'Infiltration a major challenge': Amit Shah says panel on 'unnatural demographic change' set up

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Centre has constituted a high-level committee to examine demographic changes in the country due to “illegal immigration and other unnatural causes”.

In a post on X, Shah said, “unnatural demographic change due to infiltration and other reasons poses a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation.”



He said the committee was formed following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on August 15, 2025, regarding the creation of a “high-level committee on demographic change”.

Committee to be headed by retired judge

According to Shah, the panel will be chaired by retired judge justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and will include census commissioner, former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and economist Dr Shamika Ravi as members.

The joint secretary (foreigners-I) in the ministry of home affairs will serve as the member secretary of the committee.

Shah said the panel would conduct a “comprehensive assessment” of demographic changes taking place across India because of illegal immigration and other “unnatural causes”.

He added that the committee would analyse “patterns of abnormal population shifts at the levels of religious and social communities” and recommend a “structured and time-bound solution”.

Shah links issue to national security

In his X post, Shah described demographic change as a “serious issue” linked to sovereignty, national security and law and order.

He also said the issue has implications for “profound shifts in social structures” and the “preservation of tribal societies”.

The announcement comes months after PM Modi, during his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort, warned about what he described as a “premeditated conspiracy” to alter India’s demography through illegal infiltration.

PM Modi had announced ‘demographic mission’

PM Modi had announced a “high-powered demographic mission” on August 15, 2025, saying that “ghuspaithiyas” or infiltrators were creating a “new crisis” for the country.

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“These ghuspaithiyas are snatching the bread and butter of our youth. These ghuspaithiyas are targeting our country’s daughters and sisters. This will not be tolerated,” PM Modi had said from the Red Fort.

The Prime Minister had also linked demographic changes to national security and social stability, saying, “No nation in the world can hand over itself to ghuspaithiyas, then how can we hand over Bharat to them?”.

The newly constituted panel is expected to examine the issue and submit recommendations within a defined timeframe.