Students rally with 'update, implement NRC' call
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 04 2023: As many as six student bodies inclu-ding MSF, DESAM, SUK, KSA and AIMS took out a mass rally today demanding urgent updation and imple-mentation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) so as to identify all illegal immigrants who have been living unlawfully within the territory of Manipur.

Subsequent upon an announcement made yesterday that a mass movement would be launched for urgent implementation of NRC with respect to Manipur, the six student bodies organised a mass rally today which was flagged off from Imphal College, Kwakeithel.

The rally headed towards the Raj Bhavan along Tidim Road.

Although there was no major hurdle till Keisham-pat, police put up barricades and blocked the rally at Keishampat junction and it resulted in a brief stand-off between the marchers and police.

Students rally with 'update, implement NRC' call

Nonetheless, the protesters overcame the police barricade and marched ahead.

At the gate of the Raj Bhavan, the large number of students shouted many slogans like, "NRC must be implemented in Manipur urgently", "Illegal immigrants cannot claim land ownership in Manipur", "Government must take up measures to identify all illegal immigrants" etc.

Speaking on behalf of the six student bodies, DESAM general secretary Mayeng-bam Somorjit Meitei said that several CSOs, student organisations and different sections of the society have been demanding updation and implementation of NRC in Manipur in order to check unnatural population growth and demographic imbalance.

In the aftermath of the cold blooded killing of SDPO Chingtham Anand Kumar by Kuki militants at Moreh, 44 individuals were pulled up for verification in the course of a search operation conducted at the border town and 32 of them were found to be illegal immigrants from Myanmar.

One commander of the People's Defence Force (PDF), a militant group bas-ed in Myanmar, was among the illegal immigrants arrested by State police, Somorjit said.

It is now very clear that one particular community has been scheming to inflate their population in Manipur, he asserted.

He also decried the failure of the Central Govern- ment and the State Government to identify the illegal immigrants who have been given refuge in Chura-chandpur district and work out their total number.

The aggression launched on May 3 was driven by a sinister intention to wipe out Meitei community for good, Somorjit said.

During the initial days of the violent crisis, Security Advisor Kuldiep Singh, Central Government and the State Government were saying that militants of SoO groups were confined in their designated camps but now it has turned out that the same statement was nothing but a chicanery, Somorjit said.

Recently, some designated camps of SoO groups were found totally deserted, he pointed out.

The communities who have been living together in Manipur, specially Meiteis would not remain silent to any challenge to the integrity of Manipur, he asserted.

Considering the present situation of Manipur, the State Government must initiate necessary steps urgently to update NRC with respect to Manipur.

The State Government must also persuade the Centre to implement the updated NRC without any undue delay, he demanded.

The student activist warned that the student bodies would be constrained to launch different modes of intense agitation if the Government chooses to remain silent on such a pressing matter.

Leishangthem Lamyanba, spokesperson of the six student bodies said that memorandums have been already submitted to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister on updating and implementing the NRC in Manipur.

The six student bodies, together with the All Naga Students Association Manipur (ANSAM) even staged a protest demonstration at Delhi in March this year pressing for the same demand but there has been no response till date, Lamyanba decried.

"The Meitei community and other indigenous communities are now facing a very uncertain future.

As such, we would continue with different modes of mass movements in order to save the indigenous communities", he added.