Three Indian leaders issue suggestions on how many children women should have to preserve Hindu population

By Alison Lesley --
19 Jan 2015 --

Indian Parliament member Sakshi Maharaj and Sadhvi Prachi insist women have four children, while Shankaracharya Vasudevanand Saraswati suggests ten children.

While the Prime Minister of India has done his utmost to stray from the controversial religious upheaval that has been recently shaking the nation, a statement from a member of the Indian Parliament has many people upset. With the nation already the most densely populated nation on the planet, Sakshi Maharaj, a proponent of expanding a hard-line Hinduism has stated that all women should bear four children.This troublesome attitude and other comments that were said alongside it have many people in India and in neighboring areas concerned.

The Needs Of The Many

Sakshi Maharaj has stated that the reason that women should bear four children is to protect Hinduism. He feels that there is a present danger that is threatening the way of Hindu life that he would like to uphold. Specifically, he has said that the children should be raised so that they can be given to religious leaders to be instilled with the proper ideology, and then another child that can be sent to the military to protect the nation in the future. In holding with tradition, the other two children will work to care for the family. In his mind, there is going to be a time when the ghar wapsi program and the border problems will have to be dealt with through force.

He went on to praise the efforts of the ghar wapsi program which has reconverted many individuals to Hinduism through government efforts.

BREAKING | All Hindu women must produce at least four children to protect religion, says BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj pic.twitter.com/IisKqV0EDR
— CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) January 7, 2015

Why This Is Raising Alarms

Aside from the fact that many people are crying foul over the concept of severe overpopulation, another element of the story remains. He is not only talking about creating new Hindus that follow a very specific creed, he is advocating having more people specifically to outnumber other religious elements in India and neighboring countries. This has many wondering if there will be a continued effort to crack down on religious elements that do not conform to the Hinduism that he is talking about. After all, he is hoping to introduce a bill into parliament that will punish cow slaughter and conversion efforts away from Hinduism with death. Whether or not this potential bill would ever pass is still up for debate, but the fact that it is being considered by an individual that want to impose such a law is troublesome.

Sakshi Maharaj is no stranger to outlandish claims and statements. In the past he has claimed that the man who killed Mahatma Ghandi, Nathuram Godse, was in fact, a patriot. Even though he is still only a single parliament member, he has gotten a great deal of attention for his views which can only be described as problematic.

Additional Indian leaders share their recommendations

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi supports Maharaj’s statement on each couple needing to have four children. She also describes the role each child shall play:

“One of them will protect the nation’s border; one should be gifted to Hindu saints; third should be given to VHP so that he can work for the society, and the last one will work for the protection of Indian culture.”

Just yesterday, Shankaracharya Vasudevanand Saraswati upped the ante, suggesting couples have ten children in order to save the Hindu race. In addition to this bold statement, another was made: he urged for laws to be enacted to dissuade conversion to other religions.