BJP national general secretary Gajendra Singh Patel has urged Hindu youth to marry early and have five children each, citing what he described as a difference in birth rates between Hindus and “another community”.
The Lok Sabha MP from Khargone-Barwani was addressing an event on Friday night when he said, “Today, people get married at 30 or 35, or even at 37, and have only one child. This is why the birth rate among Sanatanis is 1.9. People used to marry at the age of 20, 21 or 22. The situation was different between 1947 and 1967. But the population graph of one community has declined while that of the other has risen since Independence and the 2011 Census,” Patel said. Referring to birth rates, he said one community’s share was 1.9 per cent while that of the other was 2.9 per cent.
Young people should get married and have five children each,” reported news agency PTI. He claimed that the population share of one community had declined while that of another had increased since Independence. “Out of four children (now), one was from the Hindu community and three from the other community.
Patel said that he was not afraid of making such remarks because he was a “Sanatani”. The BJP leader’s further went on to claim that out of four children born now, one was from the Hindu community and three were from the “other community”.
Drawing a contrast he added, “Earlier generations would have four, five, six or even seven children.
