Produce 10 kids before provoking Hindus: Kejriwal tells Mohan Bhagwat

New Delhi, Aug 22: Arvind Kejriwal today attacked Mohan Bhagwat for his suggestion that Hindu couples should have more children, asking the RSS chief to produce "10 kids" himself first and make sure they are "brought up well".

"Before provoking Hindus, Mohan Bhagwat should produce 10 babies himself and bring them up well," the Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister tweeted today.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which Bhagwat currently heads, encourages its members to be celibates.

Responding to a question at an event in Agra last weekend, Bhagwat had said, "Which law says that the population of Hindus should not rise? There is nothing like that. What is stopping them when population of others is rising? The issue is not related to the system. It is because the social environment is like this."

Bhagwat was speaking at a RSS-held programme where teachers from 11 west Uttar Pradesh districts participated. He made the statement after a participant there asked him to speak on the alleged decline in Hindu population.

The audience at the RSS event included university teachers, academics, and a large number teachers from schools in Agra and neighbouring districts.

Earlier today, BJP ally Shiv Sena also termed Bhagwat's comments on declining Hindu population as "outdated" and asked the Centre to implement uniform civil code to maintain "social and cultural balance".

"Mohan Bhagwat has tried to present outdated thoughts in a modern way. His remarks will not be accepted by progressive Hindu community. Also, PM Modi would not agree that increasing Hindu population is the right way to counter growing Muslim population," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said.

"The government is spending a lot of money on family planning. A rise in Muslim population will undoubtedly affect the social and cultural balance of the country, but asking Hindus to have more children is no solution to the problem. The only solution is to implement the uniform civil code to cap the population of all communities. If Hindus give birth to more children, problems like hunger, unemployment and inflation will only increase," the Sena said.

Sena also sought to know if Bhagwat was discreetly trying to back the idea of Hindus having more than one spouse to boost the population of the community.

The Congress has also attacked Bhagwat, saying "what else could be expected from him."

"Woh Dharm ki hi khaate hain. Woh aur kya baat karenge," (He banks on religion only, what else he can say)," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday.

"In every statement Bhagwat talks of dividing (society). He should have talked about employment, price rise but he didn't do so," Azad added.