Muslim population rising in India due to 'infiltration' from Bangladesh, Pakistan: Amit Shah

Indian Union Home Minister Amit Shah said yesterday (10 October) that the population of Muslims is increasing in the country because of "infiltration from Pakistan and Bangladesh."

Speaking at an event in Delhi, Shah said that the voting rights in the country "should only be available to citizens."

"The Muslim population has increased by 24.6%, whereas the Hindu population has decreased by 4.5%. I am telling you this because it hasn't happened because of the fertility rate. It has happened because of infiltration," Shah was quoted by PTI as saying.

Emphasising that the partition of India happened due to religion, Shah said that Pakistan was created on both sides of India, and from those sides, infiltration happened, which resulted in such a change in population.

"I am going to tell you the difference between an infiltrator and a refugee. All the Hindu population that decreased in Pakistan and Bangladesh, many of them took refuge in India. And the Muslim population that increased in India wasn't due to fertility, it was because many Muslims infiltrated into the country," the home minister added.

Shah went on to say that the inclusion of "infiltrators in the voters' list" pollutes the spirit of the Constitution and asserted that "voting rights should only be available to the citizens of the country."

Amit Shah says 'SIR is a national issue'

Shah said infiltration and the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should not be viewed from a political angle, emphasising that they are national issues.

Shah said the Congress has gone into a "denial mode" on the issue of the SIR, adding that the exercise also took place during the party's government.

"The opposition is opposabilities exercise because their vote banks are getting cut...It is EC's constitutional responsibility to clean the voters' list. You can go to court if you have any issues," he said.

He said that a time will come when the opposition will also not be spared.

He said, "Free and fair elections cannot take place unless the voter list is according to the voters' definition, which is being an Indian citizen and attaining the eligible age."