Hindutva hatemongers had a free run on Thursday as they sought for more curbs on India's Muslims, accusing them of conducting some kind of "population jihad" - an attack triggered by the recent Census report on religion - and even questioning their minority status.

In an article titled "Time to Act Before Too Late" published in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) mouthpiece, Organiser, Vishwa Hindu Parishad working president Pravin Togadia said, "If Muslims give birth to more than two children, it should be made a punishable criminal offence and ration, jobs and educational facilities should be then stopped for them."

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"A serious extinction seems to be on the anvil. And it is of Hindus. There is method in the systematic growth of Muslims...Now, if we do not stand up against the 'Population Jihad', Bharat will soon be an Islamic state. It is also must to strictly implement two children norm irrespective of the political pressures...The latest Census figures are a wake-up call," Togadia added.

The statement came even as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is holding a three-day appraisal meeting in New Delhi on the performance of the Narendra Modi government as it completes 15 months in power. The RSS is the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP and heads a broad network of right-wing organisations in India and abroad.

Togadia was joined by controversial BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, Sakshi Maharaj, who said the Muslims in India should be stripped of their minority status. "They are no longer a minority. They say they are over a quarter of the population. In Kashmir, they are more than 90 per cent. There are many districts where they are 70, 80, 90 per cent, so what is minority about them," Maharaj, known for similar remarks in the past, said.

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Their statements came in the wake of the latest Census figures which showed that the share of the Muslims in the population had marginally grown while that of the Hindus had fallen, provoking extreme reactions from right-wing leaders. Even the RSS did not deny there was a population problem.

"I don't agree with the kind of statement made by Pravin Togadia, but the population problem is real and should not be looked from a religious prism. There is a need to evolve certain codes...may be look at the Uniform Civil Code," RSS leader Sheshadri Chari told India Today.