Population rising rapidly in Bihar's Muslim-dominated districts : Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal
Patna, Sep 7: Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal Wednesday stirred the hornets' nest by claiming that population growth rate is the "highest in the world" in two districts of the state partly due to the alleged high rate of influx of Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Jaiswal identified Kishanganj and Araria as the two districts where, he said, the rate of population growth was matched only by "tribal areas of Pakistan and parts of Ethiopia".
According to the 2011 census, Kishanganj has a 67 per cent Muslim population, the highest in any Bihar district, followed by adjoining Araria where the figure is 43 per cent.
The BJP leader had made the remarks in Araria, where he was galvanizing support for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally at nearby Purnea later this month.
Later when approached here by journalists, Jaiswal said "I had stated a fact which has nothing to do with the union home minister's tour on September 23-24".
Shah's proposed visit to Bihar will be his first since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's volte face stripped BJP of power. Kumar's JD(U) has been apprehensive that the tour will be capitalized for communal polarisation.
Jaiswal, however, maintained that he was insisting on the need for "population stabilization" which, he said, has been achieved in West Bengal.
The BJP leader avoided the hardline stance of blaming high population growth on alleged aversion of Muslims towards family planning. He, however, went on to add "one reason behind the high population growth in Araria and Kishanganj is the influx of Bangladeshi immigrants - a fact people are not willing to acknowledge".
He also did not demand a law to curb population growth, like party colleagues like Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, but said there was need to "incentivise those who produce less children".
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
