Bowing to demands from tribal groups, the Manipur Assembly has resolved to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and establish a State Population Commission (SPC).
At least 19 apex tribal organisations and their affiliates had on July 12 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, demanding NRC and other mechanism to insulate the indigenous people from the “ever-increasing number of non-local residents”.
The resolutions on the establishment of the NRC and the SPC were raised by Janata Dal (United) MLA Khumukcham Joykishan on Friday, the last day of the budget session of the 60-member House.
Mr. Joykishan said the country's population growth rate was 87.67% between 1971 and 2001 and 120% between 2001 and 2011. The corresponding population growth rates of the hill districts of Manipur were 153.30% and 250.90%, while the valley (Imphal and Jiribam) districts saw a growth rate of 94.80% and 125.40% during these periods, he pointed out.
The hills are primarily inhabited by the Scheduled Tribes while the valley districts, comprising one-tenth of Manipur’s geographical area, is dominated by the non-tribal Meitei people.
“The abnormal population growth rates of the hill districts point to a strong possibility of a huge influx of non-Indians. The situation is such that smaller indigenous communities may face extinction, necessitating a study and action,” Mr. Joykishan said.
A sizeable section of the hill dwellers belonging to the Kuki-Chin group is believed to have settled down in Manipur from adjoining Myanmar. The inflow has reportedly increased after the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021.
“It is urgently required to monitor and check the dramatic rise of non-local population through an SPC, which is also warranted by the National Population Policy,” he said, insisting that the introduction of NRC could go a long way in overcoming the situation.
Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh said there was no harm in approving the resolution moved by Mr. Joykishan. Subsequently, the House passed the resolution unanimously.
To date, Assam is the only northeastern State to have implemented the NRC. The exercise has been in limbo since the complete draft was published in August 2019, leaving out 19.06 lakh out of 3.3 crore applicants.
‘ILP not enough’
In June, the Manipur government approved 1961 as the base year for identifying ‘natives’ and effectively implementing the inner-line permit (ILP), a temporary travel document residents of other Indian States need to posses to enter the State.
The Centre had extended the Bengal Easter Frontier Regulation of 1873 to Manipur, thereby making it the fourth State in the Northeast to be brought under the ILP.
But the pro-NRC tribal organisations said the ILP was not enough as Manipur could not come up with the definition of “indigenous inhabitants”. The NRC would be the way forward, they said.
Flagging the “intrusion of immigrants” from Bangladesh (East Pakistan formerly), Myanmar and Nepal, the organisations recalled a pass or permit system for Manipur that was abolished by the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh in November 1950. This permit system regulated the entry and settlement of outsiders in Manipur.
People from these three countries “autonomously settled” in the State since the abolition of the pass system and no discerning step was taken up during the past 75 years under the Foreigners Act of 1946, the organisations said. This “continuous overflow of influxes” had led to migrants “take possession” of the socio-economic and political rights of the indigenous people, they said.
If Bangladeshi and Myanmar Muslims “occupied” the Assembly constituency of Jiribam and spread to other valleys in Manipur, Kuki people from Myanmar now own large swathes of the hills while the “Nepali population has raised tremendous number”, they said.
The organisations recalled a movement in the 1980s for the detection and deportation of foreigners from Manipur, following which the State government had signed two agreements for using 1951 as the base year for determining foreigners or non-residents and evicting them. But no steps were taken up, they lamented.
