April 22 terror strike at Pahalgam : Drive lined up at some areas
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, April 28 2025: In the aftermath of the April 22 deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that left 26 dead, Manipur Police is preparing to launch a verification drive across the State to detect illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrants, reported NorthEast Live.

This, after India cancelled all existing visas for Pakistani Nationals, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah's directive to Chief Ministers of all States to identify and deport illegal Pakistani Nationals.

Responding to the directive, NE Live reported that the Manipur Police has instructed all police stations to carry out surveys, verify presence of illegal immigrants, and take necessary legal action as per the law against anyone found staying without valid documents.

The police have also been directed to maintain proper record to reflect all verification activities and actions taken, said the report.

Quoting sources, the report mentions that the police have flagged several areas, including Lilong, Minuthong Hapta, Khurai Heikru Makhong, Kairang, Mayang Imphal, Kwakta, Borayangbi, Khetrigao, Sora, Andro, Wabagai, and other Pangal/Muslim-dominated villages as areas of interest where there may be Pakistani and Bangladeshi Nationals staying illegally without valid visas or Inner Line Permits (LP).

Significantly, it is not yet clear whether the verification drive would focus only on identifying Pakistani and Bangladeshi Nationals or also include illegal immigrants from other countries as well.

Following the Union Home Minister's direction, several North East States including Assam and Tripura have launched verification drives.

Tripura has reportedly detected over 200 Bangladeshi Nationals.

Meanwhile, the issue of illegal immigrants entering into Manipur from Myanmar and staying here illegally has been a major issue amid the conflict that is completing 2 years on May 3.While civil society organisations and the people have been demanding the Central Government to implement National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the State to identify all illegal immigrants including Myanmar Nationals, it is not clear whether the police verification now would also cover Kangpokpi, Churachandpur and Tengnoupal district etc where the presence of illegal Myanmar Nationals had been flagged in the past.

"The issue of illegal immigrants entering into Manipur from Myanmar is the immediate concern as it poses a real threat to the State's security.

Hence, the police drive should focus not only on identifying illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi Nationals, but also cover all hill areas where illegal Myanmar Nationals may be staying," said a concerned citizen.

"We strongly condemn the terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir which killed at least 26 people.

But, Manipur has been burning for nearly 2 years and more than 250 persons including women and children have been killed.

Unfortunately, the Government has reacted differently in the violent conflict in Manipur.

No crackdown of any kind on Kuki militants and illegal immigrants from Myanmar has been ordered till today," said the man.

It is a good move that the Central Government has directed all States to detect and deport illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi Nationals in the aftermath of the attack in Pahalgam.

However, the same principle and response should also be applied in the case of Manipur to detect all illegal immigrants, he said.

The police drive should not focus only on identifying illegal Pakistani and Bangladeshi Nationals.

The drive should be focused on identifying all illegal immigrants irrespective of their country of origin, asserted the man.

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