Who is this survey targeting?

The high-level committee formed under the Ministry of Home Affairs to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day declaration last year — to study population changes in the country — has commenced its work. Union Home Minister Amit Shah while pointing out that demographic shift is not merely an issue tied to national sovereignty, but is also linked to national security, law and order, alterations in social structure, and the protection of tribal communities, Amit Shah has tasked the committee with studying patterns of abnormal demographic changes and recommending time-bound solutions. Months ago, Committee Chairman Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar announced that a detailed questionnaire would be prepared to gather data from the states. Now that this questionnaire has come out, the true intentions behind this study by the Union Government have become glaringly obvious.

Also read: APCR seeks clarification from Bengal govt on police survey of mosques, religious institutions

The committee has instructed states to provide data regarding births, vehicle registrations, school admissions, and land transactions, all sorted by religion, over the past 15 years. Furthermore, it has requested district-wise counts of places of worship and detailed information concerning any abnormal surges in Aadhaar and Voter ID registrations. The directive specifies that the data should be categorised for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Parsis, and Buddhists. Such a census-like enumeration is completely impractical and directly opposes the equality and civil rights envisioned by the Constitution. States will find it impossible to answer many of the 35 questions posed by the committee — including requests for intelligence inputs regarding religious conversions among scheduled tribes, reports of commissions, and details on detention camps operating within respective states. Apart from newborn registration records and data on undocumented immigrants who have been apprehended or deported, records based on religion are simply not maintained or available across these other categories.

Also read: West Bengal sets up 18-member panel to review unrecognised madrasas

The committee goes so far as to demand details of districts demonstrating school admission trends that do not match historical birth rates, alongside exhaustive records of places of worship constructed over the past 15 years. What is the underlying logic behind such questions when natural factors — such as declining birth rates, increasing life expectancy, an aging population, labor migration, and rapid urbanisation — are the actual drivers of demographic shifts? For years, the Sangh Parivar has been propagating the claim that the country is undergoing abnormal demographic shifts. We have clear examples before us of how, with the approach of every election, this narrative is manufactured state by state to create polarisation through hate campaigns alleging that "others" are usurping the rights of the populace. These maneuvres warrant far greater concern in the current context, where debates surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and parliamentary delimitation are gaining momentum.

Also read: Historians allege intentional ignoring of evidence to erase Islamic history in Kamal Maula verdict

Interestingly, the BJP was the very party that staunchly opposed the Justice Sachar Committee — appointed by the Dr. Manmohan Singh government to study the socioeconomic backwardness of the Muslim community, the country's largest minority — alleging that it would foster division. Similarly, the Union Government tried to derail the demand for a nationwide caste census by delaying the census process altogether. Even when it eventually succumbed to the demand, it adopted a half-hearted approach for a incomprehensive exercise. Furthermore, the complete findings of the 2011 Socio-Economic and Caste Census have not been officially released to this day. This new demographic study gives rise to several serious political suspicions. When can the country expect this government to abandon such misguided tactics aimed at diverting attention from real issues, and adopt people-centric policies that genuinely ensure civil rights, healthcare, education, employment, and social security going forward?