Student protests against the Census 2027 exercise intensified in Manipur on August 16, with the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) Students’ Wing demanding that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be updated before census operations proceed in the state.
Hundreds of students gathered outside the Directorate of Census Operations at Porompat in Imphal East, where the situation turned tense after some protesters attempted to enter the premises and lock the main gate.
Police fired tear-gas shells to disperse them; officials said one protester suffered minor injuries, while the students’ group alleged that three were injured. The protest came a day before Manipur’s self-enumeration window for Census 2027 opened on August 17, with house-listing and the Housing Census scheduled from September 1 to 30.
The agitation has since spread to census-training programmes and a 48-hour statewide shutdown. On August 18, former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said he met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and raised the demand for NRC updation before the Census, claiming Shah gave a “positive response”; there has been no corresponding announcement from the Centre confirming that the Census schedule will be altered.
Protest Meets Census Preparations
The August 16 confrontation followed weeks of mobilisation by JFD and allied civil society groups around their demand for an NRC before the population exercise. According to reports, protesters assembled outside the Directorate of Census Operations at Porompat carrying placards and raising “No NRC, No Census” slogans.
Security personnel prevented them from entering the office, after which some demonstrators tried to lock the main gate. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Officials cited in the PTI report said one protester sustained minor injuries, while JFD Students’ Wing convenor Naorem Wangamba alleged that police used tear-gas shells and mock bombs and that women protesters were pushed into drains.
The Sangai Express reported the students’ wing’s claim that three students were injured. These allegations could not be independently verified. The protest was closely timed with the Census schedule: the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India has listed August 17-31 as the self-enumeration period for Manipur, followed by house-listing and the Housing Census from September 1-30.
The JFD’s position is that the Census should not proceed until people it describes as illegal immigrants are identified through an NRC process. “People are not against the conduct of census but are demanding NRC first and then conduct of census,” Biren Singh said after his meeting with Amit Shah, reflecting the argument now being advanced politically as well as on the streets.
From Training Disruptions To Shutdown
The Porompat protest was part of a wider escalation rather than an isolated incident. On August 14, JFD Students’ Wing members disrupted a census personnel training programme at Moirang College in Bishnupur district, with protesters reportedly forcing trainees to leave while raising “No NRC, No Census” slogans.
On August 17, protests continued at the Dhanamanjuri University complex in Imphal, where students again opposed census-related training and confronted security forces. Local reports said two students were injured during the confrontation.
Protests were also reported at other locations, including a school in Bishnupur and along Tiddim Road, as demonstrators demanded that alleged illegal immigrants be identified before census activities proceed. JFD has also announced further agitation, including torch rallies and a 48-hour statewide general strike beginning at midnight on August 17.
The movement has attracted participation from students, women vendors and other sections of civil society, according to reports. The demand itself is not entirely new. The Manipur Legislative Assembly had passed resolutions in 2022 calling for the establishment of a State Population Commission and NRC, while another resolution on NRC implementation was passed in March 2024.
The present campaign has gained fresh urgency because Census 2027 is now moving into its first phase in Manipur. The official Census schedule confirms that self-enumeration began on August 17 and house-listing is due to start on September 1.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The demand for an NRC in Manipur sits within a highly sensitive debate over migration, citizenship, displacement and demographic change, particularly after the ethnic violence that began in May 2023. Those concerns deserve to be heard, but the manner in which they are pursued matters just as much.
A Census is a statutory population-enumeration exercise, while the NRC has a distinct legal purpose under Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955; one should not be treated as an automatic substitute for the other. The government must therefore communicate clearly about what information the Census collects, how it is used and what it does not determine, while protesters should be able to raise legitimate concerns without violence, intimidation or disruption of essential public processes.
The reported use of tear gas also underlines the need for restraint and proportionality from security forces, particularly when students and civilians are involved. At the same time, allegations of police excesses should be investigated transparently rather than becoming another source of competing narratives.
Biren Singh’s latest claim of a “positive response” from Amit Shah may open a space for dialogue, but it is not the same as a formal decision by the Centre to change the Census process. Manipur has already endured years of division and displacement; any debate over citizenship and demography must therefore prioritise facts, constitutional processes, empathy and peaceful dialogue over confrontation.
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