Veteran CPI(M) leader and former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on demographic changes in border states were intended to spread hatred and pave the way for the implementation of the CAA and the proposed NRC.
In a Facebook post, the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly said Shah's statement, made at the recent conference of Superintendents of Police from border districts, should be seen in the backdrop of the Centre setting up a committee on demographic changes.
Vijayan alleged that the committee was part of the Sangh Parivar's "planned attempt" to divide and alienate people living in border states such as Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.
He claimed the Centre was trying to establish that border states were witnessing "abnormal demographic growth" to justify "divisive measures" such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
According to him, the narrative of infiltration was being deliberately created to serve the interests of the Sangh Parivar and place a particular community under suspicion by claiming that the demographic composition of border districts was changing.
Drawing a parallel with the CAA, Vijayan alleged that just as the citizenship law sought to exclude the Muslim minority, the Union Home Ministry was pursuing the same objective through the demographic changes committee.
He urged secular sections of society to unite against what he described as "attempts to sow divisions" in the country.
Vijayan's remarks came a day after Shah said the Centre was committed to curbing unnatural demographic growth caused by abnormal factors such as infiltration through a "ruthless approach" and a quadrangular security grid.
Addressing the first Land Border Districts' Superintendents of Police Conference-2026 on Friday, Shah also said the Centre would adopt a holistic approach to strengthening coastal and land border security.
(With inputs from PTI)