In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar’s local editor Upmita Vajpayee, former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi discussed several topics concerning Muslims, including the Muslim population, multiple marriages, triple talaq, love jihad, hijab, and Kashmiri Pandits. Quraishi, a renowned Muslim person, has always spoken out in support of Muslims and has stepped in to refute and mock any facts that show Muslims on the darker side.

This interview comes at a time when the Whole Islamist and liberal lobby is busy repudiating the movie The Kashmir Files as a farce. Here are a few excerpts from the interview which was published by Dainik Bhaskar.

Are Muslims growing faster than Hindus?

On being asked if the Muslim population is growing faster than the Hindu population, Quraishi responded saying there is no data to support such facts. He said, “For many years, it has been perpetuated that Muslims have a large number of children and they marry four times. The tagline “we five our twenty-five” was also coined, however, research shows that this is not the case.” Denying the role of Islam in the increase of the Muslim population, he said, “It is true that Muslims have the lowest rate of family planning, but this has nothing to do with religion.

To portray the growth rate of the Muslim population slow, he resorted to some calculations and a mathematical model. He stated, “Prof Dinesh Singh of Delhi University created a mathematical model for me. To inquire, as it is claimed, I asked him, ‘tell me when the majority of Muslims will be formed?’ I would become the country’s Prime Minister. Sir, you cannot become for 1000 years, he remarked.”

Is it because of the population that Muslims have more than one marriage?

“Having four wives is impossible in terms of gender ratio. There are 920-22 females for 1000 males. That is, not every man will get even a woman,” he replied. But, adding more on the merits of more than 1 marriage, he said, “Even if it is available, it is beneficial to the general public. When two women marry two men, they have more offspring; when two women marry one man, they have fewer children.”

Referring to a 47-year-old report, he cited that the study conducted by the Government of India in 1975 discovered that Muslims had the lowest incidence of multiple marriages among all castes, but this is simply put on Muslims. Elaborating on the reference of multiple marriages in Islam, he said, “There is only one verse in the Qur’an which talks about it, it also talks about marriage with unmarried and orphan women.”

On the question of Love Jihad

“There is love jihad between me and my wife, in my house daughters also do love jihad. Love has no limits,” Quraishi replied. At one point he contended that there is no love jihad but then he firmly stated that love jihad has affected the Muslim girls most. Then again he added, “The educated Muslim boys are taken away by Hindu educated girls. No one has seen it from the angle of Muslim women.”

Quraishi also added that the anti-conversion law in Madhya Pradesh is to defame Muslims. “The more you try to defame a Muslim, the less it is. That’s why this law was brought,” he said.

The Kashmiri Pandit-Muslim equation

Quraishi agreed that there were atrocities with the Kashmiri Pandits, however, they were not alone in this and Muslims in the valley were also affected. He further added, “Humanity should be meant, not religion.” He stated that The Kashmir Files is dividing the masses just like the terrorists.

Yogi’s triumph for democracy or communalism?

Quraishi remarked that the victory of Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh is the victory of communalism. “Polarization has been an election gimmick for the last 20 years. The situation is such that even two children are fighting face to face, then it is called polarization,” he added.

What about this phase of polarization?

He stated that maximal polarisation happened during Partition, then at the time of Babri and that the country is now in its third phase of polarisation. The country’s people are becoming increasingly communalized. However, surprisingly, he attributed the secular nature of India to Hindus. He said, “India is secular because Hindus are secular. When the partition took place, Pakistan became a Muslim country, but India became a secular country, not a Hindu country. Then everything became normal, so I hope the time will pass now.”

Questions are raised about EVMs, Akhilesh said that he is winning in the postal, how did he lose in EVMs?

Quraishi said that he is in support of the Electronic Voting Machine. “I consider EVMs to be reliable because Bharatiya Janata Party would not have lost Bengal elections had it gone wrong. The BJP had left no stone unturned in the Bengal elections. There is no question of returning to the ballot,” he stated.

Faith in the Election Commission lost?

“Yes, sorry but it’s true,” Quraishi said. “The country had the highest faith in the Election Commission. It hurts me to even say that. I don’t want to say anything about this,” he added.

Is the controversy over whether the hijab is part of the Quran fair?

Hijab, according to Quraishi, is not a commandment in the Quran, although both men and women are expected to dress modestly. He said, “Sikh turban, vermilion is allowed in school uniform, then what is the problem with hijab?”

He said that it is not the Judge who will decide about the hijab but the Maulana. “Will it be right if Maulana starts giving IPC decisions?” he added.

In another interview given to Times of India last year, Quraishi stated that Islam is the pioneer of the concept of family planning and it is a myth that polygamy is rampant in India. He was speaking about his book. Batting for Islamic nations like Bangladesh, Iran, and Indonesia, he stated that these countries are doing better than India when it comes to family planning.