Student organisations highlight urgency of NRC to Union Home Minister
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 20 2023: As many seven student organisations of the State have urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with respect to Manipur and advise the State Government to establish a Manipur State Population Commission in the line of the National Population Commission.

A representation submitted by MSF, ANSAM, DESAM, KSA, SUK, AIMS and another student organisation to the Union Home Minister underscored that NRC should be updated and implemented in Manipur urgently with 1951 as the base year.

Manipur prior to its merger to the Dominion of India in 1949 had strict regulations for outsiders in visiting and settling in Manipur but this regulation was done away with by the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh in 1950, opening a floodgate for outsiders to come and settle in Manipur which is a small State of just 22,327 sq Kms comprising 0.7 per cent of the land surface of India, the student bodies pointed out.

Student organisations highlight urgency of NRC to Union Home Minister

Not long after the abolition of the regulatory sys- tem, the population of Manipur shot up beyond imagination and the growth rates varied vastly between the valley and the hills.

The decadal population growth rate was only 12.08 for the decade 1941 to 1951 .

The sharp increase in the decadal growth rate after the cancellation of the immigration regulation by the then Chief Commissioner in 1950 resulted in a sharp rise in the growth rate, they said.

The student bodies asserted that this sharp rise in the growth rate can only be explained by migration from neighbouring countries and States, and it can't be explained by natural birth alone.

If one examines the composition of the population based on languages or mother tongues spoken, it can be concluded that the immigrants are mostly from the cognate tribes from neighbouring Myanmar, Nepali from Nepal and Muslims from Bangladesh, the latter now a distinct force in Jiribam district bordering Assam.

In Tripura, Hindus were the main migrants from erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) while most Muslim migrants from this country reached Assam and Manipur with some settled in Nagaland, the representation said.

The people of Manipur have been demanding the updation and implementation of the NRC through the available records as done in Assam, with 1951 as the base year as Manipur joined the Union of India on 15th October, 1949, the student organisations said.

"We demand that the NRC must also be updated in Manipur with 1951 as the base year.

Our demands are strictly based on the need for small communities in the region and the State to survive", they asserted.

"Manipur as you are fully aware comprises of almost 90 per cent hills where land cannot be bought by non-ST, while in the valley, the population density is 730 as per 2011 census and it will not be able to cater to aliens as our growing population need to be catered first", the student bodies informed the Union Home Minister.

This high population impacts the hills as many aliens are staying there as share-croppers and it will be difficult to dislodge them later.

This impacts the hill people also and conflicts had arisen now and then, including violent reaction, it said.

Concerns have been raised over the abnormal surge of population in hill areas and the mushrooming of villages.

A report last year indicates that there is an explosion in the number of new villages in the State, with many seeking recognition from the Government.

It was mentioned that in addition to the existing 2803 villages, another 996 villages are seeking fresh recognition, it continued Even the ILP regime which the Government of India extended to Manipur has little impact as there is no definition of the term 'inhabitant', it remarked.

Informing that the State Cabinet has decided to adopt 1961 as the base year for identifying the inhabitants of Manipur, the student bodies conveyed their hope that the State Government can at least regulate the inflow of visitors from within the country with this initiative.

However, the most important is the regulation of visitors/migrants from other countries who have the habit of settling down in the State through marriages etc, it said.

The student bodies then appealed to the Union Home Minister to protect the indigenes of the State, who are being swarmed and marginalised in their own home State, update the NRC with respect to Manipur with 1951 as the base year and advise the State Government to establish a Manipur State Population Commission in line with the National Population Commission at the earliest.