By Ankit Raj
New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah has been making tall claims on election platforms regarding the number of “infiltrators” in the country. Recently, while addressing an election rally in Assam, he stated that seven districts of the state – Dhubri, Barpeta, Darrang, Morigaon, Bongaigaon, Nagaon and Goalpara – were “occupied by 6.4 million infiltrators”. Shah blamed the two-decade rule of the Congress party for the situation and asserted that only the BJP could halt this purported infiltration.
However, information sought from the home ministry under the Right to Information (RTI) Act raises serious questions about this claim.
According to the RTI application and its response, made available to The Wire Hindi by RTI activist Kanhaiya Kumar, the Ministry of Home Affairs was asked for year-wise data regarding the number of infiltrators identified/apprehended, and deported/repatriated across the country over the past 10 years (or from the earliest year available). In addition, country-wise breakup (nationality-wise) on infiltrators was also sought.
In its response dated January 23, 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs clarified that it does not have any centrally-available data regarding the identification, arrest, or deportation of infiltrators in the country.
The ministry wrote in its response, “The powers to detect, restrict movement, and deport illegal foreign nationals/illegal immigrants have been delegated under Sub-section (2) of Section 7, 13 and 29 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 to all State Governments/UT Administrations.”
This indicates that the ministry has acknowledged its lack of centralised data and was unable to furnish details regarding the number of infiltrators apprehended in India, the number that were deported, and the countries of which they were citizens.
This response comes at a time when Amit Shah has repeatedly highlighted the large number of ‘infiltrators’ not just in Assam but across various parts of the country. Speaking on the topic ‘Infiltration, Demographic Change, and Democracy’ at the Narendra Mohan Memorial Lecture, organised by Dainik Jagran on October 10, 2025, Shah remarked, “The growth of the Muslim population in India is not owing to fertility rates, but is instead a result of extensive infiltration.”
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.