The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the 'unbridled' growth in Muslim population and exhorted Hindus to increase their numbers to 'counter' it.

Making a new addition to its long list of Hindu-centric demands, the VHP Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal, which met in Haridwar, also demanded that the Bhagwad Gita be declared a national book.

"Any society with a bigger population commands greater influence in the world. It is a myth that increased population increases unemployment...to counter the dangerous crisis posed by the Muslim population, we urge the Hindu society to
make constructive contribution towards increasing the population of the community," Swami Avdeshanand Giri, chief of
the influential Juna Akhara, told reporters.
 
He was reading out from a resolution on 'population imbalance' adopted on the second day of the VHP meeting.

The resolution pointed out that the 2001 census showed that the Hindu population had increased by 20 per cent as against the Muslim population growing by 36 per cent.

Alleging a deep-rooted conspiracy to change the country's demographic pattern, the resolution asked political parties to shed their appeasement policies and vote for a Uniform Civil Code.