RSS chief’s speech aimed at creating communal animosity: Kerala CM

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday hit back at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s community-based population imbalance remark, alleging that it was a “false propaganda” aimed at “unleashing communal animosity” in the country.

In a statement issued by his office, Vijayan alleged the RSS chief’s Vijayadashami Day speech was not based on any facts or figures; instead it was a “lie” aimed at the gains during the upcoming elections.

Bhagwat, on Wednesday, had said that the nation should frame a well thought-out, comprehensive population control policy applicable to all social groups equally and flagged the issue of demographic “imbalance” as he also asserted there was no danger to minorities.

He had also said that community-based “population imbalance” is an important subject and should not be ignored.

Reacting to his speech, Vijayan alleged that it was only a reiteration of the ages-old lie of the Sangh Parivar that Hindus would become a minority in the near future, said the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) statement.

The Chief Minister, in the statement issued by the CMO, said the population growth was measured in terms of ‘total fertility rate’ (TFR) which, according to the Union Health Ministry’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of 2019-21, has been decreasing more in the Muslim community as compared to other religions.

Citing figures in support of his claim, Vijayan said that TFR of Hindu and Muslim communities were 1.9 and 2.3 respectively, according to NFHS 2019-21 and in 2015-16 the TFR of Muslims was 2.6 and in 1992-93 it was 4.4.

Therefore, there was decrease of 46.5 per cent in the TFR of Muslim community since then, while that of Hindus decreased only by 41.2 per cent, he claimed in the statement.

He also claimed that according to the census figures, there has been a decline in Hindu population growth by 3.1 per cent, while at the same time there was a decline of 4.7 per cent in the growth of Muslim population.

It is when such figures are available in public that RSS spreads communalism by saying false things, he alleged in the statement.

Vijayan further said the secular society needs to recognise such dangerous moves of promoting hate politics for electoral gains.