What Are Mohan Bhagwat's Views On Infiltration, Population Imbalance?

All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties.
But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, observes Jyoti Punwani.

The who's who of Mumbai turned up to listen to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat hold forth on 100 years of his organisation at the Nehru Centre last weekend.

Excerpts from Bhagwat's speech and his replies to questions show them to be a mix of bland observations ('circumstances will always be there, sometimes favourable, sometimes unfavourable, but we will remain the same'); his own views which he attributed to medical experts, on the ideal age of marriage ('19-25') and the ideal number of children ('3'); and statements that had no relation to reality, but served to further RSS propaganda.

For instance, replying to a question, the RSS chief ascribed 'population imbalance' to conversions, infiltration and birth control. But what's the basis of such an assertion?

While the 2011 Census figures did show an increase in the percentage of Christians in four north eastern states, and of Muslims in Assam, there has been no official data ascribing this to any particular factor.

No large scale arrests have taken place in these states on the charge of illegal conversion, except in Assam, where, in 2022, 10 Europeans were detained and deported on the charge of converting tribals to Christianity.

Indeed, the only state where large scale arrests of Indian citizens have taken place for illegal conversions is Uttar Pradesh, where the percentage of Muslims between 2001 and 2011 grew by just 0.9.

1,682 persons were arrested in the four years since Yogi Adityanath's government enacted its new anti-conversion law, which was intended to prevent Hindu girls from marrying Muslims. 835 cases were filed, but less than a dozen ended in conviction.

Similar statistics have emerged from other BJP-ruled states where such anti-conversion laws are in force.

In Uttarakhand, in seven years, 62 cases were filed. Five went to trial; all ended in acquittal.

In Madhya Pradesh, 283 cases were filed in the last five years. 50 ended in acquittal; seven persons were convicted.

Yet, without providing any evidence to substantiate his claim that conversions were leading to 'population imbalance', the RSS chief went on to say that 'ghar wapasi', the campaign carried out by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a sister organisation of the RSS, of converting non-Hindus to Hinduism, was the answer.

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The Politics of Infiltration

What about infiltration, Bhagwat's second reason for 'population imbalance'?

During his prime ministerial campaign in 2013-2014, Narendra Modi had made 'illegal migrants' one of his main planks in Assam. It's been 11 years, but despite a BJP government at the Centre and in Assam, infiltration continues to be the BJP's main electoral plank.

Either the ruling party both at the Centre and state has failed to control it, despite its overwhelming majority in both places; or it's just hype.

This hype, however, has had tragic consequences.

Even before Himanta Biswa Sarma's video emerged, showing the Assam chief minister shooting bullets at two skull capped men, enough videos have surfaced on social media showing goons thrashing Bengali-speaking Muslims, accusing them of being Bangladeshi. One such youth almost got thrown off a moving train.

Bhagwat's other solution for infiltration was revealing indeed -- the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls (SIR).

All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out.

The many reports of requests by BJP workers to delete Muslim names from the rolls also makes complete sense now. In fact, the bulk of names marked as doubtful by the Election Commission's own system in south Kolkata are Muslim, a study has found.

Surely Bhagwat knew that the Bihar SIR, the only SIR to have been completed, found hardly any infiltrators. That he still made the assertion that infiltrators will be detected by SIR, makes it clear that for the BJP, the bogey of infiltration will remain a propaganda tool, while under its garb, genuine Indian Muslim voters will be deleted.

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There were other loaded statements made by Bhagwat at the two-day meet. While many of them were repetitions of core RSS beliefs, such as the 'nature' of India is 'sanatan'; everyone living in India is a Hindu; one assertion was indeed shocking: That the 'independence we won could not be sustained'.

Were the worthies who filled the hall on both days okay with such a claim?

Those in the audience ranged from Deepak Parekh, the man who built HDFC into a brand, to Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG group; from Ronnie Screwvala, producer of films like Jodha Akbar and Shahid (based on the late lawyer Shahid Azmi), to Karan Johar, producer of India's entry to the 2026 Oscars Homebound; and, of course, Salman Khan.

What must Salman Khan have thought when Bhagwat said jobs must be given not to infiltrators, but to Indians, 'even if they are not Hindus'?

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RSS Event Draws Mumbai's Influential Voices

Most of the views expressed by Bhagwat at the event are not new. Since 2014, the RSS has had extensive coverage in the national media, with Bhagwat's speeches being telecast live on national television.

Many of these beliefs are being translated into action on a daily basis by RSS affiliates such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.

Indeed, three of their most recent actions made headlines, and must have been fresh in the audience's minds: The intimidation of Kotdwar gym owner Mohammed Deepak Kumar, because he dared to prevent the VHP/Bajrang Dal from forcing an elderly Muslim from closing down his shop; the thrashing of two Muslim students present as invitees at the birthday party of their Hindu classmate in Bareilly; and the vandalism during X'Mas across the country, including the harassment of blind students celebrating X'mas by a BJP office bearer in Jabalpur.

'You don't have to attend the RSS shakha. You can become part of the Sangh's work, or, work selflessly in your own field too. If you have a theme, we have a team; if you have a team, we have a theme.'

This was the RSS chief's seductive call to the creme of Mumbai society present at the event.

Will they heed him? Or was this a one-off attendance, prompted, as Raj Thackeray said, by the fear of Narendra Modi?