On Friday (29th August), AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi attempted to portray RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in a negative light for asking Indian families to have 3 children.

Owaisi pulled out the ‘feminist card’ and claimed that the RSS chief’s statement somehow put an extra burden on Indian women and hampered their free will to make decisions.

The newly christened champion of ‘women empowerment’, Asaduddin Owaisi, brazened out, “Who are you to enter into people’s family lives? Why are you trying to put a burden on Indian woman who might have their own different priorities according to their life?“

VIDEO | AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) said, “Since its inception, the RSS has continuously spread the false notion that the growing Muslim population will overtake the Hindu population. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of Muslims has declined, and the rate of decline… pic.twitter.com/FzypjxovV6

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 29, 2025

Interestingly, the AIMIM leader and his party MP Imtiyaz Jaleel were the only people who voted against the landmark women reservation bill in 2023.

Asaduddin Owaisi was somehow aghast that Mohan Bhagwat recommended Indian families to have 3 children.

“BJP and RSS both have failed in providing employment to the youth of this country. You are not talking about that. And now you are saying, okay, give birth to three children,” he alleged.

If Hindus & Muslims have “same DNA” then where’s the “imbalance”? There’s no need for population control as we’ve already achieved replacement rate. The worry is an ageing population & unemployed youth who cannot support elderly. Muslims have sharpest decline in fertility rate2/2

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 5, 2022

However, in October 2022, the same Asaduddin Owaisi was encouraging people to have more children. He had rubbished the idea of ‘population control’, claiming that we have achiveved replacement rate.

“There’s no need for population control as we’ve already achieved replacement rate. The worry is an ageing population & unemployed youth who cannot support elderly,” he had claimed.

Given that only biological women can produce kids, ‘feminist’ Owaisi, through his tweet, implied that women should produce more children as there is no need for population control.

We should not repeat the mistakes of China. I will not support any law that mandates 2 children only policy as it would not benefit the country. India’s Total Fertility Rate is declining, by 2030 it will stabilize: AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi on population issue pic.twitter.com/b9EJ1V26zX

— ANI (@ANI) July 14, 2022

He has gone on record to oppose the population control bill tooth and nail. In June 2022, the AIMIM leader had announced, “I will not support any law that mandates two children only policy as it would not benefit the country.“

Other prominent Muslim leaders, such as AIDUF chief Badaruddin Ajmal, had even declared in 2019, “Muslims will continue to have children and not listen to anyone.”

Coincidentally, Asaduddin Owaisi and his party did not object to this statement as ‘anti-women’. His cherry-picking and selective outrage are now directed towards a Hindu leader who recommended ‘all’ to have 3 kids.

On Thursday (28th August), RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat discussed the issue of population control. He had said that the government recommends 2.1 kids per family (while accounting for the national average).

#WATCH | RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat says, “India’s policy on population suggests 2.1 children, which means three children in a family. Every citizen should see that there should be three children in his/her family…” pic.twitter.com/1GR2Gv3oWl

— ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2025

“In mathematics, 2.1 can be rounded to 2. However, human life cannot be 2.1. We cannot have a 0.1 kid. So, 2.1 means 3 kids. Every citizen of this country should see to it that they have 3 children in their family,” the RSS chief stated.

Mohan Bhagwat emphasised, “I am saying this from the perspective of the nation. Population can be an asset as well as a concern because we need to feed these children as well. This is why there is a population policy in place. The idea is to keep population under control as well as adequate.”

“We should not go beyond 3 kids. Because it can then become difficult to raise them properly. This is something everyone should accept. Yes it is true that fertility rate is declining for all. Hindus had low fertlity rate which had further reduced now. Other groups had a high fertility rate, and hence their decline looks drastic,” he added.

But Asaduddin Owaisi harped on the ‘feminist rhetoric’ that Mohan Bhagwat somehow stripped women of their choice to make decisions about having children.

The AIMIM leader, who voted against giving 33% reservation to women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, had himself claimed that there was no need for population control. He had in fact encouraged Muslims to have more children by claiming that their fertility rate is declining and thus ‘burdened’ Muslim women in the process.

Muslim fertility rate is 2.36 and Hindus @ 1.94, Pls correct your data points Mr Owaisi. Resources are limited , hence we need population control.#population #MohanBhagwat #BJP #AIMIM #Vijayadashami #sanjayrana #NDTV #NYTimes @BBCHindi #Dussehra #BharatJodoWithSoniaGandhi pic.twitter.com/34rIQ7QE7T

— Sanjay Rana (@SannjayRanna) October 6, 2022

The new champion of ‘women empowerment’ also attempted to present data to suggest that the Muslim population increase in India is a myth.

It is a known fact that the Hindu population has declined from 84.1% in 1951 to 79.8% in 2011. During the same period, the Muslim population increased from 9.8% to 14.2%.

This happened due to a higher fertility rate (Muslims producing more children than Hindus on average) among adherents of Islam.

Asaduddin Owaisi misled about the Muslim population increase in India and thereafter attempted to villainise Mohan Bhagwat as ‘anti-women.’ The AIMIM leader conveniently resorted to doublespeak on population by first opposing the proposed population control bill and then objecting to Mohan Bhagwat’s statement on Indian families having 3 kids.

While it is not uncommon for politicians to display hypocrisy on social issues, it was indeed surprising to see Asaduddin Owaisi (of all people) play the ‘feminist card’ with a dismal track record.