Meira Paibi activists from more than 20 villages in Manipur’s Imphal West held a torch rally on August 27, demanding that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be updated before Census 2027.
Organised by the North Imphal Meira and Clubs Coordinating Committee under the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD), hundreds of women marched from Koirengei towards Liberal College in Luwangsangbam, chanting “No NRC, No Census” and calling for identification of alleged illegal immigrants and resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs).
The mobilisation comes as Manipur prepares for the Census exercise, while Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh has backed the NRC demand and said it would be discussed in the Assembly session beginning September 2.
However, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC) has opposed conducting an NRC before the Census, calling the demand “premature and unjustified” and urging an impartial population count first.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also assured the Chief Minister that the Centre will fulfil the aspirations of the people of Manipur, although no specific decision on the NRC-Census sequencing has been announced.
Women Lead Growing Mobilisation
The August 27 rally began in Koirengei village and proceeded along National Highway-2 towards Liberal College in Luwangsangbam. It was held under substantial police protection given the sensitivity surrounding demographic and citizenship issues in the state. Reports said hundreds of Meira Paibi activists participated, carrying flaming torches through the streets as part of a campaign that has gathered momentum across the Imphal Valley.
The protesters’ central demand is that citizenship verification should precede population enumeration. They argue that conducting the Census without first updating the NRC could result in demographic figures that do not, in their view, adequately distinguish citizens from alleged undocumented migrants.
The latest demonstration followed a similar Meira Paibi torch rally along Tiddim Road on August 23 and protests in Imphal on August 20. The campaign has also spread to localities where residents have announced opposition to Census-related activities until the NRC issue is addressed.
For the women taking part, the issue is closely linked to concerns over indigenous identity, land, political representation and demographic change. The campaign has also raised demands concerning IDPs who remain displaced following the ethnic conflict that began in 2023.
NRC Demand Meets Political Divide
The demand for an NRC before the Census is not new, but it has intensified as the Census draws closer. Civil society organisations supporting the campaign have repeatedly called for the NRC to be updated using 1951 records as a reference point, arguing that citizenship verification should come before population data is used for future administrative and political decisions.
The campaign has also been linked to delimitation, as Census figures can have implications for political representation. Supporters fear that unverified demographic changes could affect the distribution of constituencies and political power.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand has publicly supported the implementation of the NRC in Manipur. On August 20, while meeting students from 10 educational institutions who were demanding an NRC before the Census, he said the state government backed the exercise and would move a proposal for discussion during the Assembly session beginning September 2. He also stressed that both conducting the NRC and ensuring that its implementation is error-free would require careful consideration.
Khemchand subsequently met Amit Shah in New Delhi on August 26. According to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, the Union Home Minister gave a patient hearing to issues raised by Khemchand and said the Centre would fulfil the aspirations of the people of Manipur. The official statement did not, however, announce any specific decision on whether the NRC would precede the Census.
Kuki-Zo Council Seeks Census First
The NRC demand has faced strong opposition from the Kuki-Zo Council, an apex body representing the Kuki-Zo community.
In a statement issued on August 23, the KZC described the demand for an NRC before the Census as “premature and unjustified”. It backed Census 2027, arguing that an impartial population count is necessary to establish verified demographic data amid competing claims about population and demographic changes during the Manipur conflict.
The council has also argued that the NRC is a national exercise whose timing and implementation cannot be decided unilaterally by a community or the state government. It warned against turning demographic questions into “communal propaganda or victimisation” and pointed to the experience of Assam, where the NRC process left about 19 lakh people excluded from the final list and facing prolonged legal and administrative processes.
This has created a sharp divide over sequencing. While Meitei and Naga organisations and several civil society groups want citizenship verification first, the KZC wants the Census to proceed so that demographic claims can first be tested against an official enumeration.
The dispute is unfolding against the backdrop of Manipur’s continuing ethnic tensions and displacement. Protesters have linked alleged illegal immigration to demographic concerns, but such claims remain contested and should not be treated as an established explanation for the state’s conflict.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The demand for reliable citizenship records and accurate demographic data deserves to be heard, particularly in a state where questions of identity, land, displacement and political representation carry deep emotional weight. At the same time, any exercise that determines who is recognised as a citizen must be transparent, lawful and designed with strong safeguards against genuine citizens being wrongly excluded.
The concerns raised by Meira Paibis, civil society groups and the state government need to be addressed, but so do the Kuki-Zo Council’s concerns about impartiality and the possible consequences of an NRC.
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