CJFD decries MLAs’ inaction on census issue

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jan 20: The Campaign for Just and Fair Delimitation (CJFD) has decried the absence of MLAs and bureaucrat officers who can exert pressure on and reason the Centre to defer census operations in Manipur under the prevailing situation.
A public meeting on census exercise and delimitation was held today at Mayang Imphal Anilongbi under the aegis of the Khuman Leibakki Lamyanba Kanglup (KLLK) and Women Welfare Association (WWA).
Addressing the public meeting, CJFD convenor Jeetendra Ningomba said that all sections of people are prepared for a strong movement if the Government of India decides to proceed with census operations in Manipur under the prevailing situation.
He said that the CJFD is committed to keeping census operations at bay until and unless all the illegal immigrants are first identified.
CJFD has already submitted detailed representations to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Governor explaining the compelling reasons for deferring census operations. However, there has been no response till date, Jeetendra said.
It is a matter of grave concern that bureaucrat officers of the State have shown little interest to convey the people’s concerns, apprehensions and the collective wish to the Government of India, he said.
Under the prevailing situation, it will be impossible to collect census data accurately. That is why, the people of Manipur have been demanding deferment of census operations.
If the Government of India decides to browbeat its way and go ahead with the census operations, it will face a strong objection from the masses, he said.
The CJFD convenor appealed to the authorities concerned to give up the habit of remaining indifferent until there is a strong mass movement.
He appealed to the authorities to respect the people’s sentiment and identify illegal immigrants first before proceeding with the census operations.
CJFD Secretary Finance Sunil Karam said that certain communities have been eagerly waiting for the census operations.
He said that conducting census operations in Mani-pur amid the highly restive and turbulent situation is not favoured by the law.
The Government of India’s initiative to conduct census operations in Manipur, when tens of thousands of people are still displaced, free movement is severely restricted and the situation is far from being normal, is unacceptable, Sunil Karam said.
Illegal immigrants must be identified first. If NRC is implemented fully and illegal immigrants identified, development works will make rapid progress, he said.
The Government of India’s Family Planning policy was never implemented uniformly. While some communities/regions implemented the policy effectively, some other communities totally disregarded the policy. This gave birth to demographic imbalance having serious implications, he said.
In Manipur, most Meitei families adopted family planning as championed by the Government of India but today, the community is being ‘punished’ for adopting family planning rather than being rewarded, he said.
Sunil Karam said that the Government of India’s policy of sheltering and supporting illegal immigrants has turned out to be a fundamental cause of unrest and violence in Manipur.
If the illegal immigrants are not identified before the census operations, they will be counted as citizens of the State and their citizenship will be naturalised, he said.
Once the illegal immigrants are listed in the census, it will be very hard to remove them, Sunil said.
Humanly impossible growth rates were recorded in some hill areas during the 2001 census operations. If delimitation is carried out based on the 2001 census data, the valley districts will lose three Assembly segments, he said.
Even if census operations are carried out through digital means, there are still many rooms for lapses and manipulation, given the prevailing situation of Manipur, he continued.
Apart from submitting a representation to the Ministry of Home Affairs, CJFD has already hosted a meeting of all political parties on the issue of census operations, Sunil said.
But the Government has a habit of remaining indifferent until people come out to the streets and protest vociferously. As such, it may become necessary for the people to launch a strong and sustained protest movement, he added.