- The decrease in fertility rates raises demographic risks.
- Bhagwat asks for a controlled, but sufficient ‘population balance.
- The RSS leader asks Muslims to overcome fear, create mutual confidence.
Nueva Delhi: The head of the powerful Hindu nationalist of India, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said that Indian families must have three children each, warning about the long -term risks of the current tendency of the decrease in birth rates.
With 1.46 billion, India is the most populous nation in the world, but the total fertility rate has decreased to less than two children per woman, according to the 2025 report of the United Nations Population Fund, since economic growth accelerates the impulse.
Mohan Bhagwat, head of the RSS who is the ideological father of the Bharatiya Janata party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the population must remain “controlled, but sufficient.”
Speaking at a conference to mark the 100 years of the RSS Foundation on Thursday, Bhagwat suggested that “in the national interest, each family should have three children and limit themselves to that.”
His call to larger families reflects anxiety between nationalist leaders and some regional politicians on long -term demographic stability, national capacity and cultural identity.
For years, Hindu Hard Line groups have indicated higher birth rates among minority groups such as Muslims as a cause of concern, although data show that Indian Muslims are also having fewer children than in the past.
Bhagwat also said that birth rates were decreasing among religious groups.
Although the RSS is officially described as a cultural organization that promotes Hindu values, exerts enormous influence through its vast network of affiliates and millions of base volunteers.
Many of Modi’s superior ministers, including Prime Minister, have been members of the RSS for a long time.
Analysts say that BJP’s political priorities, from cultural and educational reform to citizenship laws, are often echoed on the positions defended by the RSS, which makes the organization one of the most powerful civil society groups in the world.
Bhagwat rejected criticism that the RSS opposed Muslims, which represent about 14% of the population of India, and other minorities that say the organization saw them as Indians.
“Our ancestors and culture are the same. Adoration practices may differ, but our identity is one. Change religion does not change the community,” he said.
“Mutual trust must be built on all sides. Muslims must overcome the fear that joining their hands with other erase their religion.”
