During a Hindu conference held in Bewar, Mainpuri, to mark the centenary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), far-right monk Madhuram Sharan Shiva, leader of the armed monks’ group Shiva Shakti Akhada, alleged that the Hindu population was declining and those he termed “others” expanded and created “fifty, sixty, a hundred, two hundred countries.” He fearmongered about alleged demographic change, claimed that Hindus could not organise religious events in nine Indian states, accused “vidharmi” of stealing jobs, engaging in vandalism and troubling Hindus at festivals, and asserted that Hindu youth must protect Dharma. He also cited Keshav Baliram Hedgewar’s mother, claiming she wanted a son who would establish a Hindu Rashtra and erase Islam, which he described as the “darkness.”