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Manipur schools, colleges shut amid tensions over demands for NRC before Census
Hundreds of students are demonstrating in Imphal demanding NRC before the Census ahead of the house listing from September 1 to September 30
The Manipur government on Thursday ordered the closure of educational institutions for three days amid growing tensions over demands to postpone the Census in the ethnic violence-hit state until the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), with 1951 as the base year.
The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD), a local organisation, called for a two-day bandh beginning Tuesday and announced a boycott of central and state government institutions from Thursday in support of the demand for NRC.
Hundreds of students are demonstrating in Imphal, demanding NRC before the Census. The first phase of Census 2027 (house listing) in Manipur is scheduled from September 1 to September 30. Self-enumeration facility will be available from August 17 to August 31.
Deep Dive
There has been growing opposition to Census-related activities in the state. A training programme for Census personnel was disrupted in Bishnupur district on August 14.
A 10-member delegation representing Manipur’s different communities and civil organisations departed for Delhi on Thursday to press the central government for NRC. “The people are demanding NRC before the Census, which precedes the pending delimitation in Manipur. We will take the matter to Union ministers, BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] leaders...[other] officials,” said a member of the delegation before departing from the Imphal airport.
A separate delegation of ruling BJP legislators left for Delhi on Wednesday to press the same demand.
The two-day JFD paralysed most of the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley. Meitei groups have been pressing for an NRC to identify undocumented migrants who settled in Manipur after 1951 from neighbouring countries and pose a threat to the state’s original inhabitants.
Kuki organisations have accused Meiteis of trying to label them all as undocumented immigrants. In neighbouring Assam, the NRC was updated in 2019 to identify undocumented immigrants who came to the state after 1971.
The NRC issue is the latest flashpoint in Manipur, which has been in the throes of protracted ethnic violence since 2023, leaving over 260 people dead and 60,000 displaced. The violence began between the Meitei and Kuki communities before involving almost every community.
The state’s Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have shut each other out of the areas they dominate.
The Meiteis, mostly Hindu, live largely in the Imphal valley. The Kukis, predominantly Christian, reside in the hills. Naga and Kuki-Zo tensions escalated after May 13 twin ambushes left four people dead.
Most markets in the Imphal Valley were shut in response to the pro-NRC bandh. Bandh supporters blocked streets and major roads. Schools, colleges, educational institutions, public transport services, and banks remained shut. The bandh supporters vandalised vegetable shops as some defied the shutdown call in parts of Imphal West and Imphal East.
Security forces were deployed at key locations as part of a precautionary measure to prevent damage to public property.
The Manipur assembly passed a unanimous resolution in August 2022 seeking an NRC before the Census, citing the demographic imbalance. In March 2024, the assembly reaffirmed the resolution.
