India Forms High-Level Committee to Address Demographic Changes

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state has been witnessing demographic change for a long time, and welcomed the Centre's announcement of a committee to study the phenomenon across the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Centre has constituted a high-level committee under retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar to assess demographic changes across India due to ''illegal immigration and other unnatural causes''.

Reacting to this, Sarma, in a post on X, said, ''Illegal infiltration and unusual demographic change are not merely the concern of any single state but a serious issue linked to India's national security, cultural identity, and social balance.''

The formation of the high-level committee to address this challenge is a ''visionary and decisive step'', he added.

''Under the proactive leadership of the honorable @AmitShah ji, this committee will study the unusual demographic changes occurring across the country and present concrete solutions. This will further strengthen national security and enable serious addressing of the concerns of border areas,'' Sarma said.

He said that Assam has been facing the challenge of demographic change for a long time.

''This initiative will prove extremely important for protecting our cultural heritage, tribal society, and the rights of indigenous people. We are confident that this committee will play a significant role in securing India's future,'' the CM said.

Announcing the committee, Shah said infiltration and other reasons are causing ''unnatural'' demographic change, which poses a significant challenge to the present and future of any nation.

Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day speech last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a high-powered demographic mission to tackle the problem.

Modi had said there was a ''pre-meditated conspiracy'' to change the country's demography through illegal infiltration.

He had warned that when demographic changes take place, especially in the border areas, they create a national security crisis.

(With inputs from agencies.)