Panel on ‘artificial’ demographic change may consider need for law to address problem: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaks during the inauguration and foundation stone laying of various development works in Gandhinagar on Thursday. | Photo credit: ANI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (May 28, 2026) said the Centre’s high-level committee on “artificial” demographic changes due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes will also consider whether a law is needed to address the issue.

If the illegal migrants had left on their own, the BJP government in West Bengal would have refrained from taking legal action against them and would have facilitated their departure, Mr. Shah said here.

At a rally after the inauguration and laying of the foundation stone for development projects worth ₹340 crore, Mr. Shah said the committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar would submit its report within a year.

A notification issued by the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday setting up the High Level Committee on Demographic Change (HLCDC) said that “large-scale problems” have arisen from demographic changes due to illegal immigration.

Corrective Actions

“The high-powered committee will look into the causes of the artificial demographic shifts that have taken place across the country. It will discuss the remedial measures required and if any specific legislation needs to be enacted, it will also look into that demand,” the Home Secretary said.

The Center was determined to identify and drive out every ghuspaithiya or infiltrator from the country, Mr. Shah said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided to set up a committee on demographic change with this objective in mind.

The home minister criticized the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal over infiltration from Bangladesh and claimed that the situation had changed after the assembly elections in the state (which brought the BJP to power).

“The Bharatiya Janata Party now controls 80% of the land mass and Didi (Mamata Banerjee) suffered a complete defeat in the recently concluded Bengal elections,” he said.

From Uttarakhand to Gangasagar, along the entire course of the Ganga, the BJP has succeeded in “unfurling the saffron flag”, Mr Shah said.

Ahead of the West Bengal elections, the BJP had pledged to start fencing work along the Bangladesh border within days of coming to power, he noted.

Praising West Bengal Chief Minister Suvenda Adhikari, Mr. Shah said that 600 hectares of land had been handed over to the Border Security Force for fencing within seven days (of assuming power).

“In addition, 121 hectares of land in the Chicken’s Neck Corridor has been transferred to the Government of India,” he said.

The Chicken’s Neck, also known as the Siliguri Corridor, is a narrow stretch of land connecting the northeastern states to the rest of India.

Citing media reports, Mr. Shah said that the infiltrators themselves had started returning to Bangladesh on their own.

“Whereas under Mamata’s regime, infiltrations were happening on a daily basis,” he claimed.

Although detention centers were set up in West Bengal, the government wanted the illegal immigrants to voluntarily return to their places of origin, the Union minister said.

“If they leave of their own free will, the Bengal government will not only refrain from taking any legal action against them but will also extend assistance to facilitate their departure,” Mr Shah said, expressing hope that a large number of people would leave voluntarily before the identification drive begins.

Published – 28 May 2026 21:29 IST