At a Hindu Sant Samman event, far-right monk Madhuram Sharan Shiva, leader of the armed monks’ group Shiva Shakti Akhada, delivered a speech asserting that only if Hindu religion survives, the nation will survive as a response to those who speak of “First Nation.” He claimed that Hindus have disappeared from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh—accusing those who left or converted of being “dhongi” (hypocrites) who abandoned their faith to embrace Christianity or Islam. Madhuram Shiva further alleged that a similar “decline” is occurring within India, claiming Hindus now make up a very small percentage of the population in around nine Indian states. He further accused Christian missionaries and Islamic groups of conspiring to divide and weaken Hindu society, equating both communities to “rakshas” (demons).