Demand for NRC continues
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 04 2026: The demand to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur is gaining momentum, with a renewed call for the Government to identify illegal immigrants before the Census operation.

While the students' wing of the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (CJFD) staged a sit-in protest in front of Manipur University gate at Canchipur in support of the demand, the Federation of Haomee issued a statement stating that updating the NRC is the only effective way to prevent illegal immigrants from becoming part of the electoral process.

At the protest held at the Manipur University gate, the demonstrators cautioned that they would launch a series of protests if the Government proceeds with the Census before identifying illegal immigrants through the NRC .

The demonstrators also said that conducting the Census without first rehabilitating internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native villages would be unacceptable.

Stating that they are not opposed to the Census, the demonstrators maintained that illegal immigrants, however, must be identified first.

They alleged that illegal immigrants have begun to outnumber the indigenous population in certain areas.

Claiming that the crisis in Manipur was orchestrated by illegal immigrants, the demonstrators urged the Government not to proceed with the Census until their demands are addressed.

The Federation of Haomee (FoH), on the other hand, said that the identification of the illegal immigrants is necessary to safeguard the rights and interests of the indigenous people.

Although agreements were signed in 1990 and 1994 to identify illegal immigrants, the issue remains unresolved, it said.

The Federation claimed that the influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar, Bangladesh and other places, following the abolition of the Pass and Permit System on November 18, 1950, by the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh, remains a serious challenge to the indigenous people of Manipur.

Illegal immigrants have even found their way into the State Assembly, it claimed and maintained that the the State Government can take up independent measures to identify illegal immigrants as per a notification issued by the Centre on April 13, 2026 .

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