J-K fares better on sterilisation chart

In fact in the State the number of people getting used to birth control measures is increasing. Comparing the permanent birth control measure of sterilisation of last year with the previous year there is a slight increase of 679 cases. But still the officials say that it is better in a muslim dominated state and when compared with the number of 7358 cases in the year 2004.

Health Department officials say that sterilization camps were flooded even the Muslim pockets. Director Health and Family Welfare, Jammu, Jasbir Singh said, “Birth control camps were held in Muslim areas like, Surankote, Pulwama and Baramulla, and the people came in large numbers. Even men came in large numbers. At Mandi block in Poonch, some 1,200 people were sterilised last year.’’

Even as Singh says that thrust has to be on educating people about sterilisation, Islamic scholars believe that there is a lot of misconception among the Muslims about sterilization. Says Professor Hamid Nasim Rafiabadi of Kashmir University’s Islamic Studies Department,‘‘Sterilization is neither totally allowed nor prohibited. Unlike the general belief that sterilization is totally prohibited, it is allowed in certain circumstances among Muslims. If a family is very poor and can’t afford to sustain many children, it can go for sterilization.” However, Professor Rafiabadi cautioned, “For luxury, one can’t go for sterilization as everyone has a right to come to the world.’’