Infiltration, conversion causing population imbalance in India: RSS leader

RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has said that illegal migration from neighbouring countries and religious conversion of Hindus are leading to “population imbalance” in India.

Addressing the media on the closing day of the sangh’s national executive meeting in Prayagraj, Hosabale called for stringent anti-conversion laws while asserting that those who convert from Hinduism to other religions should not get the benefits of reservation.

‘Infiltrators causing population imbalance’

The RSS leader directed his criticism towards migrants from Bangladesh, whom he accused of infiltrating the border and settling in Bihar and the northeastern states. He said while there have been attempts to thwart such migrations in these states, the population of migrants has swelled in other states.

Also read: Explained: Behind the ‘bonhomie’ between RSS and Muslim leaders

Hosabale claimed that conversion and migration have led to a decline in the population of Hindus and created social and economic tensions. He said such a trend of “population imbalance” often culminates into the partition of countries and India has already witnessed the same in the past.

He also attributed the decline to the number of members in a family to the alleged population imbalance.

“The average size of a family has come down from 3.4 to 1.9 members in the last 10-20 years. Due to this, in the coming years, we will see the population of youth will decrease and the population of the older people will be on rise,” he said.

He said that if the trend continues, the future will see more elderly people than youngsters, asserting that a balance in population is required to maintain India as a “yuva desh.”

Population policy, anti-conversion laws

To prevent the “population imbalance,” the RSS leader called for a population policy which could be uniformly applied to everyone.

Hosabele also stressed the need to strictly implement existing anti-conversion laws.

“Still, conversions are taking place. Laws (anti-conversion) exist in various places and these laws should be enforced. Earlier, such laws were introduced in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Also read: Action against communal forces: RSS should be banned first, says CPI(M)

He said the efforts of RSS cadres and organisations such as Arya Samaj and Dharma Jagran Vibhag, in preventing conversions has led to an impressive number of ‘Ghar Wapsis’ (the sangh’s attempts to re-convert people who had converted from Hinduism to Islam or Christianity).

RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat in an address during the organisation’s Dussehra rally earlier this month had flagged an alleged “imbalance” in India’s demographics, and said that the country needs a comprehensive population control policy which should be applicable to all social groups.

Also read: Mohan Bhagwat is ‘rashtra pita’, says Imam after meeting RSS chief