RSS chief calls for 'fertility rate' to be '3’, Owaisi quizzes 'will you pay people with more children'

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (AIMIM) supremo Asadudddin Owaisi got into a war of words over the fertility remark of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat who said that every parent needs to give birth to three children "for the society to survive.”

On Sunday (December 1), while speaking about the declining population of India, RSS chief Bhagwat said, "The decline in population is a matter of concern. Modern population science says that when the fertility rate of a society goes below 2.1, that society vanishes from the earth. The society gets destroyed even without any crisis. In this way, many languages and societies have disappeared. The population should not fall below 2.1."

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"Our country's population policy was decided in 1998 or 2002, and it also mentions that the population of a society should not be less than 2.1. We need more than two or three; this is what population science says. The number is important for the survival of society," he added while speaking at the Kathale Kul Sammelan in Nagpur.

Owaisi attacks Mohan Bhagwat over fertility remark

Slamming Bhagwat's remark, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi questioned if the RSS chief would give people with more children Rs 1,500 (approx. $17).

"I want to ask Mohan Bhagwat, what will he give people for giving birth to more children? Will he give ₹1,500 into the bank accounts of those who give birth to more children? Will he introduce a scheme for this?... When Mohan Bhagwat is trying to make someone close to him the CM, he might as well introduce a scheme for this," Owaisi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Watch: RSS Chief Slams Bangladesh Anti-India Wave

Meanwhile, Congress leader Tariq Anwar said, "The Sangh family seems confused. On one hand, BJP leaders allege that Muslims are having more children, that their population is increasing, and it should be stopped with a limit of two children. On the other hand, Mohan Bhagwat is saying that the population should not decrease because it is harmful to our civilisation and heritage."

BJP defends Bhagwat's remark

Union Minister Giriraj Singh reacted to the criticism of Owaisi on Bhagwat's fertility remark. 

"Owaisi is such a person - when the platinum jubilee of the constitution was being celebrated, he was absent during the national anthem and national song. He always talks about Muslims - even he was talking about Palestine, but why he is silent on the issues of Hindus in Bangladesh? Why Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and others are silent on this issue," asked Singh, while speaking to ANI.

(With inputs from agencies)