AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has asked RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to “not fret” as the Muslim population was “rather declining” in the country, asserting that Indian Muslims were the ones using contraceptives the most. His remarks came days after Bhagwat had called for a comprehensive population policy to ensure that the rising population do not become a burden but can be used as a resource. “Don’t fret. The Muslim population is not increasing. It’s rather falling… Who’s using condoms the most? We are. Mohan Bhagwat won’t speak on this,” Owaisi said.

Addressing the annual RSS Vijayadashmi festival, Bhagwat called for a “comprehensive policy on population” and said that it should be applied equally to all.

“Population control and religion-based population balance is an important subject that can no longer be ignored… So a comprehensive population policy should be brought and should be equally applicable to all. Only then rules pertaining to population control will yield results,” he had said. Owaisi also called out the recent viral video where minorities were purportedly beaten by officials on the streets. “You could have taken them to the police station. But you chose to rip off their esteem and hit them directly in the streets. In a nation of 133 crores where 30 crores Muslims exist, the dignity of a Muslim is lesser than a streetside dog,” he added. On October 5, the RSS chief inaugurated the annual Dussehra celebrations and stressed on the application of the population policy equally.

“It is true that the higher the population, the greater the burden. If the population is used properly, it becomes a resource. We also have to consider how many people our country can feed and support after 50 years. Population imbalance leads to changes in geographical boundaries,” said Bhagwat. He also advocated giving equal rights to women in all places. “Considering a woman as the mother is good, but restricting them to closed doors is not good. There is a need to give equal rights to women to take decisions everywhere. All the work that the mother power can do that man cannot do, they have so much power. And therefore it is important to enlighten, and empower them and give them the freedom to work and give equal participation in the work in this way,” he said. “Power is the foundation of peace. The presence of a woman chief guest has been discussed a long time,” the RSS chief added. Bhagwat said that the government’s policies are leading the country towards self-reliance.

“The government is pursuing policies which lead towards self-reliance. Bharat’s importance and stature increased in the community of nations. In the sphere of security, we are becoming more and more become self-sufficient. Our economy is getting back to the pre-pandemic levels, which is expected to rise further. The sportspersons are also bringing laurels to the country,” he said. Talking about the importance of the mother tongue in education, Bhagwat said that English as a language is “not necessary for a career”. “English is not necessary for a career. A career is built from different things. The government is paying attention to this by way of the New Education Policy (NEP). But do parents want their children to be taught in their mother tongue? Or chasing so-called financial gain or career, do they want their wards to become a part of a blind rat race? When expecting the government to institute the promotion of mother tongue, we should also consider whether we sign our names in our mother tongue or not,” he said.