Manipur: 48-Hour Strike Over NRC Demand Enters 2nd Day Across Valley

Normal life remained affected across the Imphal Valley for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as a 48-hour statewide shutdown over the demand for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) continued. The shutdown was called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD), which is demanding that the NRC be updated in Manipur before the Census-2027 exercise. The strike began at midnight on Monday and is scheduled to end at midnight on Wednesday.

Shops, markets, educational institutions, government offices and business establishments remained closed across large parts of the six valley districts. Public transport stayed off the roads and several streets were largely deserted. The affected districts include Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal, Bishnupur, Kakching and Jiribam. Student and youth organisations, women's groups and civil society organisations have extended support to the shutdown.

JFD activists and those enforcing the shutdown blocked roads at several locations in Imphal East and Imphal West using bamboo poles and stone boulders. Tyres were also burnt during some protests, while posters carrying slogans such as "No NRC, No Census" were put up. Students demanding that the NRC be updated before the Census-2027 also demonstrated outside the Directorate of Census Operations in Imphal, prompting police to use tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.

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The shutdown did not affect the hill districts, including Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, according to reports. The protests come as the Census-2027 exercise has already entered its self-enumeration phase, which began on August 17. The main house-listing operation is scheduled to be conducted by enumerators between September 1 and September 30 this year, adding urgency to demands from groups seeking clarity on the NRC process in the state.

The Manipur government has backed the demand for updating the NRC and has repeatedly raised the issue with the Centre. Government spokesperson Nityaipat Chuthek and BJP MLA Sapam Ranjan Singh said the state administration remains committed to addressing concerns related to the NRC and Census. Singh also pointed out that the Manipur Assembly passed a resolution on August 5, 2022, urging that the NRC process be taken up in the state, and reaffirmed the resolution on March 1, 2024.

Singh said the state government has continued to communicate with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and that a team of Manipur MLAs is expected to visit New Delhi to seek guidance from the Centre and press for the NRC updation process. He urged that the issue be addressed collectively across political and community lines, arguing that it concerns the future of the state. Former Chief Minister N Biren Singh, who returned to Imphal after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi, also indicated that the Centre would take positive action on the NRC demand.

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