Federal Minister for Population Welfare Firdous Ashiq Awan at a meeting held on Thursday with Indian religious leaders deliberated upon the trends of family planning for population control in Indian Muslim community. Talking to APP on telephone the minister said that more than 80 percent population of Hyderabad Dakkan is Muslim and they have accepted the contraceptive trend.
The minister said that the group of Indian ulema members headed by eminent scholar Qadri, were of the view that "Islam is a religion of planning and how is it possible that it can oppose family planning which is a base of healthy society". The minister commented that practice of family planning and contraceptive use is common in India but the concept has faced resistance in Pakistan due to lack of awareness.
She said that Quran is a complete code of conduct which asked mother to feed their children for two years which is a clear message of birth spacing, adding, "We have to exercise teachings of Quran which is a complete guide book for Muslims". Firdous Ashiq Awan also informed that she would conduct field visit of family planning centre in Hyderabad tomorrow to meet with the local community for experience sharing.
The minister would attend the reception of Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza wedding in the evening in which she would present gold crown and gift to the newly wed couple. The minister would leave for Bombay on Saturday as a second leg of her five-day official visit.
During the visit she is also expected to hold meeting with Speaker Lok Sabha and female parliamentarians to initiate new avenues for women and social issues. She also intends to hold meeting renowned Indian politician Sonia Gandhi during the visit.