Overview

• Delivering a lecture in New Delhi, the home minister said Muslim population growth stems from cross-border infiltration from Pakistan and Bangladesh, not fertility, citing census trends from 1951 to 2011.
• He quoted figures saying Muslim population growth was 24.6% and that the Hindu population decreased by 4.5%, and he argued that these shifts reflect illegal entry rather than demographic behavior.
• He pledged a policy to “detect, delete, and deport” alleged non‑citizens, including removing names from electoral rolls and pursuing deportations.
• Defending the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter lists as a national exercise, he referenced ongoing legal oversight after the Supreme Court directed acceptance of Aadhaar in Bihar, as reports documented exclusions and forced removals in BJP-ruled states.
• He differentiated refugees from infiltrators and invoked the Citizenship Amendment Act as a vehicle for granting citizenship to persecuted minorities, while Congress’s Pawan Khera accused him of polarising politics and contrasted Congress-era deportation totals with lower figures under the BJP, also noting a deleted post on X.