Illegal immigrants fuelled conflict : 14 CSOs

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 10 : 14 civil society organisations comprising IPSA, PANDAM, ACOAM Lup, IPAK, KSA, Loya Lup, Kanglamei, KIL, CLK, ERDO, AKSIL, ANDOK, MIKL and SWA have categorically stated that the protracted Manipur conflict was ignited by illegal immigrants and fuelled by illegal immigration.
Speaking to media persons at IPSA office, Keishampat today, Shanta Nahakpam, convenor of the 14 CSOs said that they went to Delhi recently and talked with Mritunjay Kumar Narayan (Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India), Mahatma Sandeep Namdeo (Joint Secretary, Foreigners-1, and member of the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes) and  Niraj Kumar Bansod (Joint Secretary, North East), underscoring the need to first weed out illegal immigrants before proceeding with the census 2027.
They highlighted the long-standing concerns over cross-border infiltration and resulting demographic shifts.
Shanta said that during their meeting with Mritunjay Kumar Narayan (Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India), they made it clear that the ongoing ethnic crisis in Manipur can only be resolved by clearly identifying original Indian citizens and weeding out illegal immigrants.
“We urged the MHA to officially notify the updation of the 1951 NRC in Manipur before commencing the census of India 2027”, he said.
The final population data from the 2027 census should be legally withheld until the NRC verification process is fully completed.
Shanta said that they asked in unequivocal terms that no delimitation exercise or constituency restructuring be entertained in Manipur until the final publication of an updated NRC.
During talks with Joint Secretary (Foreigners-1) Mahatma Sandeep Namdeo, the delegation presented data highlighting the "70-year history of cross-border influx" across the porous Indo-Myanmar border.
Shanta said that illegal immigrants came to Manipur and got integrated into various Scheduled Tribe (ST) lists under the Scheduled Tribes Order of 1950.
These artificial demographic changes are the root cause behind the current demands for Separate Administration and regional autonomy by certain communities, the delegation told the Joint Secretary (Foreigners-1).
“We also pointed out that the Manipur Legislative Assembly had already passed multiple resolutions seeking an NRC implementation”, Shanta said.
The Joint Secretary (North East) was also informed of the large-scale anomalies detected during census operations in the past.
They pointed out that population growth figures from the 1981 and subsequent censuses in specific hill districts—particularly Chandel and Senapati—were abnormally high compared to the rest of the State.
The delegation cited a past Manipur High Court directive advising a recount of the 2001 census in nine hill sub-divisions, an exercise that remains pending.
The 14 CSOs’ convenor urged the Central Government to adopt a tripartite framework (involving the Centre, State, and CSOs) to implement the NRC with 1951 as the base year.
He also sought the formal inclusion of a member from the Manipur Population Commission into the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC) to ensure local representation.