The six student organisations spearheading the demand for early implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Manipur held a day-long consultative meeting on Wednesday and decided to form a joint committee of all stakeholders to push for their demand.

The proposed joint committee will have members from both the valley and the hill-based organisations and prominent citizens, a student leader said. The committee will also create awareness among the masses on the need for the NRC.

Several decisions were taken in the meeting held at the City Convention Centre in Imphal after wide-ranging consultations involving representatives of leading ethnic groups, civil society organisations and prominent citizens to "enhance the consciousness-level of the people" about the NRC.

The six student organisations that organised the meeting on Wednesday included the 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 Students’ Union of Kangleipak Apunba Ireipakki Maheiroi Sinpanglup (AIMS).

One of the organisers said about 100 persons, including leaders of the valley and the hill-based student bodies, civil society organisations, resource persons, university teachers and representatives of various communities took part in the meeting.

DESAM president Lamyanba Meeitei said: “We feel it is high time to address the need for the NRC. Therefore, it is imperative to organise or form a common platform for all stakeholders, for all ethnic groups. We need to enhance consciousness level and to avoid/prevent any misunderstanding among different ethnic groups."

"People need to know what actually is the NRC and why we need the NRC. People of Manipur have to know the prevailing demographic challenges. That is why we organised the consultation meeting,” the student leader said.

The first round of the consultations — moderated by Khaidem Mani, former chairperson of the Manipur Human Rights Commission — saw a discussion on the NRC exercise in Assam and why Manipur needed an NRC.

The second round saw an in-depth analysis of the NRC, and an exchange of opinions from the hill and the valley-based representatives of various communities, a student leader said.

The student bodies have been organising rallies since March this year to remind the BJP-led state government about the August 6, 2022 Assembly resolution to implement the NRC.

Representatives of the student bodies feel NRC is the “only” option to identify illegal immigrants, especially from Myanmar and Bangladesh, in the hill districts and secure the future of the indigenous people. Manipur has 16 districts, including 10 hill districts, with a population of around 32 lakhs.

A student leader had earlier pointed out: “Between 2001 and 2011, Manipur's population growth rate was 24.50 per cent while that of the national average for the same period was 17.64 per cent. The increase in growth rate cannot be explained by natural birth and can only be attributed to migration from neighbouring countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal, and some other states. All illegal immigrants must be detected through the NRC in the interest of the people of Manipur.”

The student bodies also felt that the ILP, a travel document required to enter certain protected areas in the Northeast, was not enough to safeguard the state's indigenous population from the influx.

The NRC exercise has been carried out only in Assam but it remains incomplete. Nothing has moved since the register was published in August 2019, leaving out over 19 lakh applicants.