Representatives of seven student organisations in Manipur on Monday submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the need for implementation of the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in Manipur.
The seven student bodies are the 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 the Apunba Ireipakki Maheriroi Sinpanglup (AIMS).
In the memorandum, the student bodies stated that 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 per cent of the land surface of India.
The population growth suddenly shot up beyond imagination since then, they stated.
The decadal population growth rate was only 12.08 per cent for the decade 1941 to 1951. But, 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, they stated.
The increase can only be explained by migration from neighbouring countries and states and cannot be defined by natural birth, the student bodies said.
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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, the student bodies stated in the memorandum to the Union HM.
They stated that 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 October 15, 1949, the student bodies stated and 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”, it added.
The memorandum stated that Manipur is fully aware that it comprises almost 90 per cent of hill areas where the land cannot be bought by non-ST, while in the valley, the population density, as per the 2011 census, 730 person sq/km and will not be able to cater to aliens as the growing population need to be catered first.
"This high population impacts the hills as many aliens stay there as sharecroppers and it will be difficult to dislodge them later," stated the memorandum.
It further mentioned that a report last year indicated 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, the students stated.
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It mentioned that even the ILP regime which the BJP government has graciously extended to Manipur has little impact as there is no definition of the term inhabitant. The state cabinet has decided to adopt 1961 as the base year for identifying the inhabitants of Manipur, it added.
The student organisations hoped that at least the state government could regulate the inflow of visitors. However, the most important is the regulation of visitors from other countries who have the habit of settling down in the state through marriages etc., they stated.
“It is our fervent appeal, that to protect the indigenes of the state, which are being swamped and marginalised in own home state, the NRC for the state with 1951 as the base year is prepared and the state government is advised to establish a Manipur State Population Commission in line with the National Population Commission at the earliest,” the student bodies stated.
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