NRC & Census: Set the order of precedence right
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If the order issued by the Additional Secretary (Home) on December 31, 2025 which has frozen administrative boundaries of districts and villages is any indication, due process for the India Census 2027 has been set into motion. India Census 2027 is divided into two phases with the first phase (house listing and housing census) scheduled in April-September, 2026, followed by population enumeration in February 2027. Population census per se is not objectionable provided it is accurate, not inflated or manipulated. But why has an atmosphere of anxiety and fear descended upon Manipur as soon as the census process is set into motion? Any attempt to answer this question must go back to the highly controversial and contested census report of 2001. If one juxtaposes the contested census report of 2001, reports of huge influx of illegal immigrants and the possible redistribution of Assembly seats based on erroneous census data, a fair picture of the factors fuelling public anxiety and fear will emerge. The 2001 census reported implausible population growth in different sub-divisions of Manipur, thereby seriously undermining its reliability. Some hill areas showed impossibly high growth rates of over 120 per cent, far above the state and national averages. Many civil society organisations and a large section of the public attributed this insanely abnormal growth to large-scale influx of immigrants, especially from Myanmar. As warranted by the insanely impossible population figures, political parties as well as the civil society vehemently contested the census report and strongly opposed any delimitation exercise based on the flawed census report. The government of India, acknowledging the huge discrepancy, deferred the delimitation exercise in Manipur but the flawed census report remains largely uncorrected.
Corroborating the nagging suspicion of the civil society that illegal immigrants contributed in a big way to the impossibly high growth rate, security agencies arrested many immigrants with fake identity documents, busted rackets generating fake identity documents, and reports of establishment of new villages by illegal immigrants came from several sub-divisions of hill districts. A Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by then Tribal Affairs Minister Letpao Haokip found as many as 2,187 illegal immigrants inside Manipur in early 2023. According to a report submitted by the Cabinet Sub-Committee to the State Government on April 24, 2023, 1,147 Myanmar immigrants were found in 13 locations in Tengnoupal district, 881 in three locations in Chandel district, 154 in Churachandpur district and five in Kamjong district. This, many say, is just the tip of iceberg. The influx went on even during the height of the violent crisis. Assam Rifles reported that 718 fresh illegal immigrants had entered the New Lajang area in Chandel on July 22-23, 2023. None other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah went on record stating on the floor of the Lok Sabha that illegal immigrants have a strong hand in the Manipur violence which erupted on May 3, 2023. He also stated that that the influx created a deep sense of insecurity among the indigenous people. It was these demographic, socio-political, economic and security challenges posed by illegal immigrants that gave rise to a vigorous campaign for updating the National Register of Citizens or NRC in short with respect to Manipur. The fundamental idea pushing the campaign for NRC is identification of illegal immigrants. If the challenges posed by illegal immigrants must be addressed comprehensively, they must be identified and deported, if possible. If not, they must not be given citizenship rights. However, if the census operations are carried out without first updating the NRC or identifying the illegal immigrants, there is a strong possibility of legalizing the illegal immigrants, naturalizing their citizenship and in turn, legitimizing their political demands. If the illegal immigrants are taken into the count in the upcoming census operations, it may give them space and even rights to challenge the political structure of the state. This will have serious implications and disastrous consequences to the indigenous people, irrespective of community and ethnicity, which will be irreversible. The authorities of the government of India must see that the scheduled census operations do not turn out to be a way of legalizing illegal immigrants.
Corroborating the nagging suspicion of the civil society that illegal immigrants contributed in a big way to the impossibly high growth rate, security agencies arrested many immigrants with fake identity documents, busted rackets generating fake identity documents, and reports of establishment of new villages by illegal immigrants came from several sub-divisions of hill districts. A Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by then Tribal Affairs Minister Letpao Haokip found as many as 2,187 illegal immigrants inside Manipur in early 2023. According to a report submitted by the Cabinet Sub-Committee to the State Government on April 24, 2023, 1,147 Myanmar immigrants were found in 13 locations in Tengnoupal district, 881 in three locations in Chandel district, 154 in Churachandpur district and five in Kamjong district. This, many say, is just the tip of iceberg. The influx went on even during the height of the violent crisis. Assam Rifles reported that 718 fresh illegal immigrants had entered the New Lajang area in Chandel on July 22-23, 2023. None other than Union Home Minister Amit Shah went on record stating on the floor of the Lok Sabha that illegal immigrants have a strong hand in the Manipur violence which erupted on May 3, 2023. He also stated that that the influx created a deep sense of insecurity among the indigenous people. It was these demographic, socio-political, economic and security challenges posed by illegal immigrants that gave rise to a vigorous campaign for updating the National Register of Citizens or NRC in short with respect to Manipur. The fundamental idea pushing the campaign for NRC is identification of illegal immigrants. If the challenges posed by illegal immigrants must be addressed comprehensively, they must be identified and deported, if possible. If not, they must not be given citizenship rights. However, if the census operations are carried out without first updating the NRC or identifying the illegal immigrants, there is a strong possibility of legalizing the illegal immigrants, naturalizing their citizenship and in turn, legitimizing their political demands. If the illegal immigrants are taken into the count in the upcoming census operations, it may give them space and even rights to challenge the political structure of the state. This will have serious implications and disastrous consequences to the indigenous people, irrespective of community and ethnicity, which will be irreversible. The authorities of the government of India must see that the scheduled census operations do not turn out to be a way of legalizing illegal immigrants.