A 48-hour general strike called by the Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (JFD) began at midnight on August 17 across Manipur’s valley districts, disrupting markets, schools, transport and other routine activities as protesters demand that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) be updated before Census 2027.
The JFD says it is not opposed to the Census itself, but wants the exercise deferred until undocumented immigrants are identified and internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the ethnic conflict are resettled.
The organisation wants the NRC updated using 1951 as the base year and has warned of stronger protests, including picketing government offices and opposing Census-related training and fieldwork, if its demand is not addressed.
The timing of the bandh is significant: Manipur’s official Census schedule provides for self-enumeration from August 17 to 31, followed by house-listing and housing Census operations from September 1 to 30. The agitation has expanded beyond JFD members, with students forming rallies and human chains and women vendors from Imphal’s Khwairamband Ima Keithel joining sit-ins.
On August 18, protests at the Imphal East Deputy Commissioner’s office complex turned tense, with police using tear gas to disperse demonstrators and some people reportedly injured.
The JFD says its concerns have been conveyed to the Manipur Chief Minister, Governor and Union Home Minister, while the state government has maintained that concerns raised by civil society will be addressed within the Constitution.
Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh said on August 7 that the government would deal with public demands through constitutional provisions and public consultation, while earlier stating that the administration was making “all-out efforts” to ensure a fair and just Census.
Protesters Challenge Census Timing
The immediate flashpoint is the commencement of Census-related activity in a state where questions of citizenship, migration, displacement and demography remain highly sensitive after the ethnic conflict that began in May 2023.
JFD organisation secretary Longjam Ratan has said the group wants the Census deferred until an updated NRC provides what it considers a credible basis for determining who is a citizen. In an August 10 student mobilisation, JFD Student Wing members formed a human chain in Imphal and raised slogans demanding “No NRC, No Census” and linking the Census demand with the resettlement of displaced people.
Ratan said the organisation was willing to negotiate with the government, but would not change its central demand that the NRC must be updated before the Census begins. The organisation had already approached Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla on August 1, asking him to recommend that the Centre update the NRC with 1951 as the base year and defer the Census until that process was completed.
The JFD argued that an updated citizens’ register was necessary to protect the integrity of demographic data, while also alleging that undocumented immigration had contributed to demographic pressures in the state. Those allegations are the JFD’s position and should not be treated as independently established findings about Manipur’s population.
The organisation’s campaign has been building since April 2025 and intensified in the months leading up to August 17. In July, JFD convenor Jeetendra Ningomba warned that stronger agitation would follow if the government did not respond to its demand before August 6, urging civil society groups, local organisations and elected representatives to support the campaign.
The issue has also attracted support from other groups. The United Naga Council, in a March letter to the Manipur Chief Minister, separately urged the government to postpone Census operations, citing citizenship verification, continuing displacement and the state’s volatile security situation.
At the same time, the government has not announced a postponement. Instead, Khemchand Singh has said the administration will address concerns within the constitutional framework.
At a government-backed seminar on Manipur’s demographic profile on August 7, he emphasised constitutional provisions and public consultation while participants discussed NRC, citizenship, demographic change and the Census.
Why Census Has Become Contentious
The dispute also stems from a basic but important distinction between a Census and an NRC. Census 2027 is a statistical exercise conducted under the Census Act, 1948, rather than a citizenship-verification process.
According to the Union government, the exercise is being conducted in two phases: the first covers Houselisting and Housing Census, while the second, scheduled for February 2027, will involve Population Enumeration and collect demographic, socio-economic, educational, migration and other information about individuals.
Caste enumeration is also planned during the second phase. The government has described Census 2027 as India’s first digital Census, with enumerators using mobile applications and citizens given a self-enumeration option.
Official guidance also says that enumerators will undertake house-to-house visits to avoid exclusion and that the information collected under the Census Act is confidential and intended for statistical and development purposes.
For Manipur, however, the first phase itself has become politically charged. The JFD has sought to stop or delay Census preparations until citizenship-related questions are addressed, while government employees assigned to Census duties have found themselves caught between official responsibilities and local opposition.
Recent reports said protests have disrupted training programmes for enumerators and supervisors at educational institutions, with activists warning Census workers against participating. On August 17, JFD student volunteers attempted to enter a Census training venue at the DM College of Teacher Education on the DM University campus in Imphal.
Security personnel stopped them, while the JFD alleged that two students were injured during baton action; the allegation had not received an immediate police response at the time of reporting. Women associated with the organisation later entered another training venue at Rongmei Upper Primary School in Mahabali, Imphal East, disrupting the programme.
Women vendors from Ima Keithel also staged a sit-in, while students separately rallied for NRC updation and the resettlement of people displaced by the conflict. The following day, the protest reached the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex in Imphal East, where police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
The bandh has consequently become more than a disagreement over an administrative timetable: it reflects competing anxieties about identity, citizenship, displacement and demographic change.
The government’s challenge is to maintain the integrity and inclusiveness of the Census while addressing genuine public concerns without allowing unverified claims about migration or citizenship to deepen mistrust between communities.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The demand for an accurate and credible population count deserves to be heard, particularly in a state that has experienced prolonged conflict, displacement and deep mistrust between communities. At the same time, the way such concerns are pursued matters just as much as the concerns themselves. A Census should not become another fault line in a state already struggling to rebuild trust, and ordinary citizens, students, teachers, vendors and displaced families should not have to bear the consequences of escalating confrontation.
The government has a responsibility to communicate clearly about what the Census can and cannot establish, how citizenship-related concerns can legally be addressed, and what safeguards exist to ensure that no community is unfairly excluded. Protest organisers, meanwhile, have a responsibility to keep demonstrations peaceful and ensure that government workers, teachers and citizens are not intimidated or prevented from carrying out lawful duties.
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