Kareena Kapoor Khan’s pregnancy announcement yesterday suddenly triggered some thoughts about population control in India all over again. Their announcement came a day before the eve of Indian Independence Day and so I was taken back to last year’s Independence Day speech by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi had addressed the Nation and urged its people to actively participate in population control. While I wish the best for Kareena during her pregnancy, I can’t hide my dissent at the fact that it’s Saif Ali Khan’s 4th biological child!
Most Bollywood actors have wrongly been iconized by Indian youth. While some actors such as Sushmita Sen, Akshay Kumar, Lt. Sushant Singh Rajput, to name a few, are truly inspirational, others are mostly overrated. Sadly, it’s the overrated ones who are more idolized. This system of idolizing is even more worrisome because people (mostly uneducated ones) follow them, their style, their actions, their words, their toxic ideologies, and their bad habits.
Just like Voltaire had said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ These Bollywood celebrities are always visible to the common man, all thanks to the useless paparazzi. That calls for these Bollywood people to be more responsible in whatever they do. But they have mostly chosen to do things which are inappropriate. Whether it is endorsing fairness products, or cigarettes, or gutka-khaini. Even if we ignore that, how in the name of humanity can we ignore illegal actions such as drunken driving and running over beggars sleeping on the footpath, or illegally owning guns. Why should we ignore the fact that ‘Star’ Shah Rukh Khan chooses Tony Ashai as an architect, who desecrates Indian sovereignty and the Indian Army? Were all other architects of the world dead?
Anyway, now with that background let’s now come to the issue of population. Some Bollywood celebrities are horrible examples when it comes to family planning. Saif Ali Khan is about to have his 4th biological child, Shak Rukh Khan has 3 biological children, Aamir Khan has 3 biological children, Anil Kapur has 3 biological children, Boney Kapur has 4 biological children. They must either be ignorant or arrogant as hell to actually have so many biological kids.
Raghunath Dhondo Karve, a mathematics professor and social reformer from Maharashtra, had started talking about population control way back in 1927 in the Marathi magazine Samaj Swasthya. Even after independence, India has been urging people to voluntarily participate in population control. But it is still a work in progress. While we blame lack of education in rural areas to still cause population increase, I’d say it is high time Bollywood celebs be blamed for the population increase in areas polluted by the influence of Bollywood. Such rich Bollywood celebs, who can easily afford contraception, choose to have one baby after another. I wonder why they do not feel any shame in doing so. Moreover, since they do not feel any shame in setting a bad example in society, it high time India tightens its fist and takes stricter action.
Measures like no government job are clearly not working. Bollywood celebs clearly don’t need government jobs. So more drastic actions are required to control the population. And in a democracy, what can be a better measure than permanently suspending the voting rights of couples, along with their children if they give birth to more than two children (triplets born should be exempt from this punishment). They can still get Aadhar card and be citizens of India. But such irresponsible people should not be given the responsibility of choosing something as important as a Government. Moreover, total fertility rates should not be used in India. Birth from each individual (ie. both man and woman) should be used. Because clearly we have proof that multiple marriages are another reason for the birth of more kids.
Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, and Boney Kapur all have two kids from their first marriage and they are just the representatives of our society at large. So, a new rule should be brought in, wherein each individual should be allowed to have only two biological kids to retain their voting rights. If they already have two kids from a previous marriage, they have to choose between having more kids and retaining the voting rights of themselves and their existing two kids. Only by imposing such a harsh punishment can we control the population growth in India.
These people take the liberty at criticizing the Govt. of India even when it takes good decisions such as CAA and NRC, but when it comes to doing their part, they show a complete disregard of their responsibilities. Honestly, India has been plagued by overpopulation and these Bollywood celebs are not helping. India, now more than ever, urgently needs to take care of the economy, environment, education, and defense. Endorsing population control is something that prominent personalities should take up now. And they have to set an example with their life. Because it is better to take care of the population ourselves than let the Govt. take a harsh decision and take care of it for us.
