Manipur: Seven Students bodies submitted memorandum to Amit Shah for implementation of NRC

Representatives of seven student organisations of Manipur- All Naga Students' Association Manipur (ANSAM), All Manipur Students' Union (AMSU), Manipuri Students' Federation (MSF), Democratic Students' Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA), Students' Union of Kangleipak (SUK) and Apunba Ireipakki Maheriroi Sinpanglup (AIMS) submit the need for having National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in Manipur.

In its memorandum, the students' bodies said- Manipur prior to its merger with the Dominion of India in 1949 had strict regulations for outsiders in visiting and settling in Manipur and this regulation was done away with by the then chief Commissioner Himmat Singh in 1950 opening a floodgate for outsiders to come and settle in Manipur which is a small state of 22327 sq. km comprising 0.7% of the land surface of India. The Population growth suddenly shot up beyond imagination as indicated in the graph below, where the growth differs between the valley and hills. 

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It may be appreciated that the decadal growth rate of the population is only 12.08 for the decade 1941 to 1951. The sharp increase in the decadal growth rate after the cancellation of the immigration regulation by the then Chief Commissioner in 1960 resulted in a sharp increase in the growth rate as shown in the following table. 

This increase can only be explained by migration from neighbouring countries and states and just can't be defined by natural birth. When one examined the composition of the population based on the mother tongue spoken, one comes to the conclusion that the immigrants are mostly from the cognate tribes from neighbouring Myanmar, Nepali from Nepal and Muslims from Bangladesh, the latter now a distinct force in Jiribam District bordering Assam. 

In Tripura, Hindus were the primary migrants from erstwhile East Pakistan and Bangladesh and most Muslim migrants from this country reached Assam and Manipur with some settled in Nagaland. 

The people of Manipur had been demanding the updation and implementation of the NRC through the available records as done in Assam, with 1951 as the base year as Manipur joined the Union of India on 15th October 1949. 

Hence, we demand that the NRC be updated in Manipur with 1951 as the base year. Our demands are strictly based on the need for small communities in the region and the state to survive. 

"Manipur as you are fully aware comprises almost 90 per cent hills where land cannot be bought by non-ST, while in the valley, the population density is as per the 2011 census 730 and will not be able to cater to aliens as our growing population need to be catered first," the memorandum to the Home Minister stated. 

This high population impacts the hills as many aliens stay there as sharecroppers and it will be difficult to dislodge them later.

A report last year indicates that there is an explosion in the number of new villages in the state, with many seeking recognition from the government. It was mentioned that in addition to the existing 2803 villages another 996 villages are seeking fresh recognition.