Amit Shah’s Controversial Claims: Infiltration, Not Fertility Rates, Behind India’s Muslim Growth.

‘Muslim population in India rising due to infiltration’: Amit Shah explains, says our country will become a dharamshala if it is not checked.

Muslim population in India increased by 24.6% during this period, while the Hindu population decreased by 4.5%.

Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | Oct 11, 2025:: In a controversial speech on October 10, 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attributed the growth of India’s Muslim population to “large-scale infiltration” from neighboring countries, rather than fertility rates. Delivering the Narendra Mohan Memorial Lecture on “Infiltration, Demographic Change, and Democracy,” in Delhi on Friday (10.10.2025) Shah cited census data from 1951 to 2011 to support his claims.

According to Shah, the Muslim population in India increased by 24.6% during this period, while the Hindu population decreased by 4.5%. Shah emphasized that this disparity was not due to fertility rates but rather infiltration from countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“On the other hand, the increase in the Muslim population in India is not due to the fertility rate but rather due to the large-scale infiltration of Muslim individuals into the country,” says Shah according to an official release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

The speech of the Union Home Minister is highly controversial, as he is trying to deny the facts about the high population growth of Muslims due to their tendency to reject family planning in order to increase their numbers through giving birth to more children at an all-time high.

The Government’s Stance: Detect, Delete, and Deport

Shah outlined the government’s approach to addressing infiltration, which includes identifying and deporting those who have entered the country illegally. “We have adopted the three principles of Detect, Delete, and Deport since 1951,” Shah said, adding that the government would ensure that infiltrators are removed from voter lists and deported to their countries of origin.

Shah asserts emphatically, “It’s our duty to prevent anyone from entering the country illegally, for India is a nation, not a dharamshala.”

Defending the Citizenship Amendment Act

Shah also defended the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), stating that it was designed to grant citizenship to refugees, not deprive anyone of their citizenship. “CAA is not about taking away anyone’s citizenship but is a program designed to grant citizenship… its sole purpose is to provide citizenship to refugees,” he said.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that we must also pay attention to the situation in our neighboring countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said that in 1951, the Hindu population in Pakistan was 13 percent, while other minorities accounted for 1.2 percent. Now, the Hindu population in Pakistan has dwindled to just 1.73 percent. He further said that in Bangladesh, the Hindu population was 22 percent in 1951, which has now decreased to 7.9 percent. Shri Shah added that in Afghanistan, there were 2.2 lakh Hindus and Sikhs at that time, which has now reduced to just 150. Shah tried to highlight the benifits od CAA for the persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 (extended to December 31, 2024 later), and have faced religious persecution.  

Here, Shah stoked another controversy by saying, ‘the decline in the Hindu population in these countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan) was not due to conversion.’ Everybody knows the level of persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan and how the marginalized Hindu minorities are forced to become victims of Islamic conversion. But Shah tried to ignore these brutal facts.

Controversy and Criticism

Shah’s comments have sparked controversy, with critics labeling his claims as Islamophobic and divisive. Demographers argue that demographic change is a complex phenomenon influenced by fertility, migration, urbanization, and economic factors, not just infiltration.

However, Shah’s theories on Muslim population growth – beyond the high birth rate among Muslims compared to Hindus – and his dismissal of Islamic conversion of Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan .^{[01][02][03][04][05][06][07][08][09][10][11][12]}as a determining factor have created confusion about whether the present Union Government is genuinely serious about controlling the Muslim population in India and stopping Islamic persecution of Hindus in neighboring countries.

A Closer Look at the Data

The census data cited by Shah shows a decline in the Hindu population from 84% to 79% between 1951 and 2011, while the Muslim population rose from 9.8% to 14.2%. While Shah attributes this shift to infiltration, others argue that demographic trends are influenced by a range of factors, including fertility rates, education, and economic opportunities.

In his speech Shah mentioned the numbers of refugees as 2.5 to 3 crore as PIB reports, ” Shri Amit Shah stated that the mistakes made by Indians from 1951 to 2019 were, in a way, atoned for by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Shri Shah highlighted that for several generations, refugees could not buy property in their names, were denied government jobs, could not access government rations, and were not treated in government hospitals. The Home Minister questioned, what was the fault of these 2.5 to 3 crore people?”

But Shah didn’t specify the number of Muslim infiltrators in India in a clear way. By the way, the Modi government hasn’t published the Census report for India 2021, creating a rare suspension and severe ambiguity.

Demographic Changes Mission

In his speech, Shri Amit Shah said that a large number of infiltrators cannot ensure the security of any country. They are affecting both the politics and law-and-order situation in border areas. He added that in urban areas, infiltrators are depriving India’s poor laborers of their rights. Shri Shah said that on August 15, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort the formation of a high-powered mission to study demographic changes. He explained that this Demographic Changes Mission will scientifically evaluate the demographic shifts caused by infiltrators. Moreover, it will study the impact on religious and social life, analyze the potential causes of demographic changes, examine patterns of abnormal settlement and their long-term effects on society, and assess the burden on border management, ultimately submitting a report to the Government of India.

On Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

Shah also emphasized the importance of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, stating it’s a constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections. Shah asserted that infiltrators shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the country’s political decision-making process, as it pollutes the spirit of the Constitution. He urged citizens to support the SIR exercise, which aims to clean the voter list by detecting and deleting names of non-citizens. Shah criticized opposition parties for opposing the exercise, claiming they see vote banks in infiltrators.

The Way Forward

The debate surrounding Shah’s comments highlights the need for a nuanced discussion on demographic change, immigration, and citizenship in India. As the government continues to grapple with these complex issues, it remains to be seen how the country’s demographic landscape will evolve in the coming years amidst the challenges of Population Jihad and Infiltration Jihad.
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Source: Press Information Bureau & PTI.