Two days after Union Minister Giriraj Singh called for a compulsory two-child norm “across religious communities,” the BJP distanced itself from his comments.
Party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said: “The views expressed by the Minister are his personal opinion. The party has no official stand on the issue.”
Speaking at a function in Bihar on Wednesday, the Minister expressed apprehensions about “skewed” population growth in the context of religious demography.
“Hindus should have two sons; Muslims, too, should have two sons. Our population is coming down. Bihar has seven such districts where our population has gone down. Population rules have to be changed, only then will our daughters be safe. Otherwise, like Pakistan, we too will have to keep our daughters under the veil,” he said.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has also been raising issues related to what it calls the faster growth of Muslim population.
Senior BJP leader C.P. Thakur on Thursday agreed with Mr. Singh. But he put it in the context of population outstripping resources rather than any religious issue.
