Manipur Government Delegation Heads To Delhi Amid Census, NRC-Linked Bandh Protest

A Manipur government team will travel to Delhi to seek postponement of the Census in the violence-affected state until a National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise is completed, officials said. The move comes as a two-day shutdown over the demand began on Tuesday, bringing normal life across large parts of the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley to a standstill. The shutdown has been called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD), a Meitei group that has been demanding that the Census should not proceed in Manipur before an NRC is conducted. The organisation has argued that identifying undocumented migrants should precede any exercise that determines population figures and influences future administrative and political processes in the state.

The government's decision to send a team to Delhi reflects the growing political pressure surrounding the Census and NRC issue. The delegation is expected to raise the demand for a postponement with the Centre and seek consideration of concerns being expressed by groups in the Imphal Valley. The proposed intervention comes at a sensitive time for Manipur, which has been affected by prolonged ethnic tensions and displacement. Meitei organisations have for years pressed for an NRC in the state, particularly to identify people they believe entered Manipur illegally after 1951 from neighbouring countries. Supporters of the demand argue that an exercise documenting residents and distinguishing long-term residents from more recent entrants is necessary before population figures are formally updated.

The issue has acquired additional significance because of concerns among sections of the Meitei community over demographic changes in Manipur. The state's ethnic conflict has further intensified debates surrounding migration, land, political representation and population data. However, demands relating to undocumented migration and the NRC remain politically sensitive, with different communities holding competing views about their implications. The two-day bandh has affected activity in the Imphal Valley, where the shutdown has disrupted normal movement and commercial activity.

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The protest reflects the strength of the opposition among sections of the Meitei community to conducting the Census without first addressing their demand for an NRC. The organisers are seeking to use the shutdown to press both the state and central governments to take up the issue. The proposed Delhi visit by the state government team could therefore become an important step in the ongoing debate. Any decision to postpone the Census would require consideration by the central authorities, while conducting an NRC would involve a separate administrative and legal process. The state government's delegation is expected to present its concerns and seek a response from the Centre.

The development also comes against the backdrop of former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh recently saying that he had raised the demand for an NRC before the Census during a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. Singh had said the people of Manipur were not opposed to the Census but wanted the NRC to be carried out first. With the shutdown now underway and the government preparing to approach the Centre, the Census-NRC question has once again emerged as a major political issue in Manipur. The response from New Delhi is likely to determine the next course of action as the state continues to navigate the competing demands surrounding migration, documentation and demographic concerns.

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