Call for NRC before census gets louder
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal/Bishnupur, August 06 2026: The call for updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before census has grown louder with the public, several civil bodies and clubs emphasising it as an urgent mechanism to protect the rights, identity, land, and future of the indigenous peoples of Manipur.

The Government must update the NRC for Manipur before any census related exercise is conducted, resolved a public meeting at Pallel Keithel and a sit-in protest at Bishnupur Keithel today.

Call for NRC before census gets louder

Notably, the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation has been urging the Government to postpone Census 2027 related exercises for Manipur.

Houselisting, a part of the census exercise, is scheduled to begin from September 1 to 30, with self-enumeration from August 17 to 31 .

Pallel meeting

The public meeting, jointly organised by the Native Peoples' Committee, Manipur (NPCM), UCP, Meira Paibi, and NPLKTLP, was attended by nearly a thousand people from the Meitei and Naga indigenous communities. Dr L Phaomei, co-convenor, NPCM; Trimson Saka, executive committee member, NPCM; M Jiban, convenor, UCP; M Romita Devi, Meira Paibi representative; Romen Meitei, chairman, YVA Club; S Rabi, secretary, SDO Club; and M Ojit Singh, co-convenor, UCP attended the meeting.

The speakers at the meeting stressed on the need for updating the NRC in Manipur before the census to avoid inclusion of illegal immigrants in the census.

Updating the NRC will help protect the rights, identity, land, and future of the indigenous peoples of the State, they said, strongly advocating unity among the indigenous communities to protect their ancestral land and rights.

The speakers also expressed concern that the prolonged crisis in Manipur has been aggravated by issues related to illegal immigration, demographic changes, and disputes between indigenous communities and non-indigenous population.

They urged the authorities to address these concerns through appropriate legal and Constitutional mechanisms.

The gathering also expressed strong dissatisfaction with what the participants described as lack of sincerity and effective intervention by the Central Government in resolving the Manipur crisis.

The interests and grievances of the Meitei and Naga indigenous communities have not received adequate attention of the Government of India, they asserted.

While indigenous communities are seeking to protect their ancestral land, identity and Constitutional rights, illegal immigrants are attempting to occupy indigenous lands with the support of external forces, the speakers said.

The participants resolved to remain united, strengthen cooperation among the indigenous communities, and work together for the protection of their land, identity, rights, and future.

Bishnupur protest

At the sit-in demonstration at Bishnupur Keithel, organised by Bishnupur Akoiba Apunba Lup (BAAL) under CJFD, the protesters asserted that the situation in Manipur is not conducive for census exercise.

The State is yet to return to normalcy with hundreds of houses burnt and thousands of people displaced and staying in relief camps.

Conducting the census and houselisting exercise when people are displaced with no home is not practical, they said.

Further, conducting census before NRC risks inclusion of illegal immigrants as citizens and legal residents, they asserted.

Members of CJFD and several CSOs took part in the demonstration.