Impose family planning for minorities: Shiv Sena

After stoking controversy with its demand that Muslims be stripped of their voting rights, Shiv Sena yesterday advocated compulsory family planning for Muslims and Christians to check their "rising" population.

"By only increasing population, one can try and convert the country into Pakistan, but cannot give quality and healthy life to one's family," the BJP ally in Maharashtra said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Sena backed the views of vice-president of All India Hindu Mahasabha Sadhvi Deva Thakur on the issue though it did say that her choice of words may have been wrong.

"Sadhvi Deva says that the increasing population of Muslims and Christians is dangerous for the country and they should be, therefore, forcibly sterilized. She should have used the word family planning instead sterilization," it said.

Thakur had on Saturday said Muslims and Christians must undergo sterilization to restrict their growing population which was posing a threat to Hindus.

"The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, Centre will have to impose emergency, and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilization," Sadhvi had said.