ranges from “applicable to all” to “population of Hindus should rise”.

In his 2015 Dussehra speech, he said, “We need to rise above vote bank politics to formulate a holistic approach, equally applicable to all citizens, towards the population policy.” However, in 2016 meeting at Agra he said, “Which law says that the population of Hindus should not rise? What is stopping them when population of others is rising?”