Archive · 2 Oct 2026
Pinarayi Vijayan Calls Demography Panel Questionnaire Divisive Sangh Parivar Agenda
A committee under India’s Union Home Ministry asked states and Union Territories for information about changes in religious populations.
The information was requested for the previous 15 years.
It covered districts, industrial areas and border districts.
Pinarayi Vijayan strongly criticized the questionnaire.
He said collecting information by religion could make people suspicious of minorities.
He alleged that the request could be used to spread hatred and divide society.
He also linked it to the RSS and the Sangh Parivar.
Vijayan asked Kerala’s government and secular-minded people to oppose the move.
The reports do not include a response from the committee or the Union Home Ministry.
The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes requested information from states and Union Territories about visible religious-demographic changes over 15 years.
The requested information covers districts, industrial clusters and border districts.
Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the questionnaire advances the Sangh Parivar’s divisive agenda and could place minorities under suspicion.
Vijayan said the panel sought religion-based information on births, vehicle registrations, school admissions and land transactions.
He urged Kerala’s UDF government and secular-minded people to resist what he called unconstitutional and communal directives.
- Who
- The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes, states and Union Territories, and Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s Leader of Opposition and a former chief minister.
- What
- The committee requested religion-related demographic information, while Vijayan alleged that the questionnaire was politically motivated and divisive.
- When
- The reports were published on Thursday, October 1; the requested information covered the previous 15 years.
- Where
- The request concerned states and Union Territories, including districts, industrial clusters and border districts; Vijayan made his comments in Thiruvananthapuram and on Facebook.
- Why
- The committee sought information about visible demographic changes; Vijayan alleged that the data could support communal polarization and discriminatory policies.
Vijayan’s Criticism
Committee’s Data Request
Purpose of the questionnaire
Vijayan’s Criticism
Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the questionnaire is intended to advance the RSS’s communal interests, create suspicion toward minorities and enable hate politics.
Committee’s Data Request
The articles state that the committee requested information on visible religious-demographic changes but do not provide a response explaining or defending the request.
Potential political use
Vijayan’s Criticism
Vijayan claimed that alleged fears of unnatural demographic change could be used to justify discriminatory policies such as the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens.
Committee’s Data Request
The articles do not report any committee or Union Home Ministry statement connecting the questionnaire to those policies.
- Committee
- High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes
- Administrative ministry
- Union Home Ministry
- Requested period
- Previous 15 years
- Requested areas
- Districts, industrial clusters and border districts
- Data cited by Vijayan
- Births, vehicle registrations, school admissions and land transactions, categorized by religion
- Vijayan’s allegation
- The questionnaire continues the Sangh Parivar’s divisive agenda
- Policies mentioned
- The Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens
