‘Identify illegal immigrants before conducting census’

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 21: A large number of people including IDPs today staged a protest demonstration at Wangoo Sabal Leikai asserting that no census operation should be carried out in Manipur without first identifying all the illegal immigrants and outsiders.
As reflected in the placards they used, the protesters also demanded resettlement of all IDPs by December 2025, adequate compensation for IDPs and urgent construction of potholes-filled Kumbi- Wapok- pi and Kumbi-Ithai roads.
Speaking by the sideline of the protest demonstration, social activist Sanjay Ahan-them who contested the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly election unsuccessfully said that no census operation should be carried out in Manipur if the illegal immigrants must also be counted.
The census operation scheduled to commence from April 1, 2026 must be kept in abeyance in Manipur until all the illegal immigrants are identified and sent back to their native places, he said.
If the census operation takes the illegal immigrants into account, they will become bonafide citizens of India and it will pose a serious threat to all indigenous communities, he said.
Manipur is already facing serious demographic challenges on account of the Government of India’s lackadaisical approach towards incessant influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, he continued.
There are official reports about the establishment of over 1000 villages by illegal immigrants, Sanjay said.
He urged the Government to initiate the necessary process to identify and deport all illegal immigrants before it is too late.
He asserted that it’s time for all elected representatives, political parties and CSOs to join hands and work collectively in order to drive out all illegal immigrants from Manipur
He also urged the two Lok Sabha Members and one Rajya Sabha Member from Manipur to raise the State’s critical issue of illegal immigrants during the ongoing Parliament session.
Sanjay further urged the Government to see that its assurance to resettle IDPs by December 2025 is fulfilled.
The PR administration must not cut down the compensation amount promised by the popular Government which preceded it, he said.
Saying that all the roads within Kumbi Assembly segment have fallen into a pathetic State, he demanded reconstruction of all the dilapidated roads at the earliest.