By: Anisa saeed
The centre and the provinces on 19th November 2018 decided to form task forces within their jurisdictions to control rapid population growth reported Dawn. The meeting, that was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, considered the figure of 207.8 million populations in the last census as a benchmark to discuss the issue of population welfare and its control. The meeting decided to reduce population growth rate of 2.4 per cent per annual to 1.5 percent.Earlier, also the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Saqib Nisar, said that people have to say that having many children is not a good action and the government must present a solution.
It is alarming that the current leadership of the country in its blind imitation of the West is united on the population control agenda. Population control is Western secular thinking that many children are a burden on a family and ultimately on the nation as well, on the basis of the capitalist concept of scarcity of resources. Due to this thinking, Western nations encourage their population to practice birth control or family planning. However, for the last decade, Western nations as well as the industrialized nations of the East, have begun to experience the negative effects of population control on the economy and other societal arenas. They do not have enough young people to work and take on various societal responsibilities, including taking care of the elders. So now many Western countries encourage their citizens to have babies and grant economic concessions for it. China had been a leading country in population control. It officially forced its population to a one child policy since 1979, but it has also now terminated its one child policy in 2013. It abandoned its population control policy when it was not uncommon for a single child to support its parents and both sets of grandparents, in a visibly aging population.
The problem is not increasing population or its scarcity or the depletion of resources. The issue is distribution of these resources under the capitalist economic system in an effective way for the whole population. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) report, the world’s 225 richest people now have a combined wealth that is equal to the combined annual income of the world’s 2.5 billion poorest people. Furthermore, the UNDP calculates that an annual 4 percent levy on the world’s 225 most well-to-do people would be sufficient to provide the following essentials for all those in developing countries: adequate food, safe water and sanitation, basic education, basic health care and reproductive health care.
Thus, it is unfortunate that the whole democratic political leadership of the country is blindly following the thinking of Western Kafir nations, instead of following the commands of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) has assured the whole humanity that He (swt) has secured the Rizq (sustenance) of each and every soul. Allah swt said:
إنًّ ٱللًّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
“Verily Allah provides sustenance to whom He wills without measure.” [Surah Aale-Imran 3: 37].
And Allah (swt) warned us of killing our children, because of the fear of poverty. Allah (swt) said:
وَلاَ تَقْتُلُوۤاْ أَوْلادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلاقٍ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُم إنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْئاً كَبِيراً
“And do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We provide for them and for you. Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin.” [Surah Al-Isra’ 17:31.]
Poverty is not because of lack of resources. It is because of the capitalist man made system which accumulates wealth in the hands of the few. So in order to end poverty, we should not focus on population control. Instead we must focus on abolishing the capitalist system and re-establishing the Khilafah (Caliphate) on the Method of Prophethood. The implementation of Islam ensures the distribution of wealth in a society, eradicating poverty as a consequence.
The writer is a media student at Margalla college Islamabad, She can be contacted at [email protected]
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the organization.