PM Modi announces high-powered demography mission: 'Won’t hand over country to infiltrators'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the government has decided to launch a high-powered demography mission to deal with the challenges resulting from infiltration.

During his Independence Day address, PM Modi cautioned against the dangers of demographic change, noting that illegal infiltrators enter India without permission and encroach on the property of rightful citizens.

“I would like to alert the nation about a concern, a challenge. Under a well-thought-out conspiracy, country's demography is being changed, seeds of a new crisis are being sown. Infiltrators are snatching away the livelihood of the youth of my country. Infiltrators are targeting the sisters and daughters of my country,” the Prime Minister said, adding that it will not be tolerated under any circumstance.

“These infiltrators mislead innocent tribals and capture their land. The country will not tolerate this. When demographic change takes place in border areas, it causes a threat to national security. No country can hand it over to infiltrators. So, I would like to say that we have decided to start a 'high-power demography mission',” he added further.

Illegal immigration is emerging as a growing concern in the country, with authorities conducting crackdowns and identity checks across cities to trace foreign nationals -- particularly from Bangladesh -- posing as Indian citizens.

Infiltration was, in fact, a key campaign plank for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The ongoing crackdown has faced sharp criticism from the opposition, particularly the Trinamool Congress, which claims that Bengali-speaking migrants are also being singled out.

PM Modi delivered a 103-minute Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the longest by any prime minister in India's history.

During his speech, he spoke on a number of topics from the recent Operation Sindoor, Pahalgam terror attack to the need for 'Aatmanirbhar' Bharat, infiltration challenge, among other subjects.