OPINION | Decades-Old RSS Warning: Demographic imbalance now a critical concern

It appears that the debate over India’s changing religious demography has now returned to the national stage.

(RSSFACTS is a column that demystifies the functioning, organisational structure and ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.)

The issue of changing religious demography due to illegal migration in India has resurfaced in our public discourse. The debate on this issue was partially initiated in the late 1970s and 1980s when an agitation was launched in Assam to counter the threats posed by massive illegal migration of Muslim Bangladeshis across the border.

However, the real nationwide debate about changes in India’s religious demography began after the 2001 census, when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) flagged the issue. In an official resolution passed in 2004, the RSS laid the foundation for the debate that is now resurfacing at the political level.

The 2004 RSS resolution, titled ‘Demographic Threats’, highlighted: “In six districts of Assam and three districts of Bengal, which are adjacent to Bangladesh, Hindus have already become a minority. Additionally, in four districts of Assam and seven districts of Bengal, they are on the verge of becoming a minority.”

The RSS argued that this was happening because of infiltration from across the Bangladesh border. It emphasised that the IMDT Act in Assam, instead of preventing this infiltration, was acting as a catalyst for it.

“In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, all the districts on the border of Nepal show very high Muslim density, ranging from 20 to 68 percent, thus creating a 'corridor' of high Muslim presence from Bangladesh to Pakistan, as was visualised by the architect of Bharat's partition, Jinnah, along with the British. Eleven states have registered a decadal growth rate of more than 30% in Christian population, while nine states have registered a decadal growth rate of more than 30% in Muslim population,” said the resolution.

For the RSS, this change in religious demography was a grave threat to national unity. “That demographic changes do lead to social and political changes is a fact universally acknowledged. Bharat, which has gone through the tragic trauma of partition in 1947 mainly due to demographic imbalances in Hindu-Muslim proportion in certain parts of the country, does not need any outside example for this. The census 2001 has only highlighted the continuity of the process,” read the RSS resolution.

It recommended that the government reformulate the National Population Policy, keeping in view the availability of resources in the country, future needs, and the problem of demographic imbalance, and apply the same uniformly across the nation. It also recommended that the government completely curb illegal infiltration from across the border, prepare a National Register of Citizens, and prevent these infiltrators from acquiring citizenship rights and purchasing land.

The RSS called upon society and its volunteers to take cognisance of the causes of these population changes and consider it their national duty to create public awareness and take all lawful steps to save the country from this demographic imbalance.

In 2005, the RSS passed another resolution on the declining Hindu population in India. It said that the continuous decline in the proportion of Hindus across Bharat was an issue of grave concern. “From 1881 onwards, every census showed a decline in the Hindu percentage, and the 2001 census figures further showed that Hindus had turned into a minority in some parts of Bharat and were on the verge of turning into a minority in other parts. The disastrous consequences of the decline in the percentage of the Hindu population are revealed in many ways. The dangers posed by this decline to democracy, secularism, pluralistic social order, and respect for other religious faiths—which are the highlights of Hindu ethos—are well known. Separatist and terrorist activities have mushroomed in areas where the percentage of Hindu population has declined,” said the 2005 resolution.

From 2004 to 2014, the UPA government did little to curb illegal immigration, despite the 2011 census further reiterating the rapid change in India’s religious demography.

In 2015, the RSS passed another resolution highlighting the threat from infiltration across the borders. It stated, “The rate of growth of the Muslim population has been much higher than the national average in the border districts of border states of the country like Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar, clearly indicating unabated infiltration from Bangladesh. The report of the Upamanyu Hazarika Commission, appointed by the Honourable Supreme Court, and several judicial pronouncements from time to time have corroborated these facts. It is also a fact that the infiltrators are usurping the rights of citizens of these states and becoming a heavy burden on the already scarce resources, apart from creating socio-cultural, political, and economic tensions.”

The Modi government, however, has taken up the issue of curbing illegal infiltration in a comprehensive manner by adopting a multi-pronged approach to ensure effective surveillance and domination of land borders to check infiltration of illegal migrants. Physical infrastructure in the form of border fencing, floodlighting, construction of border roads, and establishment of border outposts has been created. Vulnerable border outposts are regularly reviewed and strengthened by deploying additional manpower, special surveillance equipment, and other force multipliers. A technological solution in the form of the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) has been implemented in some vulnerable border areas.

On the legislative front, the government has passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, and strongly advocated for the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Conclusion

It appears that the debate over India’s changing religious demography, once confined to regional agitations like Assam’s anti-infiltration movement, has now returned to the national stage, framed within the broader context of national security and cultural identity. What the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh warned against two decades ago in its resolutions is today a grim reality, and it is not only the government that can handle it. Indian society must contribute as well.

Earlier RSSFACTS columns can be read here.

(Arun Anand has authored two books on the RSS. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive.)

Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.