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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday attributed the rise in India’s Muslim population to “infiltration” from Pakistan and Bangladesh, asserting that the right to vote should be restricted to citizens.

Speaking at the Narendra Mohan Memorial Lecture and Literary Creation Awards in Delhi, Shah claimed that demographic changes in the country were not driven by fertility rates. “The Muslim population has increased by 24.6 per cent, whereas the Hindu population has decreased by 4.5 per cent. This has happened because of infiltration, not fertility,” he said, according to PTI.

Shah drew a historical context, linking the demographic shift to the partition of India. “Pakistan was created on both sides of India. From those areas, infiltration took place, resulting in these changes in population,” he said.

#WATCH | Addressing the 'Narendra Mohan Smriti Lecture' and 'Sahitya Srishti Samman' ceremony organised by Dainik Jagran, Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, "Today, infiltration, demographic change, and democracy; I want to say without hesitation that until every Indian… pic.twitter.com/nmEH5EMZT6

— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2025

Clarifying the distinction between refugees and infiltrators, Shah added, “All the Hindu population that decreased in Pakistan and Bangladesh, many took refuge in India. But the increase in the Muslim population in India was due to infiltration, not fertility.”

On the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SSR) exercise by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar, the minister emphasised that no one should interfere in the process, calling it a constitutional responsibility. He added, “We will follow the detect, delete and deport process for infiltrators. The right to vote should be available only to those who are citizens of this country.”

Shah also warned against offering political protection to infiltrators, stressing, “If anyone in the world is allowed to come here unchecked, our country will become a dharamshala.”