Amit Shah’s Statement on Demographic Changes Intended to Spread Hatred, Says Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah made his remarks on demographic changes in border states with the intention of spreading hatred in society.

Pinarayi was referring to Shah's statement at a recent conference of Superintendents of Police from border districts, where the Union Home Minister reportedly said that border states were witnessing abnormal demographic changes due to illegal infiltration. The meeting was held in the context of the Centre's formation of a committee on demographic changes.

According to Pinarayi, initiatives such as the demographic changes committee are part of a planned effort by the Sangh Parivar to divide and "other" the people living in border regions such as Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.

He further said the formation of the committee should be viewed against the backdrop of widespread public protests across the country against the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He stated that the Union government was attempting to use the committee to establish a narrative of abnormal population growth in border states and thereby justify measures such as the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Pinarayi added that the narrative of illegal infiltration was being deliberately promoted to serve the interests of the Sangh Parivar. He claimed that raising concerns about changes in the demographic composition of border districts was part of a calculated effort to cast suspicion on a particular community.

He further alleged that just as the CAA was intended to exclude Muslim minorities, the Ministry of Home Affairs was pursuing the same objective through the demographic changes committee. Pinarayi called on secular sections of society to unite against what he described as attempts to sow divisions in the country.