Shiv Sena snubs Mohan Bhagwat's 'outdated' comments on 'declining' Hindu population

Slamming Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his comments on declining Hindu population, the Shiv Sena said on 22 August that the progressive Hindu community won't accept Bhagwat's 'outdated' thoughts.

The Sena also asked the Centre to implement the uniform civil code to maintain "social and cultural balance". Instead of focusing on increasing the population of Hindus to counter the rising Muslim population, the Narendra Modi government needs to implement the uniform civil code at the earliest, the Sena in an editorial in its party mouthpiece, Saamana.

"Mohan Bhagwat has tried to present outdated thoughts in a modern way. His remarks will not be accepted by progressive Hindu community. Also, PM Modi would not agree that increasing Hindu population is the right way to counter growing Muslim population," the Sena said in the editorial.

"The government is spending a lot of money on family planning. A rise in Muslim population will undoubtedly affect the social and cultural balance of the country, but asking Hindus to have more children is no solution to the problem. The only solution is to implement the uniform civil code to cap the population of all communities. If Hindus give birth to more children, problems like hunger, unemployment and inflation will only increase," the Sena said.

The outfit also sought to know if Bhagwat was discreetly trying to back the idea of Hindus having more than one spouse to boost the population of the community.

"In reality, Bhagwat's thoughts are like a web stuck on the ideals of Hindutva. Instead of this, why does he not back the uniform civil code and strict norms of family planning?" it asked.

--With inputs from PTI