Guwahati: The Manipur legislative assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution urging Centre to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state before conducting the census. It was the third time since 2022 that the House formally backed the citizenship database demand.The resolution, moved by CM Yumnam Khemchand Singh on the opening day of the session, came two days after Centre deferred the census exercise in the poll-bound state. The exercise was scheduled to begin with house-listing on Sept 1. The state is scheduled to go to the polls early next year.The deferment followed a high-level meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi amid protests in the Imphal Valley demanding that NRC be updated before the population count.“The House once again reaffirmed its previous resolutions passed on Aug 5, 2022, and March 1, 2024, and urged the Govt of India to implement NRC in Manipur before conducting the census, in the interest of the state in particular and the nation in general,” speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh said.The first resolution passed on Aug 5, 2022, stated, “The House of the Manipur legislative assembly unanimously resolves to establish the Population Commission of the State and also to introduce and enforce National Register of Citizens.”Five months later, on Jan 16, 2023, then state commissioner-cum-secretary (home), T Ranjit Singh, wrote to then Union home secretary and now governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, “Consider to introduce and enforce an NRC in Manipur by making suitable amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, in national interest.”The letter says that the assembly resolution was the “manifestation of growing fear and apprehension of the people of Manipur that many foreign nationals of Myanmar and Bangladesh origin might have immigrated illegally and settled in the state by forging documents.”With no progress on the ground, the House for the second time on March 1, 2024, adopted the resolution that went a step further, specifically urging Centre to implement NRC.In a letter dated June 12, 2024, then state joint secretary (home) Dr Mayengbam Veto Singh wrote to Union home secretary, reiterating the growing fear from illegal immigrants of Myanmar and Bangladesh origin and the porous border. The letter added that “these issues become more alarming in the context of the current ongoing law and order crisis in the state and recent turmoil in Myanmar.”It said the presence of illegal immigrants who had obtained Indian identity cards through fraudulent means could lead to demographic imbalance and pose a threat to national security. “They can only be detected through dedicated and rigorous checking of ancestral records which is only possible through introduction and enforcement of NRC in the state,” it added.The letter urged Union MHA to make necessary provisions or amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship Rules, 2003, to facilitate the implementation of NRC in the state, citing concerns over illegal immigration, demographic imbalance and national security.Khemchand told the House that Centre’s decision to defer the census reflected the concerns and aspirations of the people of Manipur.The demand, however, has been strongly contested by Kuki-Zo organisations, which have questioned both the NRC campaign and Centre’s decision to defer the census, adding another layer to the state’s already fractured ethnic politics.Adding political weight to Centre’s decision, BJP northeast coordinator and Rajya Sabha MP Sambit Patra, who arrived in Imphal on Wednesday, called the deferment a “big step” towards addressing the aspirations of Manipur’s people. Asked about NRC, Patra said a decision would be taken by Union home minister “in due course”, indicating that Centre had deferred the census without yet committing to an NRC timeline.
