Overview
- Delivering the Narendra Mohan Memorial Lecture, Shah framed infiltration as a threat to democracy and security, distinguishing refugees fleeing religious persecution from illegal entrants seeking economic or other reasons.
- He endorsed the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls, arguing that only citizens should be on lists and alleging the Opposition is politicising the clean‑up.
- Reiterating the BJP’s “detect, delete and deport” approach, he said enforcement needs state cooperation and noted fencing constraints in difficult border terrain.
- Citing census data from 1951 to 2011, he linked regional rises in Muslim population shares to illegal migration, pointing to Assam and districts in West Bengal as examples, while contrasting them with Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- Shah defended the Citizenship Amendment Act as redress for persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and referenced the high‑powered Demographic Mission to study illegal migration’s social and security impacts.