Himanta Biswa Sarma backs demography mission, vows to ‘detect, delete, deport’

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday described the Centre’s newly announced Demography Mission as a “decisive step” to protect India’s identity, security, and cultural heritage.

Asserting that Assam has long borne the impact of illegal immigration, Sarma claimed that Muslims now constitute over 38 per cent of the state’s population. 

He said the formation of a high-powered committee under the Demography Mission marks a “historic and much-needed step” to scientifically study demographic shifts and address them through what he termed the “3-D policy – Detect, Delete, and Deport.”

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“A decisive move to protect identity, security, and cultural heritage,” Sarma wrote in a post on X, while sharing a table showing demographic trends in Assam since 1971.

According to the figures cited by the Chief Minister, the Hindu population in the state declined from 72.51 per cent in 1971 to 61.46 per cent in 2011, while the Muslim population increased from 24.56 per cent to 34.22 per cent during the same period.

The Demography Mission was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address, aiming to study population patterns and their implications for national identity and resource management.