Govt must act
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Bangladesh has the highest population density in the whole world. Dhaka city alone has close to 13 million people, almost two-thirds of the population of Sri Lanka. Fertility and population growth have fallen to some extent in recent times. Despite that over population is still one of the major problems of the country.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Bangladesh's present population is 162.2 million and may rise to 222.5 million by 2050 at the current growth rate of 1.4 per cent.
Growth rate of population overshadows the progress made in employment generation, food production and development activities.
A High Court (HC) Division bench in August, 2010, directed the government to submit a report on the country's population growth rate in the last 10 years.
The court also issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why it should not be directed to take additional measures to control population growth rate in the country.
The HC bench issued the directives following a writ petition as a public interest litigation jointly filed by four lawyers of the country's apex court.
In the writ petition, a total of 15 people, including the country's cabinet secretary, health secretary, and director general of the Department of Family Planning were asked to respond.
The petitioners prayed for direction upon the government to take immediate measures to control population growth identifying it as a very urgent concern of the country.
The court also ordered the government to explain why an independent ministry should not be established to control the additional population in rural and urban areas.
Is it really so important to set up a separate ministry? I think no. The government rather should take up some specific decisions to control the high rate of births.
In Arab countries people used to burry their daughters alive when Prophet Mohammad was born. When Mohammad became prophet he strictly prohibited it. He asked his followers not to kill their new born babies.
Moreover, people have confusion whether Islam allows birth control or not. Islamic scholars should make a clear-cut statement (fatwa) about birth control.
Birth control in Islam is not forbidden as Prophet Mohammad (sm) himself allowed his companions to follow Azal (coitus interruptus), the natural system of controlling births.
Abortion is definitely not acceptable in Islam as it kills a human being in the mother's womb. If husband or wife uses contraceptives then there is no possibility of conception. Therefore, the question of killing a child would not arise as some persons argue that birth control means killing the new comers.
There are a lot of people who give birth to more children in their futile bid to have male offsprings. There are scores of instances where parents were not lucky enough to get their desired baby boys despite repeated attempts.
A large number of Muslim citizens have a peculiar philosophy. They seldom say prayers (namaj). Even most of them do not fast during Ramadan. But they are reluctant to give birth to one or two children. Rather they become parents of three or four children.
Is it an act of piety to give birth to more children when you are unable to arrange required food, clothing and education for them?
Definitely not.
It is more interesting that some ignorant husbands, who are solely responsible for giving birth to daughters, blame their spouses for not being able to give birth to sons.
China has made it compulsory for its citizens to have just one issue so that excess population cannot worsen its socio-economic conditions.
The government should declare incentives for those who would be satisfied with just one issue. Such an incentive would undoubtedly yield positive results. Especially the poor will feel secure if the government gives the one-issue parent special monthly financial benefits like old-age allowances.
Children of such families must be considered for government jobs under special quotas. Only these two incentives can make all the difference.
Amount of land declining day by day due to construction of new houses and other infrastructures on arable land. If this trend continues the country will not be able to ever achieve food autarky. So, there is no time to waste. The government must take some concrete decisions how it wants to control the high rate of population growth.
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The writer can be reached at ehaque63@gmail.com
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Bangladesh's present population is 162.2 million and may rise to 222.5 million by 2050 at the current growth rate of 1.4 per cent.
Growth rate of population overshadows the progress made in employment generation, food production and development activities.
A High Court (HC) Division bench in August, 2010, directed the government to submit a report on the country's population growth rate in the last 10 years.
The court also issued a rule upon the government to explain as to why it should not be directed to take additional measures to control population growth rate in the country.
The HC bench issued the directives following a writ petition as a public interest litigation jointly filed by four lawyers of the country's apex court.
In the writ petition, a total of 15 people, including the country's cabinet secretary, health secretary, and director general of the Department of Family Planning were asked to respond.
The petitioners prayed for direction upon the government to take immediate measures to control population growth identifying it as a very urgent concern of the country.
The court also ordered the government to explain why an independent ministry should not be established to control the additional population in rural and urban areas.
Is it really so important to set up a separate ministry? I think no. The government rather should take up some specific decisions to control the high rate of births.
In Arab countries people used to burry their daughters alive when Prophet Mohammad was born. When Mohammad became prophet he strictly prohibited it. He asked his followers not to kill their new born babies.
Moreover, people have confusion whether Islam allows birth control or not. Islamic scholars should make a clear-cut statement (fatwa) about birth control.
Birth control in Islam is not forbidden as Prophet Mohammad (sm) himself allowed his companions to follow Azal (coitus interruptus), the natural system of controlling births.
Abortion is definitely not acceptable in Islam as it kills a human being in the mother's womb. If husband or wife uses contraceptives then there is no possibility of conception. Therefore, the question of killing a child would not arise as some persons argue that birth control means killing the new comers.
There are a lot of people who give birth to more children in their futile bid to have male offsprings. There are scores of instances where parents were not lucky enough to get their desired baby boys despite repeated attempts.
A large number of Muslim citizens have a peculiar philosophy. They seldom say prayers (namaj). Even most of them do not fast during Ramadan. But they are reluctant to give birth to one or two children. Rather they become parents of three or four children.
Is it an act of piety to give birth to more children when you are unable to arrange required food, clothing and education for them?
Definitely not.
It is more interesting that some ignorant husbands, who are solely responsible for giving birth to daughters, blame their spouses for not being able to give birth to sons.
China has made it compulsory for its citizens to have just one issue so that excess population cannot worsen its socio-economic conditions.
The government should declare incentives for those who would be satisfied with just one issue. Such an incentive would undoubtedly yield positive results. Especially the poor will feel secure if the government gives the one-issue parent special monthly financial benefits like old-age allowances.
Children of such families must be considered for government jobs under special quotas. Only these two incentives can make all the difference.
Amount of land declining day by day due to construction of new houses and other infrastructures on arable land. If this trend continues the country will not be able to ever achieve food autarky. So, there is no time to waste. The government must take some concrete decisions how it wants to control the high rate of population growth.
.................................................
The writer can be reached at ehaque63@gmail.com