Nagpur:

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwant today said India needs a government policy for population control, and cited “religion-based imbalance” and “forced conversions” to raise the specter of the country breaking apart “if such necessary steps are not taken”. He cited East Timor, Kosovo and South Sudan as examples of “new countries that emerged because of imbalance among religions in a population”.

He was speaking at the annual Dussehra rally of the RSS, the mentor body of the ruling BJP.

“Along with population control, population balance on religious basis is also a matter of importance which cannot be ignored,” he stressed in his speech, in Hindi.

#WATCH | Population imbalance leads to changes in geographical boundaries… Population control & religion-based population balance is an imp subject that can no longer be ignored…So a holistic population policy should be brought & should be equally applicable to all: RSS chief pic.twitter.com/hYU6itnO47

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2022

“Population require resources. If it grows without building resources, it becomes a burden,” he added, “There is another view in which population is considered an asset. We need to work on a population policy for all keeping both aspects in mind.”

Essentially reiterating a key agenda of the RSS and its affiliates, he further said, “Birth rate is one reason; conversions by force, lure or greed, and infiltration are also big reasons.”

The BJP’s central government, however, does not seem to agree with the idea of a population control law, even though it’s proposed repeatedly by party members and RSS leaders.

In April this year, in a discussion on nominated Rajya Sabha member Rakesh Sinha’s Bill for such a law, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said family planning awareness and accessible healthcare have ensured stabilisation of population anyway. “The total fertility rate has come down to around 2%. . . It tells us that the family planning mission is moving towards success,” the minister said. Mr Sinha later withdrew his Bill.

Opposition members have said family planning should not be a matter of coercion.