Overview
- Speaking at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, during Rashtriya Ekta Diwas marking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s 150th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said infiltrators pose a big threat to the country’s unity and integrity.
- Modi urged citizens to take a pledge to remove all infiltrators from Bharat, asserting that decades of illegal entry have strained resources and altered local demographics.
- He accused previous governments of ignoring the problem for vote-bank politics and criticized opponents whom he said seek to grant rights to infiltrators despite risks to national cohesion.
- Recalling his August 15 announcement, he framed the Demography Mission as a decisive national response, with official sources indicating the initiative will assess long-term social and economic impacts in border regions.
- Media reports described the remarks as referring to migration from Bangladesh and the presence of Rohingya in parts of eastern and northeastern India, including Assam and West Bengal, and he also criticized Jawaharlal Nehru over Kashmir’s integration.