As Census 2027 Nears, Protests Intensify In Manipur Over NRC

Tension is rising in Manipur after the Central Government confirmed it will carry out the Census without first completing a National Register of Citizens (NRC). The Meitei and Naga communities have rejected the move, insisting that a census without an NRC cannot be justified, while the Kuki-Zo Council has taken the opposite stand.

The campaign for NRC completion before the Census gathered pace on Sunday night, with Meira Paibi groups and local organisations holding torch rallies at several points across the Valley. Protesters raised slogans opposing any census exercise carried out without a prior NRC update.

Large processions were reported at Mapham near Thangmeiband Sana Keithel, Babu Bazar, Kongba Bazar, Tentha and along the Kwakeithel Bazar to Keishampat stretch. At Babu Bazar, demonstrators marched towards Thoubal Bazar, while the Kongba Bazar rally was organised by AKRUCO and a separate demonstration was held by Tentha Apunba Lup. The Keishamthong Kendra Meira Paibi led a torch procession towards Keishampat.

At Tokpaching in Kakching district, women carried flaming torches through the area in a rally organised jointly by the All Tokpaching Welfare Association, Meira Paibi Khunai Kanba Lup, and various local clubs, organisations and student bodies. Protesters called for the Census and house-listing exercises to be paused until the NRC is updated and internally displaced persons are resettled in their native villages and homes. They also said that, in their view, only those settled in Manipur since ancient times should be counted.

Slogans heard during the rallies included "No NRC, No Census", "Manipur's identity cannot be destroyed", "Long live Manipur" and "No Census until IDPs are resettled".

Salam Ongbi Dukanchaobi, Secretary of the Meira Paibi of the All Tokpaching Welfare Association, said the people of the area had taken a firm position against holding the Census without first updating the NRC. She warned that if the government pressed ahead with the Census by sending officials despite the demand, it would be held responsible for whatever followed.

The Sunday night rallies followed an earlier wave of protests. A 48-hour boycott of all central and state government offices was called by a citizens' group operating under the banner "Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation" (JFD). On Saturday, around 2,000 women joined a torch rally at Keishampat junction in Imphal West to press the same demand.

On 22 August, JFD volunteers continued locking state and central government offices across the Valley, sparing institutions that provide essential services. Lock-ins were reported at the Lilong Nagar Panchayat office, the CGST office at Thambalkhong, the CGST office at Andro Parking and the SDO office at Waikhong. Similar action had taken place a day earlier at the DC office in Bishnupur and at some banks.

The agitation has also touched educational institutions, with students staging sit-ins, dharnas and rallies at several locations, including the SDO/SDC office at Waikhong, offices under the Thoubal DC Complex, and NABARD, Central Bank and MSLRM in Imphal West. A two-day general strike has added to the disruption.

JFD student co-convener Denil Yumlembam questioned the Education Department's decision to shut educational institutions, saying the department had cited the law-and-order situation but had not addressed concerns raised by students over the Census in the same manner. He also criticised the FIR registered against JFD convenor Jeetendra Ningombam and appealed to the Central and State governments to ensure students are not assaulted during protests.

The demand for NRC completion before the Census has found support at the political level. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has publicly backed the call, and a team of BJP legislators from Manipur has been in New Delhi to raise the issue with the Central Government. Several BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister N Biren Singh, have also been visiting the capital to press the Centre to resolve the matter before it grows into a wider agitation. A 10-member team drawn from different communities is currently in Delhi to meet central ministers on the issue.

The first phase of the Population Census 2027, the House Listing and Housing Census, is due to be held in Manipur from 1 to 30 September. Manipur had already witnessed ethnic violence in 2023 when the government was considering carrying out an NRC exercise in the state.

Not everyone in the state agrees with the demand. The Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) has opposed calls for NRC updation before the Census, calling the demand "premature and unjustified". Responding to what it called falsehoods and propaganda surrounding the community's population and demographic status during the Manipur conflict, the council said an impartial Census is essential to establish facts and dispel unfounded claims.

The KZC also welcomed the proposed delimitation exercise, saying representation should be based on verified demographic data rather than assumption. On the NRC itself, the council argued that it is a national exercise and that no single community or state government can decide unilaterally to carry it out in a particular state.

The council said the push for NRC updation before the Census rested largely on what it called "unsubstantiated allegations and speculation" concerning the Kuki-Zo community, and maintained that any demographic claims should be checked against credible, verified data rather than assumed in advance.

"Demanding an NRC before the completion and publication of Census 2027 results is premature and unjustified," the council said.

The KZC pointed to the Assam NRC as an example of the legal and administrative complications such an exercise can bring, and urged those seeking something similar in Manipur to weigh its wider consequences. It appealed to all sides to let the Census proceed without obstruction and to respect the Central Government's authority over the NRC.

The National Register of Citizens is a register of Indian citizens. Its legal basis lies in Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which allows the Central Government to compulsorily register citizens and maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens. The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 set out the framework for this registration process. An NRC is therefore a separate exercise from the Census. The 2019 Assam NRC has still not been notified by the Centre.

Those demanding NRC completion before the Census, largely concentrated in the Meitei-dominated Valley, argue that a census without it could bring "demographic changes" to Manipur given what they describe as unchecked illegal immigration from neighbouring Myanmar. The demand finds some echo in the Naga-dominated hills, but in Kuki-dominated areas it faces resistance.