For and against NRC
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: October 21, 2023 -

WITH now the over five months long unrest in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur showing some signs of slowdown in the past few days, six influential student organisations, which have all along been exerting pressure on the state government for introduction of National Register of Citizens (NRC) to detect illegal immigrants from across the border and launching crackdown on poppy cultivation and illegal activities of Kuki insurgent groups which are under the suspension of operation (SoO) with the government, have reinforced their stand once again.

In a convention organised by the six student bodies under the theme "Let's save our future" on October 19, nine resolutions were adopted underscoring the need for a unified movement to intensify the process for implementation of NRC and resist any challenge that poses threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur.

Pledging to take responsibility for eradicating narco-terrorism from Manipur to safeguard the indigenous communities in the current crisis by countering narco-terrorist activities, the student bodies also reaffirmed their commitment to protect the indigenous communities against the adverse effects of foreign influx by stepping up their campaign for implementation of NRC in the state to identify and deport illegal immigrants, whose involvement in the current crisis in Manipur has been acknowledged not only by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union foreign affairs minister S Jaishankar but also by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is currently probing into Myanmar and Bangladesh based militant groups entering into a conspiracy with a section of militant leaders in India to indulge in incidents of violence with an intention to drive a wedge between different ethnic groups and wage war against the Government of India.

Though the demand for NRC exercise in Manipur may have gained momentum in the wake of the bloody confrontation that broke out between the Meiteis/Meeteis and Kuki-Chin communities on May 3, it is a fact that the heat of illegal immigration has always been felt in Manipur, which shares 400-km long border with Myanmar, but remains largely unfenced due to the presence of ethnic and familial ties, thus creating an opportune gateway for illicit transactions.

It is this concern that led the Manipur Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution for setting up a Population Commission way back in August, 2022, and subsequently set up a Cabinet Sub-Committee for identifying illegal immigrants.

The report of the Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Minister Letpao Haokip, who himself is from Kuki-Chin community, had confirmed settlements of over 2000 Myanmar nationals inside Manipur, mostly in the Kuki-Chin dominated areas of Churachandpur, Tengnoupal and Chandel districts along the border with Myanmar, but refusing to move to the designated camps.

If this is the finding of the Cabinet Sub-Committee from its first round of random survey conducted in some selected locations, then one could imagine the extent of the problem of illegal immigrants in Manipur.

There had also been another report of as many as 718 illegal immigrants crossing into Manipur from Myanmar on July 222 and 23 when the current conflict was at its height.

So, the allegation of Kuki Civil society groups that the Government of Manipur is harassing Kuki-Chin people on the pretext of identifying illegal immigrants does not hold water.

By taking an aggressive stand against the demand for implementing NRC in Manipur, Kuki Civil society groups are only sending out a wrong message.

For anyone who have firm belief in their indigeneity, the exercise of identifying illegal immigrants should not as threat but a golden opportunity to secure their own territories, which would otherwise become a free for all.