The population of Muslims in the country is not increasing, and it is Muslims who are using condoms the most, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has said, countering RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's recent remarks on population control.
Mr Owaisi tweeted a video of a gathering in Hyderabad. In the video, the chief of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is heard saying, "The population of Muslims is not increasing, instead it is declining. The spacing between children is also increasing among Muslims. Who is using condoms the most? We are. Mohan Bhagwat won't speak about this," Mr Owaisi said.
His remarks came after Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the BJP's ideological mentor RSS, said that India needs a policy for population control "equally applicable to all". In his remarks at the annual Dussehra rally of the RSS, he also cited "religion-based imbalance" in population and "forced conversions".
"Along with population control, balance on religious basis is also a matter of importance which cannot be ignored," he stressed, weeks after he met some Muslim leaders in what was seen as an outreach by the RSS.
Mr Owaisi cited the National Family Health Survey - 5 and said the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of Muslims has seen the highest drop.
The AIMIM leader dared the RSS chief to talk about missing Hindu girl children. "I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat. Lakhs of daughters of our Hindu sisters are missing from 2000 to 2019. This is the government's figure. But he won't talk about it," he said.
"Remember, a Hindu Rashtra is against Indian nationalism. It is against India," Mr Owaisi said.
The AIMIM leader also took a swipe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her recent remark in which she gave an exoneration of sorts to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of businessmen under the radar of investigative agencies fleeing the country.
"We go to Bengal, we become B-team (of BJP). Modi is good, Owaisi is bad," he said.
Mr Owaisi said that wherever the BJP is in power, it seems the Muslims are "living in an open prison".
He questioned the Prime Minister's silence on the recent incident in Gujarat in which men accused of throwing stones at a garba gathering were tied to a pole and flogged in public. "Is this our dignity? Mr Prime Minister, you are from Gujarat, you were the Chief Minister and in your state, Muslims are tied to a pole and flogged and the crowd whistles. Please shut the courts, dismiss police force," he said.
Responding to Mr Owaisi's remarks, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said the AIMIM chief has become a "bayan purush" and wants to create a controversy. "Asaduddin Owaisi has become 'Bayan Purush', he wants to create a controversy. A low population is beneficial for society," said Mr Hussain. "The more the population grows, the bigger the problem it creates. That should be kept in mind," he added.
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