Haridwar-based guru Giriji Maharaj is attending the VHP’s Dharma Sansad in Udupi.

Stoking a controversy, Govindadev Giriji Maharaj, a Haridwar-based spiritual guru, said on Saturday that Hindus should have a minimum of four children “to set right the demographic imbalance”, till the government enforced a Uniform Civil Code. He was speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) three-day Dharma Sansad Udupi.

Swami Satyamitranand Giriji Maharaj. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Later in the day, Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Pejawar Math said that sants, sadhus, seers, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the VHP had done more to solve the problem of untouchability than the “so-called intellectuals and those who claim to follow secularism”.

Pravin Togadia, international working president of the VHP, said the Sansad had come up with a plan to eradicate untouchability. “In every village, temples, water from wells, and crematoriums should be open to all, including Dalits, and members of the Hindu community should make friends with Dalit families,” he said. Hindus should invite Dalit women and wash their feet as a ritual, he said, and help in their marriage. They should help Dalits pursue education, get jobs, and start businesses, he added.