Demonstration, torch rally held to press demand for NRC before census in Manipur

Students, demanding implementation of the NRC in Manipur before going ahead with the census, staged a demonstration outside the Directorate of Census Operations here on Sunday, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to disperse them, officials said.

Hundreds of protesters in Imphal East and Imphal West districts also held a torch rally in the evening, demanding implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before any census activity in the state to identify illegal immigrants.

Members of the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) Students' Wing gathered outside the directorate at Porompat in Imphal East district and raised slogans demanding that no census activity be undertaken before the NRC is implemented in the state.

The student protesters, who were stopped by security personnel from entering the office premises, also attempted to lock the main gate, following which police fired tear gas shells to disperse them.

One protester sustained minor injuries in the ensuing action, police said.

During the torch rally, protesters, the majority of whom are women, marched in different localities of the Imphal area, held banners and raised slogans, demanding the NRC before conducting census activity in the state.

At Keisampat Junction in Imphal West district, less than 100 metres from the Lok Bhavan and the state BJP office, the demonstrators were stopped by security forces from advancing further.

The protesters also formed human chains by the side of roads at Naoremthong in Imphal West and Khurai Lamlong in Imphal East.

A demonstrator told reporters, "If the census is conducted before NRC, all illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries will become bona fide citizens of India. They are threatening the rights of the indigenous and rightful citizens. The indigenous people will gradually become a minority."

The protests came a day before the house-listing phase of Census 2027 is scheduled to begin with self-enumeration from August 17.

The main house-listing exercise is scheduled from September 1 to 30.

On Friday, the student protesters had disrupted a training programme for enumerators and supervisors at Moirang College in Bishnupur district, the officials said.

Carrying placards that read "No NRC, No Census", the protesters forced the trainees to leave the premises before the training could begin, they said.

JFD Students' Wing convenor Naorem Wangamba said, "We have been demanding NRC to identify illegal immigrants. However, the government is seeking to conduct the census without carrying out NRC. NRC is important to save future generations."

The JFD has been demanding that the NRC be conducted in Manipur before the census exercise to identify illegal immigrants.