‘Demography Commission’ targeting Muslims, says Asaduddin Owaisi

Hyderabad, Sep 29 (IANS) AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday alleged that the ‘Demography Commission’ of the Central government is targeting Muslims by seeking religion-wise data from the states about vehicle registration and property transactions.

The Hyderabad MP took to X to react to media reports about the data sought by the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC).

“When we demanded of the Modi government that it gather data on the educational, social, and economic conditions of Muslims, the government would instantly turn its face away. Amit Shah’s “Demography Commission” is now asking states for data on how many vehicles people of which religion have bought, how much land they own, and so on,” Owaisi said in a post.

“The agenda of this commission is not to formulate better policies based on the foundation of data, but rather to twist and distort the data in such a way that Muslims can be targeted and even their remaining scraps of rights can be snatched away from them,” the MP said.

The High-Level Committee reportedly sought religion-wise data for the past 15 years on birth and vehicle registrations, school enrolment and property transactions, as well as district-wise details of religious structures and unusual increases in Aadhaar, voter ID and ration card registrations.

HLCDC also reportedly sought intelligence assessments and commission reports on religious conversions among Scheduled Tribe communities, and details of operational detention centres, among other information.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on May 26 constituted HLCDC, led by a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, to study the demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons, and to suggest measures to deal with these demographic changes.

During an interaction with media persons on September 27, Owaisi had said that the BJP government formed a Commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to visit areas where demographic changes have come. They will visit the places where Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has been completed; they will see the final list, and illegal migrants will be apprehended, he said.

“Amit Shah has stated that the NRC will be implemented. It is possible that the NRC could be conducted based on the SIR electoral roll,” he said.

–IANS

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